NEVER underestimate your enemy.
If you are the Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America and do not understand what this phrase means, or arrogantly choose to brush aside it's inherent wisdom, then you are not fit for office.
The “JV team” was much more sophisticated than the Obama administration led many of us to believe.
Was our former President’s wave of the hand dismissal of ISIS due to ignorance? Arrogance? Perhaps hubris? To be fair I’ll say he was severely "uninformed”.
Although ISIS has been defeated in Mosul & Raqqa, it still retains somewhat of a level of sophistication which was able to quickly develop during the previous 8 years.
At the time when Obama dismissed ISIS as a threat the terrorist organization had schools, medical clinics, weapons manufacturing capability using parts and finished goods provided by it’s main supporter Saudi Arabia, Grade A raw materials from Turkey and stolen radioactive materials.
This terrorist organization had also developed a well oiled and slick propaganda machine that glorified the brutality of it’s brotherhood with promises of a fabulous life in conquered areas under its control through an endless supply of media and music geared towards the young and impressionable video game generation.
Check out some of ISIS videos which continue to be available on the internet if you know where to look. They are so well made and enticing that they will turn your stomach.
ISIS had drones, watercraft, tanks, chemicals, ammo, firearms, IEDs, bombs, other assorted toys, interesting booby trapping methods, Intel, the clerical okay to rape and enslave which is a pervertedly sanctioned outlet for bloodlust. Everything a boy with the yearning to belong, to have a purpose and a grudge against the world could ever hope for. Unfortunately there is still a plethora of disaffected, disenfranchised and callously dreamy eyed youth being enticed to join.
ISIS engineers were working on RC driverless vehicles (bomb a market, save a jihadist) and could very well be continuing this endeavor today. Other very well educated engineers were developing anti-aircraft missiles capable of downing civilian aircraft and fighter jets and these were only a few of their pet projects. Note: I am unsure if these projects remain on-going after the ISIS defeats in Mosul and Raqqa.
ISIS maintained it’s own infrastructure (something we seem to be incapable of here) and had enviable supply lines.
But they have not stopped indoctrinating their children, it’s all cradle to grave. Literally. Just read the following linked article, their school books are not even remotely similar to the Dick and Jane primers from my elementary school days. And, as Cubs of the Caliphate, they also receive hands-on training and practical experience.
“J Is For Jihad: How The Islamic State Indoctrinates Children With Math, Grammar, Tanks, and Guns”
But for whatever the reason, in 2014 our former Commander-in-Chief mocked the emergence of ISIS as a minor threat in comparison to Al Qaeda. “If a JV team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant,” he told the New Yorker.
Big, fat shame on him. Many of us already realized that ISIS was the worst of the worst, so heinous that even Al-Qaeda denounced them. Quite an accomplishment considering Al-Qaeda was the organization that spawned Osama bin Laden and perpetrated the attacks on 9/11.
Unlike Al-Qaeda, ISIS follows a profoundly over-the-top, amplified and nightmarish version of Wahabbism. They are so radicalized that there is no line in the sand that they will not scuttle over, to include the self sacrifice we witness time and time again.
As soon as the dismissive remark about ISIS passed his lips, good ‘ol #44 should have immediately packed his calf skin bags and jetted for the hills.
But whatever the reason for his laissez-faire attitude it is now a moot point because the damage has been done. All we can do is try to repair it or, more realistically, stem future floods of disaster.
After 9 months of brutal battle against ISIS, the Iraqi Army liberated Mosul on July 10, 2017. This was a difficult fight that, through the bravery and fortitude of the Iraqi troops, ended in a hard won victory for Iraq that was briefly celebrated with the troops immediately moving to the next hot spot.
Just two days after the liberation of Mosul on July 12, 2017, per a press release from Operation Inherent Resolve, it was announced that U.S. coalition airstrikes hit 50 ISIS oil refinements and tankers in two Syrian cities on the same day that the Iraqi government announced its victory over the terrorist organization.
After the liberation of the Iraqi city of Mosul it was estimated that 70,000 to 85,000 to 100,000 of these murderers (numbers vary upon source) remained located in Northern Iraq & Syria, fanning out to other extreme ISIS-friendly cities located in the Syrian Diyala province where Raqqa is located and swelling existing cells scattered throughout the countries. Considering ISIS had the opportunity to regroup, I err on the high side. However defeat in Raqqa has since lowered the figures.
As per Newsweek September 20, 2017, the fight for the city of Raqqa is considered game over due to the massive withdrawal of ISIS.
“Rami Abdelrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a U.K.-based monitoring group that has an extensive network of rebel and activist sources in Syria, said that the Kurdish-Arab coalition known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, now controls ‘over 90 percent’ of the city’s neighborhoods.”
And ahead of the operation to retake Raqqa, which began in June 2017, Defense Secretary James Mattis said this past May Washington had changed its strategy and was “beginning to use ‘annihilation tactics,’ instead of attrition, to defeat the jihadist group… Our intention is that the foreign fighters (ISIS) do not survive the fight to return home… We are going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate.” (Newsweek article link)
And let us not forget the rising number of horrific & unprovoked terrorist attacks against civilians in cities around the globe, both big and small which we hear very little about.
Case in point, on September 15th of this year the ISIS attack in Nasiriyah, in Iraq’s southern Thi Qar province” ( Google Basra) 84 people were killed and 93 people injured, and it is my understanding that the death toll has now climbed past the 120 mark. (Here is the link to one report)
You can also visit the Iraqi Body Count website that is updated daily to understand the severity of on-going ISIS activity. The terrorists are nomadic, traveling from vulnerability to vulnerability.
Preferring death over twisted dishonor they have pledged to never give up. ISIS is a swarm with weapons, various ordnance, bombs, and members willing to sacrifice themselves. Realistically we will never be rid of them entirely.
Another bit of good news associated with the defeats in Mosul and Raqqa is the drastic plunge of income for the group.
Main sources of cash infusions had included territorial taxation of the population, the sale of ancient Iraqi artifacts, ransom payments, the sale of women and girls as slaves and the sale of oil on the black market — yes, they had even appropriated that precious commodity which was a huge money maker for the organization.
In addition capital punishment for those deemed (without trial) as not following the rules, or worse yet judged as non-believers in the extremely conservative tenants that all must observe, has drastically abated.
To punctuate and strengthen my argument I present this fun fact. In a 2015 speech, then CIA Director John Brennan admitted ISIS (after being decimated by George W to a handful of 1,000 or less members) had grown by approximately 4,400% during Obama’s tenure in office. 4,400 percent. Four thousand four hundred percent. Let me stress that again - 4,400%. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
So, Mr. Past President, what do you have to say for yourself? ISIS had been cut off at the knees, and you allowed it’s limbs to grow back.
You allowed disorganized terrorists to become sophisticated and self-sufficient which has now made them much more difficult to contain and tender impotent.
You have forced the U.S. to combat terrorism on a larger scale with a military that is currently in dire need of repair but is in the process of being brought back to it’s former formidable self. Just take a look at the 2016 and 2017 military readiness reports which outline 8 years of reasons why all branches of the military are now rated as sub-par. Thanks pal.
Here is the link to my article “The Meat and Potatoes of the U.S. Military — Where’s the Beef ?” which deals specifically with the U.S. military issue.
When the past administration dropped the ball ISIS had already graduated from the JV league, it was full on Varsity. Well guess what, ISIS became a Pro team and professional players do not give up. ISIS reminds us frequently in statements and deeds that they will not stop wreaking havoc and death until its last breath.
ISIS is ruthless hoard hell bent on annihilating infidels and apostates alike. Try as we might we can’t exterminate them all, but we can stomp on its nest and perhaps avoid the deaths of more American and allied men & women.
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-pol-obama-at-war/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/10/middleeast/isis-after-mosul/index.html
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-Led-Airstrikes-Target-ISIS-Oil-Assets-In-Syria.html
https://www.theblaze.com/podcasts/isis-has-been-defeated-in-mosul-where-will-they-go-next/
http://www.theclever.com/top-15-most-dangerous-terrorist-organizations-in-the-world/
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/29/news/isis-finances-territory/index.html
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-Led-Airstrikes-Target-ISIS-Oil-Assets-In-Syria.html
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/cia-director-isis-has-grown-4400-percent-under-obama/
http://www.newsweek.com/game-over-isis-raqqa-us-backed-forces-near-liberation-caliphate-capital-667995
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/16/j-is-for-jihad-how-isis-indoctrinates-kids-with-math-grammar-tanks-and-guns/
