Global Evil = ISIS

UPDATE Feb 18, 2015: It was brought to my attention that I did not mention Syria, Russia or China in aiding in this cause. I did not, it was intentional.

ISIS

We have arrived at a point in time that it is far overdue for countries around the world to literally join together to stop a scourge, no, a metastasizing cancer from continuing to spread.

Detection

Countries in the mid-East, northern Africa, Europe and North America have to unite in figuring out a way to detect radicalization of the:

• Young and old,
• Poor and middle-class,
• Disenfranchised,
• Outcasts and
• Religious fanatics (or so-called religious fanatics)

Countries of this grand coalition will have to do a better job of data-mining to find these newly radicalized, or becoming so. However, that data-mining will have to be done without trampling on the privacy rights of the ordinary and innocent citizens of those countries infected with these malicious and dangerous malcontents.

On the other hand, ordinary citizens, no matter what religious or non-religious background they hale from, now have an extraordinary duty of reporting valid suspicions to the authorities. Of course, we will need some kind of international database for that purpose.

There are multiple sources of information out there where one can find or come across individuals becoming radicalized or are fully radicalized who harbor anger and hatred vile enough toward ‘non-believers.’ These ISIS wannabe’s will harm or kill anyone who stands against ISIS or just because they are Jewish or because they draw cartoons of the Muslim Muhammid (or Mohammed or Muhammed). There is no right granted anywhere in the world to anyone where they can kill another over a cartoon, even if that cartoon is offensive – no matter what religion or faith.

Yes, it may be stupid or drawn out of poor taste – but NO ONE has a right to kill another over a cartoon.

There are too many individuals coming out of the woodworks who purport to want to be part of this ISIS movement because of the religious faith that is offered. The brainwashing effects of the glitzy web ads and tweets and online conversations are irresistibly drawing in those of a weaker caliber mental state. And it is those of a weaker mind-set that is the problem, they want to be part of a movement where they ‘think’ they belong and are welcomed…

 

Prevention

Besides detecting those becoming, or are, radicalized we must prevent and stop them from joining up with ISIS. We cannot just put them in jail, we have to find a way to de-program them away from ISIS and back into society. We have to find a way to show these individuals that they are welcome in society.

By the same token, these individuals have to learn to accept that just because they have joined the Muslim faith or have taken their Muslim faith to another country – they have to act according to the laws of whatever country they are in. These radical Muslim’s have to understand that they cannot force their religion on others of a different faith, of the western world where free will is the norm – not anything related to Sharia or Sharia law.

People have free will to do what they want, with the exception of physically harming others. Women actually can walk around scantily clad in public or work for a living or drive themselves whenever they wish, all without any male Muslim (or any religion) dictating what women can and should be doing. This is not the dark ages where it was ignorantly believed that men had the sole right to dictate the daily life of women, boys and girls.

Women are not chattel.

 

Information

All of the countries mentioned above must do a better job of sharing information, even if it means a massive database where ordinary citizens can report information of ‘valid’ suspicions, facts or incidents of wannabe malcontents or actual members of ISIS.

We, the people of the world and law enforcement and military entities, are going to look longer and harder and deeper into all the social media (social networking sites, aka SNS) out there. More than we are currently doing now. We must have a synergistic effort (data collection, intelligence and combat strikes – sorry, cannot go into any real discussion on any kind of intelligence efforts (other than publically open source) and military matters at this time) to massively multiple the efforts to corral and stamp out ISIS

We are going to have to undertake deep data-mining of the open ‘Net and as much of the dark web as possible to ensure we locate as many as possible of these wannabes while they are in the early stages of pre-radicalization and after they become radicalized. We need to detect, prevent and stop them wherever we can.

If ISIS is using social media to their advantage, we need to do a better job than what the U.S. State Department is currently doing.

We have to stop this scourge and being nice is not going to work all by itself. Not when these ISIS members want to kill those people of the world who want to live in peace.

This collaboration has to be an operation on the scale of the allies joining forces in WWII to stop the spread of Nazism, or even as was done with Desert Storm. We must do this now, with an overwhelming amount of information to finding all these criminalist thugs, before ISIS continues to grow ever larger. The longer we wait, the worse it is going to be and more expensive in terms of lives lost and/or ruined. This effort to clamp down on ISIS and the cowardly carnage they are conducting cannot be based on what it might cost us financially.

We have to stop these, well, crazies now because it will cost more due to uncertainty and fear (loss of business – i.e. tourism).

 

Endgame

We have to join together as a global group and stop the growth and spread of this cancer that is indiscriminately killing people who do not convert to their brand of religion. We have to stop these twisted individuals from taking women and girls and doing whatever they wish to them.

Bombing these thugs is not the sole solution; it is going to take troops on the ground to stop them. And it is going to have to be troops primarily from the mid-East and Africa leading the way with other countries of the coalition backing them up.

The amount of open-source intelligence will have to be ramped up – in collection and analysis. There will have to be much better data correlation in ‘connecting the dots.’ The more data we can glean on malcontents and radicals, the better. The more sources of information, hint – citizens of the world, the better.

If we are to retain a free way of life, we are all in this together. If we want a way of life where you can practice any religion you choose (or no religion at all) without harming others; or have a way of life where women are not treated as second-class people, or worse; or be a Jew free of any kind of persecution, we must join together in overwhelming willingness and support to stop ISIS.

We may need to put up even more cameras in the public spaces to find these malcontents or be able to put together a picture that tells the story, after a horrific event… We may need facial recognition software, in many, many cities around the globe for this purpose. It may be regrettable but it may have to be done out of need…

No one wants to have to fight another conflict of any kind because we will suffer human losses, again, as we fight. But in this case, we may need to bring an army of the world to stop this group calling itself ISIS. This army of the world should be made up of the diplomatic corps, of other religious leaders who have a strong voice, of law enforcement, the military and most of all, let me repeat that, most of all – you, the citizens of the world helping to staunch this maniacal spread of something purporting to be of the Muslim faith. We will need to keep an eye out for malcontents in the regions in and surrounding Malaysia, the Philippines and Australia too…

Most of all, this is not going to be any kind of quick ending to ISIS. It is going to take a couple of years and that is a generous couple of years.

 

Lastly, we do not need celebrities or high powered corporate executives or some 4-star general / admiral or a group of billionaires running point on this – we primarily need YOU, the citizens of the world to be the point man/woman on this effort. We need YOU to use your voice, the power of your thinking and the power of your heart for what is right to step up and denounce this brutal, dishonest and completely misguided group of individuals who call themselves ISIS (or ISIL or IS).

We need you and your peers  wherever you are to stand up and make your voices heard to your government, so they actually make a concerted effort to stop and excise ISIS.

 

Using your Intelligence for Beneficial (NOT Evil) & Successful Influence

UPFRONT      

Influence, as to what many of us expect, should be used for ‘good enablement’ and not ‘evil manipulations’ for all people. Thus, this paper is for ‘good.’ And not the dastardly, horrific things we see in other parts of the world.

We have far too many entities worldwide using influence to suppress people and most of what their people hear and see in everyday life. To wit:

• State run media in Russia, China, Turkey and other closed societies
• Religious control by so-called religious groups such as Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, ISIS (or ISIL or IL) but are nothing more than fanatical, brainwashed thugs with its seemingly sole purpose of controlling women, girls, education, prohibition of any western influence (no pun intended) and oh yes, possibly religion as well.

And no, this does not excuse some of the practices in the U.S. and/or the western world, where men of some religions suppress women or attempt to suppress them. And yes, we still have covert racism in this country – this is one arena of the most evil influence machinations in this country or the world.

We can do without racial and religious influences which are meant to suppress anyone.

 

Beneficial Influence

This paper is to discuss the excellent benefits of gaining and using influence with some modicum of ‘wise’ and ‘thoughtful’ intelligence.

Wielding influence can be a highly powerful and valuable tool and, yes, you can read up on this topic in many, many books. You probably should too because there is a plethora, a great deal, of information and large bodies of knowledge on the topic.

Unfortunately, influence can also be wielded powerfully for malicious means as well – more on this later.

Primarily, this paper on influence is meant to spring from good, meaningful and even altruistic intentions. Influence used with any small measures of intelligence is a wonderful thing. What is meant by that statement is that when you use influence in a good fashion, to help others (individuals, businesses and non-profits) – you can have lasting, powerful impacts and ripple-like effects on AND for those around you as well as well on AND in the work you do.

Now, when it comes to influencing others around you, you do so – not in any pronounced or inflated fashion but in a manner where others willingly want to emulate you and do as you do. You should be going about your work and activities as you normally do, all the while thinking in a positive vein of what good can come out of your efforts and what you ‘can’ pass on to others.

You want to do things that have influence on others by you being you.

One little effort you can make is to help others to see things that they would not ordinarily see simply by helping them look at a situation or problem from a different perspective. Look at the forest of trees, not just at that single tree. And then extrapolate on it, by thinking – “What if?”

If you want to be a brilliant influencer, you should be one of those who are very willing to impart the things you’ve learned in your past, your career, your education, your travels and/or your upbringing.

Being a brilliant influencer means you look beyond the:

• Looks
• Race
• Age
• Religion
• Physical (and maybe even mental) handicap and last but certainly not least
• Gender

of the other(s). You are ONLY concerned about helping, enabling others to be better and show them the road to being better.

None of this means you have to be a full-fledged mentor or even someone with the svelte tongue of a perfect orator. You just need to be ‘YOU,’ while continuing to do the great job you always do. You should just be honest and open with the clearly delineated intentions of sharing.

And yeah, this could even be interpreted as being altruistic – but there you have it, the interpretation is totally up to you.

 

Successful Influence

So, successful influence means:

• Enabling/helping others/business become better and in turn – successful
• Your being a great role model, whether intentionally or subconsciously
• Being an enabler for significant and deep collaboration in all endeavors, with another, others or businesses

Where does intelligence come into play for all of this? It means using your great and wonderful, ever growing brain (you are continuing to stretch it – correct?) in being smart in how you engage and interact with others.

It means being judicious in how you influence others. You want to use your stockpile of accumulated and ever growing knowledge in how you successfully respond to and with others, with those who could benefit from that vast pool of knowledge of yours.

 

Criminal Influence

Now then, there is also the flip side of “good” and intelligent influence and none of it is good.

Crime

Criminals use influence to their benefit in taking advantage of the weaker, slower and less educated of our fellow citizens. And at times, even the smartest and most educated fall victim to the criminal element, so in essence we all have a bone to pick in this fight in preventing, finding and stopping the criminal element in all its myriad forms, wherever we can find this perniciously evil group of miscreant thugs and silver-tongued devils.

Criminal influence, well, with greed and desire for power, we will need to always be on the lookout for malicious use of influence so we do not wind becoming victims of some smooth manipulator.

State Sponsored

We have state sponsored elements that use their influence and manipulate those under their purview and citizens who are powerless in stopping their mates from being victims of evil influences.

Take for example, China and its great firewall, where everything that passes through the nation’s communication network and internet is prone to censorship – blocked communication, deleted content, websites’ being shut down – without any hesitation, even if the site is for good, for education or to help others in the country just be better.

How do you have free and open dialogue when a government wants to muzzle you and/or its people? How do you have free reign to explore and connect with disparate people around the world without being spied on by your governmental leaders who tell you who it is okay to talk to or to seek out new and more accurate information?

Then we have Russia, with all of its voice, data and internet traffic being “required” to flow through government equipment. There is nothing secret here, do a search on the ‘Net for SORM I, II and III.

For example, you can go to one of the following sites and check out info on SORM:

          www.fas.org

          http://csis.org

Again, as I noted, this is not secret, classified info, it is publically available at multiple sources. But when you do seek it out on other sources, use multiple sites and then collate it so you can then think on what you have found. THEN – you can make your own informed decisions as to what you can risk saying in Russia without becoming a target of any Russian government agencies.

 

Both, Russia and China, as the two preeminent examples, attempt to control their people by restricting communication – visual and audio – so the people cannot grow and become aware and knowledgeable of what is true around the world. Russia and China control the media so the leaders in power can remain in power and control all outcomes.

Both countries, especially China, revert to saying that they do so because they do not want western influences creeping in and subverting their way of life. The leadership does not want to see the current way of life being lost, so, they control what people see and say.

 

These various kinds of state sponsored influence is just flat out wrong – let’s hope we can keep chipping away at that kind of wrong and evil influence and eventually manage to shine a light on equality and openness on what is happening in society.

 

Good and not Evil influence

Look, the bottom line is that, whatever you do right (or even in making an honest mistake here and there), might just become something that another wants to do.

There are many out there who want to do a great job in whatever they do, and if this makes them an excellent role model, so be it. And if there are those who want to follow in the footsteps of those excellent role models, those role models should do whatever they can, overtly and even surreptitiously (in a good manner), to enable others to grow, intelligently and successfully.

And yes, this paper could have gone on much longer – but you get the gist of it by now.

 

UNITY! – Terrorism – Je Suis “Charlie” – Je Suis “The World”

 Je Suis “Charlie”  Je Suis “The World”

President Hollande said it right when he called for UNITY in the wake of the insane terrorist attacks in his country this past week. And yes, it is far beyond the time for people of the world to come together and stamp out terrorists and their terrorism attacks on a free democracy.

 

People of the world need to wake up and come together become more than just “Charlie.” People of the free living global population must rise up together and become “The World.”

It is that time.

 

We cannot let terrorists and their hare brained attempts of having a global caliphate through any or all of the various extremist Islamic groups:

• ISIS (or ISIL or IS)
• Al-Qaeda (or Al-Qaida)
• Abu Sayyaf
• Jemaah Islamiah
• Boko Haram
• Etc., etc., etc

People of the world must stand together and stamp out such extremist groups, groups that purport to want to bring purism to the world, by exterminating others who do not fit their standards. This is what entities such as the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and Nazism (via Hitler) attempted to do – kill off blacks and Asians and Jews through mass genocide or to keep them as some type of cattle.

These last two groups were completely wrong in their efforts. The KKK wanted to have only a white world when there was and is a large number of whites that are of mixed race – but they do not know that. Hitler wanted to have a pure Aryan race even though at that time, there were a goodly number of mixed race Germans amongst his ranks of “pure bloods.”

 

Freedom means being free to express your viewpoints without the fear of hatred or retribution. Even if people should know better than to make fun of some image, religious figure, ideology, person group of people and so on – it does not give ANYONE the right to kill someone for making the fun of any of those groups.

Sure, these religious zealots may have been in ‘right’ back during the dark ages of ignorance and superstition 1,000, 2,000 or more millennia ago when people did not know better or were completely suppressed to the where they could not know better. There is no place in the world, among civilized people of the 21^st century where there is the right to kill someone for blaspheming (making fun of or going against) any religion.

Anyone should be able to make fun of some religious – if it is good natured fun that’s one thing, if it is education that is another thing, if it is stupidly obnoxious or evil that is another animal. IT STILL DOES NOT GIVE ANYONE THE RIGHT TO KILL SOMEONE FOR DOING SO!!!

Making fun could be making a point or it could be just simply ignorance – we all bear that price for a free society.

 

People of the world must stand together and stamp out these extremist groups. It means reporting these people or these groups who would cause bodily harm to others or physical damage to public/private structures. And reporting on other people you may know does take courage but it has to be done. No one can just turn a blind eye to others of their own faith, even if it is extreme, if the perpetrator of a future is going to cause physical harm.

Take the attempted firebombing of the NAACP building in Colorado, purportedly by some white guy. First he botched the attack but why did this individual want to firebomb the NAACP? Was it because they were of a different race? Because if it was because of the folks in the Colorado NAACP being black, well, this firebomber has a rude awakening – times have changed and he and others like him need to move on become more sophisticated as we move deeper into the 21^st century.

And this goes for people around the globe, this is a new time. This is not 1,000 BCE (or BC if you prefer) where superstition was rampant. It is not 1,000 CE (or AD) where ignorance and suppression were the law (so to speak) of the land.

 

This is 2015, we must all learn to live with each other and accept the other for the differences there are between you/us. The world is becoming smaller every day, the number of people on the planet keeps going up and living spaces are shrinking as more people move to cities. Religious groups must adapt and learn that their religion is not the only religion or the best religion – there are many but none of them gives anyone the right to kill in the name of religion as the Christian Crusades wrongly did (to name one set of extremes) for so many years, multiple times.

 

Freedom means that women can have equality in pay for work; or that women can drive a car, unchaperoned in the mid-East. Freedom means that girls and boys can go to school to gain an education rather than girls being banned from learning and boys only attending mind and soul sapping madrassas. Freedom means that if you are of one race or religion, you can freely marry someone of a different race or religion without the fear of being stoned to death.

Freedom means just that, being free to do what you, as an individual wants to do – not because some religious faction or extremely conservative religious organization tells you what to do.

 

We have freedom of choice; we need to spread it around the world. The world must stand together and stamp out these wildly extreme terrorist groups like Boko Haram. If a country like Nigeria cannot stop the spread and terroristic killings committed by Boko Haram, then the world must step in and help. For example, the African Union and neighboring countries must band together to stop this insidious spread of fanaticism and wholesale murder. Other countries should be willing and wanting to step in and stand with a country such as Nigeria to curtail and stamp out Boko Haram, especially as Boko Haram attempts to compete with ISIS for world attention.

If we do not stand together and stamp out these terrorist groups, they will continue to sprawl out, gaining more converts and continue killing.

WE – MUST – STAND – TOGETHER – NOW!!!!

 

SHAME! ISIS & WEAK Support from Congress, Senate, EU & mid-East allies

Shame on our American Congress and Senate! I will come back to that.

It is sad to see the growth and atrocities of the terrorist oriented group known as ISIS (or ISIL or IS) continue, not unabated, but slowed down. It is not just Americans being beheaded; it is Brits and other mid-Eastern citizens too.

It is Syrians, Iraqis, Yazidis and Kurds being, not murdered, but exterminated!

Okay, back to that shame comment. Here we are with many of our Congress and Senate unwilling to make a sincere, heartfelt move to vote for allowing America to make strongER moves against ISIS. WAIT! I do apologize; let me revise that last statement.

It appears that many in our Congress and Senate want to “wait” until after this fall’s election cycle is over. In this manner, those who are reticent to vote for a move against ISIS can first survive their election race. This way, they would not have to worry about their vote being recorded on the books.

This, to me mind you, seems highly “un-American” that those affected (or afflicted) individuals continue to put themselves before anything else, inclusive of a better:

• Health care system for all
• Educational system for our children
• Highway and bridge infrastructure system for all
• Clean, green energy infrastructure to wean us off of gas and oil (not just from abroad but from within the US as well)
• Etc. – it is a very long list that our Congress and Senate can work on.

But, those are episodes for other writings. 

What I currently understand is that these folks really are ready to fully engage – ‘after the elections, once they are voted in again.’

The problem here is, many constituents are very short sighted and selfish and do not look long term, down the road, for the country as a whole. So, we wind up with people in congress and the senate who are also narrowly focused on the short term…

In the meantime, ISIS goes on – very, very sad. 

Now, our EU and mid-Eastern ‘allies’ and “partners” should be even more ashamed. The U.S. did not single handedly create a growing ISIS, even though some snarky hot head will say we did.

This is a conflict of religion. A religious conflict of one extremely radical element with a desire to transform the entire region, if not the world, into what they envision the world should be – a strict adherence to Islam and Sharia law, no exceptions and with the death of all infidels, us. ISIS only wants one thing, a Caliphate.

 

Has diplomacy and communication failed America? Is force truly the ‘only’ answer and best method to curtail this type of situation? 

Maybe now is the time for us to pull back U.S. interests from the mid-East and possibly the EU, letting ISIS flourish and spread throughout the mid-East and into Europe and possibly even the western front of Russia?

If our EU allies and more specifically, our mid-East partners are unwilling to help quash this extremist brand of Islamists, should the U.S. realistically undertake so much of this fight any longer? We simply cannot be the primary force or the leading force in that region… 

Should we become the isolationists we once were prior to the beginning of the Great War (WWI)?

If we pull back all of our forces and much of our American interests as possible and resort to being isolationist again – we can focus on rebuilding America. We can help our own people to grow. We can stop dumping billions of dollars into the Middle East where centuries old tribal factions and sectarian consternation (or mayhem) continues on and on and on. And in the background, some mid-East countries (or leaders) continue to support the radicals.

If we pull back and become isolationists, we can focus on beefing up our airports, shipping ports, borders and coastal defenses to pre-empt any wannabe terrorist from entering the country, our home – where people supposedly stand together, for the American people…

And since there is only tepid overarching support from multiple coalition parties, should the U.S. just stand back in the distance and watch the Wahabis (or Wahhabis) kill off the Sunnis or watch the Shia kill off the Sunnis and Wahabis or some other configuration?

If we pull back, we can rebuild our currency coffers and reduce our national debt load. We can focus on making America great and wonderful!

 

Oh. Yes. You were saying, “What about the spread of ISIS and all the mass killings of men, women and children – and don’t forget the atrocities undertaken on the defenseless – and the wanton destruction of priceless historical artifacts?”

Well…. We can take the tack of Turkey, where they stated the U.S. would not be allowed to use any Turkish sites to launch American airstrikes. We could say in turn when ISIS becomes a bigger problem for Turkey that we prefer not to put U.S. troops in harms’ way by having them in Turkey, Turkey can fend for itself.

Or, we could take the tack of Egypt where they stated that they have their own terrorist problems to deal with. In that case, we could say that the U.S. has our own demons back at home to focus on, such as unhinged KKK members/groups, extreme sovereign citizens, out of control militias, etc.

As for Germany and France, shucks, I am not sure what to say about them. Maybe, we could just stand back and state we have our own problems as German/French ISIS members sneak back into those countries and cause mass casualties. Maybe the U.S. should just let Israel unload on Syria since Assad is unwilling to be a leader and step down from his dictatorial position.

I dunno….

 

In the meantime, tens of thousands of people will needlessly die or be forced to convert to that extreme religion. Along the way, women and young girls will be sold off and/or given away as unwilling brides. Or worse… 

Of course, our backing off and reverting to isolationist will not transpire. It will not happen because of oil in the mid-East and the great many U.S. interests throughout the EU.

Until we, the U.S., actually get to a clean, green energy economy and get people into congress and the senate who “want” to do the right thing instead of listening to the wild, vocal minority of their respective parties, well, we’re screwed basically and will continue playing a massive role of world policemen.

 

If other coalition partners are unwilling to do more to stop this heinous and cancerous growth of ISIS, it is only going to get worse and become costlier over time – in lives and the very, very tight budgets of all countries in the current state of global economy.

The biggest fly in the ointment is Syria, where everyone seems to agree is the nerve center for ISIS. If Assad is unwilling to allow strikes against ISIS and with Putin opening his yap (being Assad’s buddy and all) stating that any strikes into Syria is an act of war – then how will that region of the world ever get to a state of less terror???

 

We, the global community, are at a serious crossroad. How do we solve this ISIS problem if diplomacy has seemingly failed and religious differences continue to fester…?

Because it boils down to this, how does one deal with an unbalanced, unhinged person or group (ISIS)?

 

Decapitating ISIS & Terrorists and American & Western Interests…

Decapitating ISIS

It seems that some folks want to decapitate ISIS and that is a good thing. But doing it is going to be difficult, especially if the U.S. is going to go about it seemingly by ourselves. {UPDATE 9/6/2014: As many of you are well aware by now, there is a much broader coalition of other nations, via NATO, joining in to work on stopping ISIS, using strategic and tactical efforts…}

Leaders in other Western countries, mid-Eastern countries and their people as well, appear to not want to help quash this growth of barbaric thugs using religion as a cover.

It is quite likely a large number of Americans also do not have the heart to want to stop this group of zealots in a foreign country because it is not in the U.S. of A…

American / Western Interests

The issue of this ISIS problem and translating how it is a danger to American and/or Western interests is not one of presenting it to the large urban cities of the U.S. and Wall Street and the media.

We have to translate this issue for the folks of the mid-West, the Bible Belt, the Rust Belt – basically the people of Main Street.

Sure, talking about decapitating ISIS is one thing but we have to give more concrete examples of how purging ISIS would help American interests.

Now, I mean no disrespect to all but surely many people of Main Street understand that there are a large number of American interests to watch over in the various mid-East countries:

• Embassy/Consulate personnel (and their families) who are possible targets
• American businesses attempting to create harmonious opportunities between the country in question and the U.S. are targets
• American businesses such as FedEx, UPS and others who fly into and out of some of these countries affected by Jihadist bent individuals are targets, especially for those zealots attempting to covertly ship explosives into the U.S. and
• Peaceful American businesses attempting to expand around the globe (even oil companies)

And let’s not forget the American interests in the Homeland due to terrorist trained individuals. Those Americans and/or individuals from Western allied countries who convert to Islam in order to join the Jihad and easily (if they are not on any watch list) bring newly gained Jihadist skills back to the U.S. or throughout Europe to:

• Because of our openness, create targets out of shopping malls, banks, office complexes and other venues which have a large potential in causing massive panic and fear
• Need I go on as to what some idiot suicide bomber could do to American interests, within the U.S.? The converted Islamist zealot does not have to go to a major U.S. city to create havoc, they could go to any or several Main Street U.S.A.(‘s) to cause significant pain for our country.

Any and all conceivable American interests are in jeopardy of ISIS now that they have the funds (I talked about that in another writing), seized weaponry and it seems quite a large number of people to create massive turmoil throughout the mid-East, the E.U.

In addition, ISIS could very possibly, support/supply any American converted idiot/Islamic zealot who for whatever reason (low self-esteem, feeling slighted by some American policy or agency) wanted to create ‘pay-back’ for their individual problem(s).

The American convert does not have to carry any money with them as they return to the U.S. after being trained – Western Union is still one of many ways to transfer money to the converted Jihadist, even if it is via multiple small amount transfers (ie: $3 – 4,000 at a time).

So, do your own thinking of other American interests (in the Homeland or abroad) as to what might be a juicy target for these religious ragamuffins…

Asymmetric Warfare

In performing strategic and tactical moves against ISIS (and Boko Haram – they need some love as well) we have to consider moving to more asymmetric guerilla warfare efforts. If ISIS is doing it, we sure as, ahhh, S**T (or rain) had best be doing the same maneuvering as they are. Besides, did we NOT learn anything from Vietnam and our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 20+ years???

We ‘do’ need to consider more and better ways of tagging and tracking those wanna be American Jihadists before they cause death in this country. And whatever we do decide, we have to be clearly conscious of American and EU privacy issues.

We have to develop better intelligence sources to combat this scourge of evil before they go even further.

We have to develop better relations, somehow, with countries in the mid-East, better than what we have in place now.

We have to get better at communication to be sure what we are saying is coming across clearly – FROM the perspective of those in the mid-East, not through the blinding filter of our Western perception.

But, overall, if we have to fight ISIS and Boko Haram type groups without significant help from other Western or mid-Eastern countries, then we had best become even better at asymmetric guerilla warfare and wipe out these individuals.

For one, we have to cut off the flow of individuals from Syria, at the border there, into Iraq and then create a massive pincer movement (guerilla style) around those fighters within Iraq.

Because if we do not do something now, it will only become worse as time goes on.

Again, there are many who myopically do not see the danger to American interests at this time – those short-sighted individuals (American or European or mid-Eastern) want to be complacent until it is too late.

Or the complacent will decide to leave it to others to fight ISIS. But if it is not the U.S. then who else is fighting ISIS, besides the Kurds who are out-armed…???

Yes, it would be quite nice to decapitate ISIS but we need a major concerted effort to do so. The decapitation of James Foley should have been an eye-opening wake-up call for the faint at heart and weak of will.

So…. wouldn’t it be great in preventing:

• yet another genocide from occurring (the Yazidis) and/or
• the forced conversion of people to another religion or else face mass murder…?

Last of all and even more importantly – there MUST be TIMELY and equitable sharing of intelligence information between all law enforcement (LE) and intelligence agencies within the U.S., Interpol and several other Western LE and Intel organizations.

That sharing HAS to happen for any of this having any chance of working. FBI cannot stonewall DHS, nor can DEA block needed intel amongst LE agencies around the country (only two examples here).

ISIS, Boko Haram & Home Grown Terrorists – in the U.S…. Surveillance time?

**** moved from http://patrick642.wordpress.com ****

It appears that we are entering another era of pain and trouble, globally.

When I say we, it is not the ‘Royal “We”’ but we as in citizens of the world, in the Western developed countries and most especially those of us in the U.S. 

We, the United States, have stepped into a situation in the mid-east that should have been handled by that country’s own military and security forces. That country, yes, is Iraq.

Due to Nouri al-Maliki, of the Shia sect, Prime Minister of Iraq being ‘unwilling’ to logically, diplomatically, politically and economically share power with the Sunni and the Kurds of that country – he failed on a massive scale. So, as a result, we now have the outrageous growth of a group of religious zealots – the Islamic State, formerly ISIS, formerly ISIL and even further back, an off-shoot of al-Qaeda (or al-Qaida or even al-Qa’ida – depending on your viewpoint and background).

 

In doing our humanitarian bit of sending our resources (men, women, financial, materiel, etc.) to willingly go into harm’s way to help those that cannot help themselves, we may have painted another bulls eye on our collective back. ISIS is easier to type than writing out their latest and newest name, kinda like some rock star constantly changing names depending on where the moon is in the sky…. so, I will continue using ISIS.

As it stands, there is no other country willing to step as far forward and help other countries with the advancements of equality, democracy and openness. These other large countries only make token drops of assistance during times of disaster or humanitarian need.

Yes, yes, yes, the U.S. – we DO still have problems but we are continually working on them, much better than many other large countries seem to be doing. For example, we do not censor or block Internet access just because some official (or government) does not want transparency and/or takes offense at someone or some group making disparaging/revealing remarks/statements …

 

A couple of days ago, Abu Mosa, a spokesman for the terror group ISIS, in talking about America made this statement (1): ““We will humiliate them everywhere, God willing, and we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House,” he added.”

Now what does that tell you? Keep in mind, this group of zealots has taken over banks and control of vast amounts of money to fund their growth. Also keep in the forefront of your thoughts, the world community cannot willy nilly freeze the Iraqi currency, the dinar, to keep it from being used…

And in addition, remember, these zealots have taken over Iraqi bases and armories, facilities full of weaponry that can be moved across borders. The weapons I refer to are things that can easily be smuggled, RPGs, grenades, mines and other projectile bombs and mines.

Think about it, if people and other illicit items (drugs, alcohol and cigarettes) can easily find their way into the U.S., so too can this kind of weaponry find its way onto American soil – for a price, via down on their luck (or not) traitorous U.S. citizens.

Many of you out there already are aware of the ‘Home Grown Terrorist’ growth in the U.S. and how so many people want to be part of a Jihadist movement – for whatever reason. These ‘home grown’ individuals are from many parts of America and take many forms as you have seen:

• Mexican American
• White American
• Black American and all the
• Displaced/Immigrated – legal/illegal mid-easterners – Iraqi, Palestinian, Syrian, Jordanian, Yemeni, Saudi and on and on and on…

Now that ISIS has their hands on quite a bit of money, manipulative propaganda and weaponry, the next step you have to take is in asking yourself, “How much of these new resources can ISIS move into the West (and the U.S.)?”

Then you have to ask yourself “How fast can they do it?”

Following these two basic questions, you should be thinking, “Can we see this movement in real time and stop it, using tools like the power of the SWIFT network (2). Will we possibly use the power of our intelligence agencies to take peeks into the meta-data of phone, internet communications “BEFORE” something catastrophic occurs in the U.S., similar to our 9/11 rather than attempting to connect the dots “AFTER” whatever happens, happens.

The only snag here is, will the American people and people of other western countries be willing to allow tighter surveillance and scrutiny to stop the growth and insidious spread of ISIS and whatever harm they will continue to do…???

We now, more than ever, will need to strategize on how to counter a newer crop of home grown terrorists in light of the funding that ISIS has on hand and is getting. Some of that funding is and/or was purportedly from some U.S. allies – Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, I have no way of corroborating this other than going with content from several news outlets, two included below (3,4).

Will the Western world be willing to have tighter security in advance of ISIS or wait and see what happens, after it is too late? We, the U.S. will need law enforcement in conjunction with intelligence agencies, local/state/federal governments to develop and implement even better strategies on dealing with a ‘possible’ slew of more new home grown terrorists…

We already know that this group wants to put its imprint on everything and force everyone to bow to their way of life – sharia law, follow Islam or die, the continual destruction of ancient artifacts and buildings simply because they are not Islamic.

We also already know that the mass number of Muslims around the world do not stand for this brand of Islamic beliefs. However, I am very surprised that many more Muslims are not helping to stop this cancerous growth or condemning what ISIS is doing.

 

Boko Haram is likely hitching, or probably willing to hitch their wagon to ISIS, though I have no way of knowing if either group wants to be connected to the other.

 

No one should be fooling themselves into thinking that ISIS will never create trouble (or death) on the homeland that is just a waste of brain cells. These people are serious, deadly serious.

And I have not heard it yet but I would not discount anyone stating that these people have airplanes (after taking over so many Iraqi facilities) they can use as a form of WMD…

 

Is anyone willing to believe that ISIS could not make it to the U.S.? Is anyone going to be foolish enough to make a bet on that? Because as far as I know, no one on planet Earth is omniscient, at least not until someone reaches the long heralded Singularity…

Is anyone foolish enough to believe that we should not be making “better” preparations for Home Grown Terrorists ahead of ISIS aiding any maladjusted, misguided and dare I say ‘crazed’ individuals?

We already saw a significant spike in militias and sovereign citizens since our 44^th President took office – we do not need more.

 

And hopefully I do not come across as a dogmatic scare-monger; I am just looking at the landscape and down the road – especially if the people of the mid-Eastern countries cannot take care of this ISIS problem…

 

References

1 – ISIS Threatens America: ‘We Will Raise The Flag Of Allah In The White House’, http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/08/isis-threatens-america-we-will-raise-the-flag-of-allah-in-the-white-house/, 8 Aug 2014

2 – SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), http://www.swift.com/about_swift/index

3 – America’s Allies Are Funding ISIS, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/america-s-allies-are-funding-isis.html, 14 Jun 2014

4 – The United States’ biggest ‘allies’ are funding ISIL, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/08/374537/americas-biggest-allies-funding-isis/, 9 Aug 2014