ISIS executes Jordanian pilot, the country of Jordan reacts, should U.S. get involved?

Author: Conner R. McHugh, Date Published: 4/10/15

Abstract

The wars overseas have not been a popular thought in the eyes of civilians in the United States throughout the years. The peak motivation towards war arose with the flames of 9/11. ISIS is an evil organization that wants nothing more than to dominate the world with sharia law and get rid of any opposing religious or moral beliefs in general. Whether we like it or not we have become involved in the fight with these terrorists and we only have two options, exterminate them where they stand, or draw back our forces and await the day they have become strong enough to attack our homeland. 

The United States of War

Whether we like it or not, our country was founded on war. Our country has been in a war somewhere in the world nearly the entire time it’s existed, it’s what we do best. The social authoritarian terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or “ISIS” is running rampant overseas, killing thousands of people without a second thought. The killing of people in this manner must not be tolerated and needs to be punished. Their motives are not peaceful and are not justified simply because they want to create a “functioning Islamic state”. My argument as to why that is not peaceful is that they are killing to achieve it and the Islamic state consists of Sharia Law, a brutal law system designed to punish those who do not agree with the Islamic regime. ISIS has horrific and cowardly tactics and are nothing but evil put on this earth to be purged and destroyed by those who stand for what is morally right. This problem has been growing and needs to be stopped, I fully support Jordan’s war on terror and think the United States should get involved, do you? If you don’t, I’ll see if I can change your mind.      

A Jordanian bomber was shot down and pilot Lt. Al-Kasasbeh was captured by the ISIS militants. ISIS then demanded the release of a woman that tried to blow herself up in a school but failed and was captured. After days of negotiations ISIS decided to kill the pilot. Jordan then threatened ISIS and said that if they kill the man they captured they will kill every ISIS they have in captivity. ISIS followed through with the execution anyway, burning the man alive in a steel cage while videotaping the incident to be put online as ISIS recruiting propaganda. It is then brought to light that the pilot may have been dead for a month or so and the negotiations for a release were just a cruel tactic to try to get even more spoils out of the death of the Jordanian pilot (Greg Botelho). 

            Two days since the death of the pilot the King of Jordan has made good on his threat to kill members of the terrorist group ISIS until they run out of bombs and bullets. After ordering the execution of two prisoners, a failed suicide bomber and a man with with ties to ISIS, King Abdullah ordered airstrikes against the terrorist group. The king even made a bombing run himself to make sure his enemies knew he was serious about the revenge of his dead pilot. The Jordanian pilots of the fighter jets were ordered to target training camps, ammunition depots, and weapons of ISIS. All targets so far have been reported to be destroyed and the pilots have returned safely (Greg Botelho).

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's flag.

 ISIS will stop at nothing to establish a new world under the fist of sharia law. They are constantly recruiting and making new propaganda videos to help in the act. Recently, a video was released showing ISIS militants in a museum destroying priceless artifacts that date back to 7^th century B.C. While destroying said statues and artifacts they stated that they represented idols that must be removed. They are also believed to have sold some of the artifacts to pay for equipment and propaganda. The videos ISIS film are posted on many different social media sites that are involved with the Islamic terrorist group the Islamic group has the goal to remove all things that does not represent the prophet Muhammad. A United Nations spokesperson says "The destruction of cultural heritage is reprehensible and criminal (foxnews.com)".

           

            ISIS is not backing down and they will continue to recruit and seize power until they have either accomplished their goal or have been defeated in a bloody war, there’s no other option. ISIS has captured a lot of territory and murdered thousands just because they didn’t have the same beliefs as ISIS. If not stopped, ISIS could evolve and become mobile on water with a militarized naval system and even begin to invade other countries. The terrorist group has its sights on huge targets like Libya (Engel, Richard). Other countries are fighting back, shouldn’t we help get rid of this threat to humanity and life as we know it with our extremely powerful military?

This is a propaganda video, this man is now dead.

Along with ISIS propaganda they also like to try to pit other countries against each other by abusing their resources and using hostages. In an attempt to slow the bombings of their camps ISIS tried to make the bombings political by saying an American hostage, Kayla Mueller, was killed by a Jordanian bombing raid. No proof of this has been given and Jordan is challenging the claim, saying they have shown no proof and they are lying. The Jordanian air raids have since continued and show no signs of stopping (Greg Botelho). ISIS fears the United States will get involved and help destroy them so they are trying to prevent that by trying to make the United States upset with Jordan.

The ISIS propaganda must work to a point because a few Americans felt the need to go support ISIS by fighting with them and obeying their Sharia Law. Two men were arrested in the United States because they decided to do just that, another because he wanted to organize their actions and fund them too. Thousands of ISIS fighters are from other nations, they join the group for various reasons whether it’s political displeasure, religious, want to kill people, or other reasons. None of the men were American born, all of them were from Russia and part of the Soviet movement. All three were devout Muslims and vastly supported the views of the terrorist group. 

In light of recent events it seems that the United States is planning an attack on the ISIS sieged town of Mosul using some 20,000-25,000 Iraqi troops that have been trained under United States military members, not our actual military’s troops. The plan is expected to be put in effect in April or May. The United States is not planning on having any involvement in the attack other than planning and training. Mosul is a key town where ISIS is operating from. The town became under ISIS control last year when ISIS sieged it by force (Shinkman, Paul A.)

A political cartoon depicting the rate and seriousness at which President Obama is handling ISIS.

Some try to argue that the war is worsening the lives of those who live there, saying that it’s the wars fault for them not having water, education, being malnourished, etc. But this is not the case when it comes to relations to war. In 2008 and 2009 4,530 Afghan alone were killed in the war, they do not state whether they were killed by the enemy or our own troops. (swainislandpeace.org) If we withdraw without putting a stop to ISIS then that number will surely increase and the deaths will surely be bloody massacres caused by no more than faith differences. 

 I believe that the United States needs to send its own troops and get the job done faster, more people are having to die than necessary, our military is professional and highly trained, ISIS would not stand a snowman’s chance in hell. What do you think?

Sources

 Botelho, Greg. "Jordan Challenges ISIS Claim of U.S. Hostage Death in Airstrike." CNN.com. CNN, 6 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/06/world/isis-jordan/index.html>.

Botelho, Greg. "Jordan Unleashes Wrath on ISIS: 'This Is Just the Beginning'" CNN.com. CNN, 6 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/05/world/isis-jordan/index.html>.

Convergence, Peace. "Why We Should End This War." Http://swanislandpeace.org/convergence-2011/why-we-should-end-the-war/. Swan Island Peace Convergence. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.

"Islamic State Video Shows Militants Smashing Ancient Artifacts in Iraq." Foxnews.com. Fox News, 26 Feb. 2015. Web. 1 Feb. 2015. <http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/26/islamic-state-video-shows-militants-smashing-rare-ancient-artifacts-in-iraq/>.

Rothman, Noah. "NBC’s Richard Engel: ISIS ‘effectively Taking Over’ Libya." NBC.com. NBC, 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. <http://hotair.com/archives/2015/02/24/nbcs-richard-engel-isis-effectively-taking-over-libya/>.

Rogin, Josh. "America's Allies Are Funding ISIS." TheDailyBeast.com. The Daily Beast, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/america-s-allies-are-funding-isis.html>.

Santora, Marc. "3 Brooklyn Men Accused of Plot to Aid ISIS’ Fight." NewYorkTimes.com. New York Times, 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/nyregion/3-men-in-brooklyn-charged-supporting-isis.html?_r=0>.

Shinkman, Paul A. "Rankings & Advice News U.S. News Home News Facebook Twitter News, Opinion & Analysis News Ken Walsh's Washington Newsgram Washington Whispers At the Edge Data Mine The Run 2016 Opinion National Issues Special Reports Cartoons Photos Videos Quizzes U.S. News Weekly U.S. Announces Plan for Massive Counter-ISIS Attack." Usnews.com. U.S. News, 19 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. <http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/19/us-announces-plan-for-massive-counter-isis-attack>.