The monsters running amok in Iraq and Syria identify themselves as Muslims, although their actions show they are anything but. At last this oxymoronic reality has been recognized by a western nation. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says his ministry is changing its terminology when referring to the armed group. “I don’t recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims and Islamists. The Arabs call them ‘Daesh’ and I will be calling them ‘the Daesh cutthroats’,” he recently announced. Monsieur Laurent should surely be congratulated for his sensitivity and common sense approach and one can only hope that other nations will follow suit. Every civilized country should eschew those killers’ self-ascribed designation, which denigrates a faith and, in essence, is nothing short of blasphemy. Islam does not bless the decapitation of innocents or the burying of children alive or the slavery of women and girls. Shockingly, over 3, 000 Yezidis and Christians are being kept in brothels under the guard of ideologically committed gun-toting females from Britain who offer them up as rewards to fighters in return for battlefield successes.
Daesh has turned the stomachs of people everywhere, of all nationalities and beliefs. And this hydra-headed monstrosity is waking up to the fact that although its evil acts have appealed to the morally feeble, the weak minded, sociopaths and those with a chip on their shoulders, the vast majority of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are sickened by them. A 21-strong council of senior Saudi clerics has issued a fatwa ruling that terrorism is “a heinous crime” contrary to the great religion of Islam.
The Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayyeb, has accused “ISIL jihadists” as being part of a criminal plot to destroy the world. UK imams have issued a fatwa labeling members of ISIL as “heretics” and commanding all Muslims to oppose their “poisonous ideology.”
It wouldn’t have escaped the faux Caliph’s attention that deeply conservative Salafist imams in Britain have released a video appeal to Daesh to release Alan Henning, a taxi driver-turned-aid worker from Greater Manchester, who traveled several times to Syria together with Muslim friends to alleviate the suffering of Syrian refugees, especially children. Moreover, a hundred leaders of Britain’s Muslim communities have signed a statement pleading for the release of this father of two — dubbed “Gadget” by his friends — who was so moved by the plight of the Syrian people he willingly risked his life to help them. The horrors perpetrated by those terrorists have also galvanized the international community. Certainly their Islamic Caliphate, so-called, is destined to be short-lived. More than 50 nations besides the EU, NATO and the Arab League have now joined a US-led coalition to erase this death cult from the earth. Among those in the Arab world lending support are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and, of course, Iraq. Australia has committed troops. French warplanes are now targeting Daesh in northern Iraq while UK Prime Minister David Cameron is quietly shaping public opinion to back Britain’s military involvement.
One country in the region has made a disappointing decision. NATO-member Turkey that borders both Syria and Iraq has declined to sign-up even though the country serves as the go-to transit for new Daesh recruits while its porous borders allow unrestricted passage to fighters. Ankara could play a pivotal role if it were so disposed, but at the very least it should cease permitting Daesh to transport its oil sales via Turkish soil.
Perhaps the realization that it has over-stepped too many red lines to the point where wannabe followers are backing away and the international community can no more close its eyes that is driving Daesh to change tack. Dave Clark, writing in the Times of Israel under the heading “Latest Hostage Video shows IS fears isolation and attack” points out that Daesh has softened its tone. Unlike previous videos the British photojournalist John Cantlie sits with folded hands at a desk and while he does admit his life is in the balance, he says he is not speaking under duress and attempts to get across that his captors aren’t such a bad lot after all.
Cantlie then goes on to promote an upcoming series of videos explaining the group’s history, ideology and perspectives. He wonders why western powers are so eager to engage in yet another unwinnable war, this time, against “the Islamic State.” Obviously, the poor man is obliged to stick to a script if he wants to go on breathing. But here’s the thing. The US and its allies may have blundered around this region, but this is one war that will be won and decisively so. Why? Because this is a moral war waged against the personification of evil, whose tentacles must be destroyed before they strangle not only the people of the region, but all of us, everywhere. Here’s a prediction. If all concerned are sincerely resolved, Daesh will be old news in a few years written-off as a mere abhorrent aberration in the history of mankind.
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