Opinion  Dr. Yaron Friedman
Why is the Islamic State undefeatable?
Yaron Friedman
Published: 21.05.15, 00:06
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19 Talkbacks for this article
1. Who is buying the ISIS oil production ?
Gabe ,   Canada   (05.21.15)
2. There is a more likely reason...
mark ,   onThisPlanet   (05.21.15)
for the intentional order to withdraw than the one cited. To have sectrian strife requires a visible presence of "them" in the light of hatred. ISIS serves this bill nicely. A circle wagon mentality takes hold and it becomes easier to direct your own hatreds towards achieving own outcomes.
3. Simple. The West has neither the Will,
DT ,   TA Israel   (05.21.15)
courage nor leadership to stand against evil. Fortunately, I believe Israel has and in protecting itself. The West has long "been lost" because of these things mentioned.
4. with all respect...
Jake ,   Jerusalem   (05.21.15)
With due respect to Dr. Yaron Friedman title and degree, he seems to miss the point of how the ISIS took over Ramadi... The US coalition approach to fighting is to fight them as one fights an enemy army, by using heavy airpower and few men on the ground. this may be well and fine when fighting a regular army, but the ISIS is not a regular army; they do not wear uniforms and march in lines and sleep in barracks. The ISIS wears what ever they feel like, sleep in homes in and out of town, move around in small groups and seem imperceptible to the eye until they strike. They moved into Ramadi slowly one by one, and did not appear until it was almost too late. The US coalition can not sit down and see them from a distance. They can not bomb them since it is hard to find them. Killing one leader is good for popular newspaper consumption, but is meaningless. If the local indigenous population is too frightened to alert the authorities for rear of torture, and the local authorities are also in fear, the US really has little hope but need more than air strikes to effectively deal with the problem.
5. I dare to admit, that the current scenario
Chris Rettenmoser ,   Bayerisch Gmain Germ   (05.21.15)
is just GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Syria and Iraq, two of Israels most dangerous enemies have become a battlefield and Iran has to bleed also. Not too bad at all, I think.
6. This "analysis" suffers from a myriad of inaccuracies...
PersianCAT   (05.21.15)
The most glaring one is the following: "The Sunnis in eastern and northern Syria are suffering from ISIS' presence, but they are as hostile towards Hezbollah, which is considered the main support of the oppressing Alawite regime." The author has failed miserably to provide any data/evidence for such baseless remarks. There are many Sunnis, especially the more urban and secular ones that support Asad and understand the role of the Hezb in protecting their country. Maybe the author can explain why Israel is supporting Al Qaeda's cohort, Al Nusra, in Syria.
7. No boots, just one bullet to one head (and the "head resides
(05.21.15)
In the US!)
8. this is a VERY long article that says absolutely nothing new
Rafi ,   US   (05.21.15)
9. Write an entire op-ed that ends with the obvious conclusion?
Steve Benassi ,   Silver Bay, MN USA   (05.21.15)
10. There is no strategy to defeat the Islamic State
(05.21.15)
obama's only goal is to sign the deal with iran and remove the sanctions on iran. as long as the sunnis see that obama sides with shia iran, they will never fight the islamic state in iraq or syria and their supporters will continue to come join the fight. those who think that letting the shia and sunni jihadists fight to the death is a good idea are mistaken. iran will soon have very large infusion of cash once the sanctions are lifted. iran will be a wealthy nuclear power capable of subjugating the persian gulf. obama will do nothing about it since this is his plan.
11. Szolty,All Jews should read and
ORA ,   JERUSALEM   (05.21.15)
reread your excellent comment. It is SO true.
12. Only one answer as to why: Hussein B.O. Simple, stupid!
(05.21.15)
13. 4 Jack Your analysis has lots of
ORA ,   JERUSALEM   (05.21.15)
common sense like all your comments. But ,in my opinion,the following is missing here: With the best strategy,there can not be victory,if the leaders do not inspire their soldiers with a higher vision. An olympic champion once said,that his victory was due less to his physical training {because most were well trained } than to his spirit. So ,i think,the author has a very important point.
14. Gas Corridor
Marian ,   Romania   (05.21.15)
ISIS will provide a sunni corridor to pipe gas from Saudia, Qatar etc. to Turkey and Erope. That's the explanation.
15. America will never win anything under its current regime
Chaim ,   Israel   (05.21.15)
Under the governments of people like Harry Truman and Roosevelt, America could defeat any foe. Under the current Democrat defeatist and America hating regime, victory is impossible. Over anyone.
16. Because there is no evidence it exists.
Murray the K ,   Brooklyn, NY   (05.21.15)
17. pinhead @ 5 ,...
split ,   US   (05.21.15)
When they're done with Iraq and Syria they will "take care" of your neighbors and you at the end ,... Their small cell structure and tactics an inexhaustible source of suicide bombers that can bring a havoc to daily life can't be defended by regular army, dolphin subs, f-35's and bunker busting bombs ,... Say thanks to your neo-con idiots that started this crap by toppling Saddam ,...
18. Silly question: oil field already bombed?
Avi L.   (05.22.15)
19. #1 - Oil is fungible - it is being laundered through Turkey
spyguy ,   seattle usa   (05.22.15)
The oil enters Turkey via Syria where it enters the global market with a new country of origin. By the time all the trades are done, no one will be able to trace it. For all we know, the oil could end up being refined in Israel. Remember that Saddam was able to launder oil through many places even when Iraq was under extreme USA sanctions. Oil is easy to sell, especially if the seller discounts it from the global price. Note that humans have over 10,000 years of experience with smuggling and money laundering.
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