The Islamic State, widely known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), has been attacking, beheading, and burning innocent Christian and Muslim peoples throughout the Middle East and more recently, Europe.
Unfortunately, as CBS News Senior National Security Analyst Juan Zarate made clear, people are unsure whether ISIS “is really a group just devoted to the regional goals of establishing an Islamic caliphate, or if at the same time they are developing global — not just ambitions but capabilities to attack the West.” However, the West may have gotten some clues from ISIS spokesperson Adani who recently told the West that “(ISIS) will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women. If we do not reach that time, then our children and grandchildren will reach it, and they will sell your sons as slaves at the slave market.” On January 7 2015, France, once the bastion of enlightenment visions and the champion of western ideas, was the target of Muslim extremists. They attacked the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine that had caricatured the Muslim prophet Muhammad in its publication. The terrorists—brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi—shouted, “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad” and “God is Great” in Arabic after they shot and killed Charlie Hebdo staff. The French attack showed the world that ISIS was no longer the “JV” team as President Obama once put it.
[one_third]Those in the Middle East must realize that what creates peace in the West is the individuality and uniqueness of citizens.[/one_third]
Soon after the Charlie Hebdo attack, ISIS also burned a Jordanian pilot to death and beheaded two Japanese hostages. It is astounding that the world hasn’t been able to do much to hinder such terroristic actions. While the United States, along with a coalition of 65 countries, have been hitting ISIS with airstrikes for months now, the group continues to be relentless in its attacks. After months of reading about harrowing executions, terrible occurrences in the Middle East, and new terror threats in the Western World, I have come to the following conclusion: ISIS seeks to become a worldwide terror threat so that they can, by fear mongering, force people worldwide into their cult belief systems. Perhaps like the Russian empire after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, terrorists in the Middle East do not want to be forgotten. Those in the Middle East fear oblivion as would any other empire in the modern world; however, Middle Eastern countries lack the resources and finances to create empires like those of the Western World, leading them to resort to terrorism.
Terrorists, regardless of religious affiliation, must realize that peace is not instituted through forced uniformity of religion, politics, or social systems. Radical Muslims throughout the Middle East have been fighting for years to impose Sharia Law upon those who have different beliefs than they do. Interestingly, these radical groups have even resorted to killing others Islamic sects that do not agree with them, along with Christians and atheists throughout the Middle East and around the globe.
Those in the Middle East must realize that what creates peace in the West is the individuality and uniqueness of citizens. To forcefully implement an uniform society is to relinquish the traits of human beings that make us just that—humans. Although ISIS seeks to institute a Muslim caliphate throughout the world, if one were to look to historical occurrences, that goal is not only impossible, but undesirable. In the French Revolution, for example, Robespierre’s impenetrable hold on the French Government was soon destroyed by those who had once supported his countless beheadings. Eventually, people came to realize that if he killed all who opposed him, no one would be left to enjoy the government that they fought so hard to create.
As ISIS continues to attack, murder, and terrorize those against them, only time will tell how the world will handle their relentless cruelty. ISIS should look to history and seek to create peace, not war.
