Near-term future of terrorism in the United States
| Subject: | 🧑🤝🧑 Sociology |
| Type: | Analytical Essay |
| Pages: | 3 |
| Word count: | 858 |
| Topics: | Terrorism, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Islam, ⚔️ Military Science |
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Terrorism has become a menace across the globe with many nations facing the wrath of militant groups that carry out dangerous attacks on their perceived enemies. The United States of America being a superpower has faced this challenge before, and necessary measures must be taken to avert the impending danger. There have been two terror groups which pose a significant threat to our national security, peace and stability. They include the Al-Qaida and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The Al-Qaida militant group was formed in 1988 by Osama Bin Laden whose aim was to fight the Soviet Union that invaded Afghanistan (Cockburn, 2015). The group has grown to be more powerful and its members consist of notorious Muslim extremist and jihadists.
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) was formed in 1999 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and pledged allegiance to the Al-Qaida network before they were denounced due to their extreme nature in the manner in which they carried out their operations. The Islamic State of Iraq has grown to be more powerful in the years owing to their increased radicalization of new recruits and financing through oil sales from oil fields that they control in Syria and Iraq. This terror group is posed to be the greatest threat to the security of the United States of America (United States, 2016). They also stream funds from scamming banks, holding hostages and demanding ransom from their home countries; funding from wealthy Arab families in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia and through administering taxes to businesses that run in the territories that they control. It is known to be lethal and they have numerous strategies that they use in conducting their attacks.
ISIS uses suicide bombers regardless of their age and gender. These lone bombers comprise of sympathizers and radicalized persons. It, therefore, means that the adversary might be within our country and the security departments ought to be very vigilant as more people get exposed to these jihadist teachings through the internet as well as connections through social media sites used for recruitment (Wood, 2017). Recently, the attacks have been witnessed in Paris in the Stade de France stadium where three suicide bombers detonated bombs in their waist, killing at least 130 people. This method is very convenient for them to carry out overseas attacks and, therefore, should be studied and analyzed properly.
The perilous Islamic States are now using crude chemical armaments, comprising of rockets containing mustard and chlorine gas, which are simple to produce. Such missiles might be used to launch rocket-propelled bombs into our air space. The strategy is considered to be a psychological warfare rather than a biological one that the group is using to scare the enemy away and to show their combat might (Wood, 2017). ISIS is also said to be smuggling components that are used in the manufacturing these gases into other countries around the world that they target to attack. Intrinsically, our forces should be extra careful while dealing with immigrants who carry peculiar substances which are not easily recognizable or their use is not clear.
Nonetheless, the use of online propaganda by the insurgents is another way that ISIS uses to radicalize persons and influence them to join their terror group. They also use the internet to cause fear and assert their strength, control and claim responsibility for various attacks across the globe. Owing to the impending danger, it is therefore crucial for the United States to consider ways to conquer ISIS to guard our nation’s security (Cockburn, 2015). However, pacifying the Islamic States will be tough. A comprehensive strategy to deal with the impending danger must, therefore, be implemented by starting with an assessment phase. This plan must commence with a precise scrutiny of the origin of intentions, strengths, and weaknesses of the Islam Caliphate formed by ISIS. That way, we can devise a coherent counter-strategy. Considerably, the threat must be understood first (Mabon, Royle & Mabon, 2017).
The framework of the above strategy includes an evaluation of ISIS chief strategy and their military objectives in Syria and Iraq. Subsequently, there is need to conduct the center of gravity study to diagnose the primary sources of strength for ISIS and skills to know how efforts and supporting efforts can be used together to defeat ISIS. The center of gravity action plan comprises of two main sub-sections, the classical way in which ISIS uses to fight modern states and continue controlling their gained territories and the political capacity that aids its members to undertake state functions in its area of jurisdiction (Zaman, 2015). ISIS’s strength originates from the capability to convert military authority into political authority, thus, claiming that the Caliphate is evident. A way to conquer ISIS, hence, must cut off this synergy between the military and political operations of ISIS and its stratum-like leadership (Mabon, Royle & Mabon, 2017). Using this strategy, the US will be able will be able to weaken the strength of this militant group and subdue it such that it will be powerless and unable to carry out anymore attacks on our land.
- Wood, G. (2017). The way of the strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State. New York: Random House.
- Zaman, T. (2015). U.S. policy pertaining Iraq and Syria and the threat posed by the Islamic State.Atlanta: Newlight.
- Mabon, S., Royle, S., & Mabon, S. (2017). The origins of ISIS: The collapse of nations and revolution in the Middle East. London: I.B. Tauris.
- Cockburn, P. (2015). The rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the new Sunni revolution. Boston: Falcom.
- United States. (2016). United States strategy and military operations to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and United States policy toward Iraq and Syria: Hearings before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, first session, May 21; July 7, September 16; December 9, 2015. Washington: U.S. Government Publishing Office.
Offered for reference purposes only.