So once again, this week the world witnessed the gruesome beheading of an American journalist via terrorists’ heinous hands. Let me humbly share a limited listing of what we know for certain about the deteriorating situation… and what we do not know. First… what we know…
ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria — the terrorist group responsible for the deaths of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff — was formed out of an al-Qaeda affiliate in Iraq, with its origin traced back to the Second Gulf War in 2003. It was originally known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and then ISIS or ISIL. ISIL refers to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — the Levant equating to the Eastern Mediterranean border region, which consists of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and part of southern Turkey.
The group has declared themselves a “caliphate,” an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph – or a “successor” – to Muhammad. They thus claim religious authority over all Muslims in the world. Their stated goal is to bring other Muslim-inhabited regions under their political control.
ISIS has also declared that the caliphate is established “for the purpose of compelling the people to do what the Sharia (Allah’s law) requires of them.” That means that anyone who does not believe in ISIS’s interpretation of Islam must either convert or die.
They currently hold territory in both Syria and Iraq. With Syria divided by civil war since the spring of 2011, ISIS has capitalized by seizing significant territory — possibly up to half of Syria — and half of Iraq, too, as stated yesterday by Defense Sec. Chuck Hagel.
The group is violent — some say barbaric. As stated in August by United Nations representatives, “We are gravely concerned by continued reports of acts of violence, including sexual violence against women and teenage girls and boys belonging to Iraqi minorities. Atrocious accounts of abduction and detention of Yazidi, Christian, as well as Turkomen and Shabak women, girls and boys, and reports of savage rapes, are reaching us in an alarming manner.”
There is increasing significant concern that ISIS will attempt to attack America. A spokesman said last month that “we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House.” Many believe ISIS is more dangerous than al-Qaeda.
Also, in an email to the parents of executed journalist Foley, ISIS said it was acting “as a DIRECT result of your [America’s] transgressions towards us!” They added: “WE WILL NOT STOP UNTILL WE QUENCH OUR THIRST FOR YOUR BLOOD.”
Now… what we don’t know…
We don’t know how the pulling of American troops from Iraq specifically impacted ISIS’s rise to power.
We don’t know if Pres. Obama is intentionally cautious or strategically confused in his response (…partisans will disagree, of course, embracing the art of averring judgment calls with certainty).
We also don’t know when ISIS will gruesomely strike again.
So allow me 3 more things that I believe we should know:
(1) Evil is alive and well on planet Earth.
(2) Negotiating with evil never solves the problem.
And (3) prayer would be wise… prayers for wisdom for the world’s leaders… for protection of those in ISIS’s path… and for the rooting out of such obvious, gut-wrenching evil.
Respectfully…
AR
[Intramuralist Note: sources utilized for the above facts include CBS News, The Christian Post, CNN, NBC News, and Wikipedia.]