It's seems too soon to talk about the end of ISIS. So much needs to happen first. What comes after ISIS is an essential consideration with what to do about ISIS. It's true, NATO and a large coalition of armies could roll over ISIS in a week. Then what? Another withdrawal, another vacuum, another ISIS.
Some Libertarians will grind their teeth when they read the last sentence. The Free Market will punch every Islamist in the face and that will be the end of it? Let's not be like the White House. ISIS is not about class warfare. Neither Free Markets nor Social Programs will be the end of ISIS. The Islamic State is force. It is brutal, naked, horrific force. The Islamic State must be ended by force.
ISIS stated goal is to restore the Caliphate. It is a goal incompatible with any freedom loving people of any faith. There is no negotiating with them. No rational bargain can ever be struck. Their very existence is in a state of conflict with our own. We are to either be enslaved or killed. We are in a defacto state of war.
We are at a similar point now as we were at before World War 2. Nobody wanted another World War. Nobody wants another Afghanistan now. We have to go to war with ISIS but the peace has got to be different this time. Taliban groups in Afghanistan are already swearing allegiance to ISIS as are Chechen Rebels, Boko Haram, Libyan Rebels and others. All signs indicate we are at the precipice of a grand conflagration that should really be called World War 3.
After September 11th and the invasion of Afghanistan I became aware of what I've been calling the SS paradox. The paradox is that the SS would have had no problem with Islamists whatsoever. They would have politely (as told by witnesses in some camps) "euthanized" every last man woman and child in Afghanistan. ISIS would not have stood a chance against the SS. They would not even have dared to try. While we could beat the militarized SS divisions we have trouble with Islamists for fear of becoming the SS. Hence the paradox. With all our technology and might we are hobbled by evil immoral barbarians due to our own basic humanity.
How do we ensure the last of these Islamist rampages then?
It isn't about Islam specifically. We should seek to extinguish any culture or sub culture that advocates crimes against humanity as its fundamental tenets. We did it to the Nazis themselves after all. It just so happens that some aspect of Islam manages to generate murderous madness in far larger numbers than anything else even when compared to Satanism. It's astonishing that open worshipers of The Devil of Hell are relatively civilized when compared to Islamists.
So how do we achieve total victory? It has been done in history. Often it was done using methods the SS would approve of. The Romans literally dismantled the city of Carthage brick by brick, massacred thousands and sold the rest into slavery. All they purposely left of that entire civilization was an infant cemetery where Carthage would bury the victims of human sacrifices. It's something the Romans repeated everywhere and was copied by the Mongols and Islam and is being used by ISIS today.
Other methods include drowning out the indigenous population with immigrants as was done in the Americas, Israel, and currently in Tibet. While more humane than slaughter and slavery it just isn't an option in this case. Who in their right mind would move to the Middle East?
The only time an enemy was permanently pacified was after World War 2. The Marshal Plan was the opposite of the Treaty of Versailles. War torn Europe was to be rebuilt to avoid the anger and resentment that fueled Hitlers rise to power. Expansionist Soviets were also a problem that would exploit any anger left over from the War.
Japan's case is a little more analogous to our situation. Many Japanese had a fanatical Shintoist devotion to their Emperor. They would often fight to the death in hopeless circumstances and famously became aerial suicide bombers in their kamikaze raids. Even after the first and only Atomic bombs were dropped in anger many Japanese were said to be resigned to being completely wiped out before they would betray their Emperor. Luckily the Emperor wasn't ok with that and a treaty was signed.
I don't think the Caliph will mind terribly if whole cities we wiped out in nuclear fire. They were only recently acquired after all and he treats them so poorly already it might be considered a blessing. An ISIS blessing is a curse.
There are obvious reasons we can't do things the ISIS or SS way. We can't do things the Bush way or we wind up in the same place again. We can't even do things the World War 2 way since a Marshal Plan for the Middle East would be a complete waste. They have enough money already. You've seen the hotels and the skylines and palaces. Let them buy their own Marshal Plan, once we've cleaned up their mess for the last time.
After the fighting comes the real battle. The West's most destructive weapon is not the atomic bomb but progressivism.
You read that correctly. We must unleash massive Social Engineering on liberated territories and then spread to slightly friendlier Islamist places. It will take a generation or two but we will prevail. The Cold War took a couple of generations. It was enormously expensive and dangerous. We prevailed over the Soviets and their ideology. We shall pacify Islam.
Let's start with the good. Teaching of science (including evolution) will become compulsory in all schools. Scholarships should be provided to those who excel in sciences and demonstrate political correctness. Adults will be required remedial certification in sciences to hold government employment and that will be extended to most other employment as well. A CBC like entity that delivered news and entertainment with a pro western slant would also be useful. Capitalism and entrepreneurship should be encouraged so that we don't end up with PIGS in the third generation.
This alone will cause fundamentalists to become violent and justify their own extermination.
Now for the bad. Certain concepts will be banned. Jihad and other incitements to violence will be banned. Sexism, racism, homophobia and any kind of Xenophobia will be banned. The Koran and the Hadiths will not be banned but only a metaphorical interpretation will be aloud. The punishment for these violations should not be progressive as it will have no effect at all. What good is a law that isn't enforced?
Since Islam has no central leader perhaps we could take the opportunity to organize it for them. New national or ethnic based Mosques would be run by the government with approved clerics giving approved sermons. Jordan already takes this tack and its a good idea.
You've probably guessed the ugly. Many people will die. Most of them will be fundamentalists but of course a few will be completely unjustly wronged. That is progressivism.
Would nuclear fire be more humane? It might be a lot less hassle. Militaries just aren't set up for this kind of work. We would need a professional occupation force. This is all highly disturbing to any civilized person. We aren't going to surrender to the Islamists and left alone conflict with Islamists seems inevitable. Can we enclose and contain them? Should we enclose them if we are able to wipe them out and stop the genocides? Would genocidal madmen eventually get their hands on a nuclear weapon even while forcefully enclosed? How much moral agonizing would ISIS endure about using a nuclear weapon? How much restraint would they exhibit? All these questions point to an existential conflict with Islamism that is better off handled sooner than later.
I started this article with the hope of finding a solution. Even the best solution is repellant to me. We are going to have to lower ourselves to meet the Islamists and defeat them. I don't see Ghandi defeating people with no conscience. Can we at least concede that men without conscience are not men at all. Islamists are but beasts. Islamism is like an intolerable pest problem. We can blast them with a fire hose and be done. We can go in and try to save some and get really dirty and waste a lot time and be done a lot later.
Either way the containment option temporary. It is the only option while Obama is president. But like Obama it won't last.
