ISIS; Why they are successful, and how do we defeat them?

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard, listened to, or watched the ongoing man hunts for ISIS members since the Paris bombings. There have been several opinions and debates going on surrounding this. Let’s be real clear here. We can all speak our opinions, but 99% of us are not in charge…so even if you do not agree with this blog..do not attack me personally. I am NOT in charge, you are not in charge (unless you are congress, Obama, the house, or senate) If you are congress, Obama, the house or senate, then you my friend are indeed in charge. But to all us normal folks, we’re not..so we can share, gripe, and be opinionated, and none of it will probably matter. This is MY opinion of the issue. Please feel free to comment and share yours!

The clear problem here is ISIS. I think everybody can agree that ISIS needs to be destroyed. Unless you are affiliated with ISIS, you probably agree with me. I’ve heard about ISIS over the past couple of years. I’ll randomly hear their name in the news, but I’m going to be honest,  I haven’t given them much thought, until now. I can almost guess most of you haven’t thought of them until now either. So why are we concerned with them now? They have been threatening the US for quite sometime. Did I give it much thought? Nope. But then, they infiltrated, carried out a plan, and set off bombs all throughout a city, and not just any city…Paris, France. This was ISIS saying, pay attention, we are here, and we are a threat. Now, they have the worlds attention, which is, by the way, exactly what they wanted.

In my opinion, ISIS would not be successful in generations before us. One word as to why I believe that, TECHNOLOGY! ISIS uses technology flawlessly. They are people of this generation. This generation is consumed by technology. Would they be able to recruit like they do without technology? Nope. Would they be able to communicate over this “dark space” without the proper technology? Nope. Would they be able to put fear in our hearts like they have without media, social media, propaganda? Nope. They’ve figured this generation out, because they ARE this generation. So, how do you defeat something when you don’t even know where it is? ISIS is everywhere, in every country. They are in America. ISIS targets people who feel like they don’t fit into society, they brainwash them to make them believe they will fit in with them. These people have no connections in the world, and we are humans. We CRAVE connection and love weather we want to admit that or not. These low self esteem people who feel zero connection to the world and who feel zero love, get sucked right in to ISIS. There are lone wolves everywhere. So, in reality ISIS is going to be hard to defeat.

Let’s really think about ISIS compared to the United States and every other civilized country. These are guys that are strapping HOMEMADE bombs to their bodies and blowing themselves up. They don’t have nuclear weapons, or weapons of mass destruction. They are kind of like toddlers compared to us. But clearly they have figured something out if they are taking down airplanes and carrying out deadly attacks on a major city. I’ve had the thought, let’s just bomb the whole country. But that wouldn’t be diplomatic now would it? That’s what we must remember. We are diplomats. We don’t just go around blowing countries up. And honestly, as I said earlier, ISIS is everywhere. Would that completely eliminate them? I don’t think so.

I’ve read and heard a lot of people say we need to send in all of our troops, let’s make this World War III. I disagree. Are we pretty much already at war? Yes, but most of the world is. I am 100% for backing and helping France and Russia defeat ISIS. Everyone needs to come together to defeat ISIS. But do I think we need to send in all of our troops and get this country in another war that lasts years to come!? Nope. Would you like to know why? Simply put, our economy CANNOT handle it. The people screaming “LETS GO TO WAR!” are going to be the same people pointing fingers saying “OUR ECONOMY SUCKS” after the war is over. You can’t spend trillions of dollars on war AND have a great economy…not with the way our budget is set up!  Are you hearing me Donald Trump? (Sorry to all the Trump supporters, BARF)

So the question is….how do we defeat ISIS? I sometimes wonder, if the media did not put ISIS in the forefront and if Americans continued living their life as if ISIS does not exist and they had ZERO media coverage, would they thrive? I mean the top secret government spies, FBI, and CIA would still need to pay attention to ISIS, I’m talking about our media and everyday people. Would they thrive if they had NO publicity? They throw out these propaganda magazines, and social media threats and have a whole nation living in FEAR! It’s honestly crazy to think how one sentence over a computer evokes so much fear. Technology is POWERFUL. ISIS is so successful because of technology, that has to be in the plan to defeat them…right? (which Donald Trump did mention, right before he threw everyone else under the bus for doing such a shitty job- I still don’t like you,Donald) This is why I really respect the group “Anonymous” right  now. They are citizens, like us….not government officials. They are hacking ISIS left and right to try to fight and limit their technology use. They also recognize technology as one of ISIS main reason for success. Anonymous can do things the United States government can not do legally. Isn’t it crazy, how even in war there are rules!? I mean I understand why, but it is funny to think about. If you want to help Anonymous, they have simplified exactly what you can do here.  http://bgr.com/2015/11/18/anonymous-vs-isis-hacking-guide/

Honestly, because they are EVERYWHERE, I don’t know how to defeat them. That is what is scary. I know we are bombing the Oil trucks (their money supply)…surely if you cut off their funding, that helps defeat them. Nations are bombing their territory and conducting man hunts all over the world. But as soon as you have one small group, another group pops up! I don’t have any strong suggestions on how to beat ISIS. However, I don’t think we beat ISIS by focusing on refugees. (read why in my next blog…COMING SOON)

I’ve listened to several “plans”, and of course every republican is criticizing Obama because they can do so much better (D.T.) and most democrats are supporting the plan. It’s always a political debate isn’t it? Honestly, I couldn’t imagine having to make this decision. We can judge, criticize, and have our opinions, but we’re not in the position to do much. So, I will continue to live my life, everyday, WITHOUT fear, and hope that the people in charge can come together to put plans in place to defeat ISIS.

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave…!

By the way, all I can really think about is “What would Olivia Pope do?” (Please tell me you watch Scandal!)

*Peace & Love*