^^^ myos I just saw the monthly income from oil for Isis was 40 million dollars- why did the world allow this ?
And, I’ve read the atlantic article by Graeme wood,"what Isis really wants " march 2015- a couple times now - and, highly reommend, as others have posted.
The world allowed this because, . Turkish barons and Erdogan cronies make a lot of money off of that oil for instance, and that’s just one region where we can track transactions. Many countries don’t care where oil comes from. We can put pressure on some countries to refuse buying the oil, bomb the plants, or reconquer them (and help the peshmergas). Ey, if the peshmergas can keep the oil refineries, and kept selling it for cheap to Turkish businessmen, it’d help both general peace between Erdogan and the kurds, and the fights against ISIS (since the peshmergas seem to be the only ones willing to fight on the ground + capable of winning).
I must say I was expecting to get all jumped for suggesting FB/YT close accounts.
^ don’t those facebook and you tube accounts help track the activity ? As Graeme Wood states in the atlanic article, the Islamic state is clear about their goals and missions.
Apparently, we need the Silicon Valley minds to help decipher their more advanced technology. Scary!
How much freedom are all of us willing to give up to be safe?
Global Thermonuclear War is quite a bit different from this.
Yup, they’re very clear about their goals. Essentially, they’re a deadly combo of death cult and violent militantism. And they’ve got money. Yay.
At this point, we don’t really need to track their activity , especially considering the costs, the leaders are being tracked through other means… (For instance, radical mosques that preach djihad aren’t closed because it allows for a close monitoring of those who make concrete plans to go and wage war, whereas if they were banned they’d exist in secret, in basements or random places, and would be harder to monitor.) Considering how many thousands kids have been lured to the territory isis controls, not to mention those who’ve been radicalized through videos and FB pages, it seems there’s not much downside to trying to shut those off.
They are medieval in their practices, with some braindead fanatical brutes for warriors, but they also have very sharp brains for leaders. This we saw last year when took over, from a far distance, an entire TV station (France24, I believe.)
Some more articles in English:
Why is ISIS targeting France?
http://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/161115/why-islamic-state-targeting-france
Overwhelmed anti-terrorist units?
http://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/151115/frances-anti-terrorist-services-overwhelmed-task-hand
"^ myos I just saw the monthly income from oil for Isis was 40 million dollars- why did the world allow this ?
"
Because American suburban mommies needed their gas guzzling SUVs and minivans for the one time a week they chauffeured the soccer team.
I’m glad France is bombing the crap out of them!
I don’t want to play a blame the victim game, but in some ways the French and Belgian treatment of their immigrant population (meaning mostly North African and African) has been very poor and the youth have basically no upward mobility in their society. Resentment and suspicion by the majority population make fertile grounds for radical recruitment.
Here is an article on ISIS and their oil business. Apparently we don’t want to hit the bigger oil fields because we want to save them for after the conflict…
And the US bombed several of their trucks yesterday http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/middleeast/us-strikes-syria-oil.html?_r=0
in response to “I don’t want to play a blame the victim game, but in some ways the French and Belgian treatment of their immigrant population (meaning mostly North African and African) has been very poor and the youth have basically no upward mobility in their society. Resentment and suspicion by the majority population make fertile grounds for radical recruitment.”
I am afraid that facts might belie such a statement. The alienation of immigrants in Belgium is mostly self-inflicted. Are you aware of the massive benefits paid out to immigrants in Belgium by the social security system? Free medical insurance, generous unemployment for ALL adults and generous family allowances that can reach in the thousands of euros for a large family? Freedom of religion that includes subsidizing the cost of Muslim education? Same for schools.
The rise of radicalism has destroyed decades of quasi assimilation in Belgium.
The situation in France is different.
While it’s true opportunities for the French from North African origins have been and are pretty bad (how would the US feel if only 6% African American kids went to college?) and upward mobility is terrible, in this case, radicalization seems to be uncorrelated, first because many kids attracted by ISIS aren’t even Muslim or North African, and second because violent radicalization seems to start from being male with a sense of entitlement (ie., you’ll get your true reward that no one else has given you so far*) + either disaffected or in jail (plenty of time to listen to preacher podcasts), neither of which strictly relate to France’s treatment of its minorities.
(At this point, according to a poll I saw before Friday’s events, about a fourth of French teenagers think ISIS is great. Yup. Their sources? FB and YT.)
- ever met a 15-year old boy with no discernable skills who thinks he nevertheless deserves a high-paying job that won't get him dirty and where people will respond to his authority, and therefore is too good for any job available to him? This is common regardless of socio-economic status.
Can’t put the genie back in the bottle. We created this situation from out ill thought out invasion of Iraq, the disbanding of the Iraqi army and the de-baathification laws. This will go down as the biggest blunder in modern history.
I also agree re the reasons France and Belguim are such fertile grounds for recruitment. Iirc, in France children born in France are not automatically citizens and cannot apply for citizenship until the are 18. I think that contributes to an environment already ripe for recruitment.
^However, all children who’ve been living in France for 5 years and going to public school are automatically entitled to a permanent residency card at age 13 if they make the request with a parent’s signature. I once met a 12-year old who was SOOO excited about this and was trying to keep straight-A’s to “represent”.
I agree our system is much more efficient for kids born there, because all the paperwork 18 year olds have to go through in France is unlikely to make them feel welcome in their own country.
^ So as long as we continue to allow anchor babies, the U.S. will be safe from terrorism?
I actually think that the choice to leave a stable, functioning Iraq will go down as the biggest blunder in history.
As far as victim blaming, there are just some cultures that are incompatible within our countries, and in most cases that’s not a representation that either is bad, it’s just different. However, religious Islam is tough. I work with a Muslim group and its members absolutely put succeeding in their new country as the priority and believe that honoring their religion within that framework is possible, and it is and works quite fine. However, when anyone attempts to confirm the new country’s culture into the framework of their religion, success is not possible.
I’ve said this before in another context, but I stand by it. When you import large numbers of young unattached males, regardless of religion or ethnicity, you will have major, major problems.
Most of the North Africans residing in Belgium are second or third generations Belgians. They have had access to massive benefits for decades, including access to a world-class educational system. The country made steadfast progress in integrating its migrants until the darker side of its generosity came to light starting with its constitutionally protected freedom of religion, and the quasi impossibility to control the radical elements disguised as peaceful imams.
There are municipalities in Brussels that are politically controlled by Muslims. The radical positions of a subgroup of the population are not deeply rooted and are of recent history in Belgium. The economic problems have affected all parts of the population and the current situation is not due to organized discrimination. Unfortunately, the adoption of violence or delinquency has been more important among immigrants.
You have to look somewhere else than at the poor adoption of immigrants by Belgians to uncover the reason of the rise of terrorism in the center of Brussels. A good start might be the lack of controls and the excessive freedom offered.
This video helped me understand the mess that is Syria now.
http://www.vox.com/2015/11/14/9735102/syria-isis-history-video
Of course there was. We removed that Saddam guy. In case you didn’t notice, he had really unpleasant habits.