The War ISIS Wants
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The War ISIS Wants
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Re: The War ISIS Wants
#2I'm wondering how this all will affect the debate on online privacy and mass surveillance, since the threat is now coming from among us.
Re: The War ISIS Wants
#3The fact that the EU’s replacement rate is 1.59 children per couple and the continent needs substantial levels of immigration to maintain a productive workforce
The idea here is that all people are the same, and all you need to do is shoehorn enough to keep the economy going. Beyond the complete lack of humanity in the outlook that we are like barrels of brent, it's simply wrong. If this was the case, the entire world would already look like Europe and there would be no waves of migration.
It's also bizarrely narcissistic to think that ISIS care about how Europeans feel about Islam or how Muslims are treated since according to OP they will be replacing locals anyway.
Re: The War ISIS Wants
#4So, it seems that the only way to fight this was is to change their minds by asking assistance from the peaceful Muslim groups.
We can discriminate Daesh and Muslims, and that only shows the monsters they say we are. We can bomb Daesh, which only encourages more to join their cause. Worst case, we can nuke the whole area of Iraq and Syria where Daesh has power, and that would only show every Muslim in the world that we are intolerant of Islam.
This is a war of ideology, and that war cannot be fought with guns and bombs. It has to start from the ground, with 'militant moderate Muslims' willing to show people another way; one that does not involve in slavery, beheadings, suicide bombings, and crucifixion. Weaponry has its place to keep the borders of that state in its place, given that we know their religious orders are of limitless expansion and no regard for state boundaries.
Re: The War ISIS Wants
#5I'm wondering how this all will affect the debate on online privacy and mass surveillance, since the threat is now coming from among us.
A deliberate part of the Al Qaeda/ISIS strategy is to turn our security apparatus against our population and push us into becoming police states. They know that this is the natural, automatic response of governments on the one hand, and that it will make minimal difference to our ability to protect ourselves on the other, while manipulating us into a state of continual fear and paranoia.
Re: The War ISIS Wants
#6It's not that I disagree with the points brought up by this article (how could I! We've known these things to be true for years!), but I'm worried about the leap that people make, namely that military action isn't necessary.
It's hard to imagine any effective strategy that doesn't involve killing people in Syria. It's disgusting, necessary, and -- I willingly admit -- not sufficient.
Re: The War ISIS Wants
#7I'm wondering how this all will affect the debate on online privacy and mass surveillance, since the threat is now coming from among us.
Adding to this, has anybody else noticed just how much encryption is being mentioned in news articles and talk shows about Paris? In articles and discussions on TV it's always in a fear-mongering tone: "They communicated with encrypted messages!"
I mean yes, that poses a problem. But the solution isn't to antagonize encryption. Should we all send our letters without envelopes? Why are people ready and willing to do that online and not offline when the same information is FAR more likely to be intercepted by crazy criminals? How much potential exposure does your data get via snail mail versus Internet transmission?
Ignoring any sort of conspiracy theories I think despite the subtlety it is still blatantly obvious that politicians are immediately taking advantage of the situation, associating negativity (terrorism) with encryption.
It is a VERY dangerous time because emotions of people can be swayed in any direction now. It is the same phenomenon observed when the Patriot Act was enacted.
Discussions and discourse are discouraged because it isn't considered moral to talk about these things less than a week after these horrifying attacks. NOW is the time to stab the pro-encryption arguments right in the heart, charged with emotion, in a subtle and covert way.
Re: The War ISIS Wants
#8> This is a strategy that has enabled it to confound far superior international forces
Are superior entities typically confounded by inferior entities in high-stakes games? I ask this having been humbled myself thinking myself superior once upon a time.
Or is it that the superior entities are pretending to be confounded to achieve domestic goals? If I were a megalomaniac, I know what I'd do.
Re: The War ISIS Wants
#9So, it seems that the only way to fight this was is to change their minds by asking assistance from the peaceful Muslim groups. We can discriminate Daesh and Muslims, and that only shows the monsters they say we are. We can bomb Daesh, which only encourages more to join their cause. Worst case, we can nuke the whole area of Iraq and Syria where Daesh has power, and that would only show every Muslim in the world that…
You underestimate the degree to which people of violence listen to the language of violence.
The article suggests the military conquest is the key of Daesh attractiveness. But similarly, its military loss will be its demise. Lost territory and decimated ranks will make it a lot less exciting to the recruits.
Harder wars have been fought and won before.
Re: The War ISIS Wants
#10So, it seems that the only way to fight this was is to change their minds by asking assistance from the peaceful Muslim groups. We can discriminate Daesh and Muslims, and that only shows the monsters they say we are. We can bomb Daesh, which only encourages more to join their cause. Worst case, we can nuke the whole area of Iraq and Syria where Daesh has power, and that would only show every Muslim in the world that…
I disagree. The last time we tried that went horribly wrong; we watched and negotiated and "waged the war of ideology" too patiently while Hitler grew in power, until ultimately the Nazis had to be fought and slaughtered and condemned without mercy.
If history repeated itself, we would be wise to intervene faster instead of twiddling our thumbs on the sidelines. And we'd know that waging any kind of ideological war would be futile. It's almost certainly too late to solve the problem with anything other than military action.