How have they achieved so much in such little time?
- The leader, Mr. Baghdadi, was once a prisoner from Operation Iraqi Freedom. When Obama let him go (he's the Commander in Chief, and it was done on his time), Mr. Baghdadi promised to "See you in New York." He went from prisoner to leader in a very short period of time.
.... - Much of the start of this was through a civil war in Syria, where myriad groups are attempting to overthrow al Assad.
.... - Revenue is generated from ransom money through kidnappings, blackmailing local businesses (the old "protection money" deal we once knew in 1930s Chicago), capturing and looting banks, and capturing oil fields.
.... - Much of the weaponry that isn't bought outright is captured from fleeing, poorly-trained Iraqi troops left to fend for themselves in the absence of a U.S./Iraq agreement on the role of U.S. forces from this point forward.
.... - Communication and PR is modern and slick. They use Facebook, Twitter, etc., etc.
.... - Leadership is very much distributed. Mr. Baghdadi gives the vision and the orders, and recruits whomever to execute on the vision. Thus if you kill the head, much of the organization still exists.
Actually this is deja vu for Iraq. Saddam Hussein used similar terror tactics on his people to keep them in line. Shia in the south were slaughtered en masse. Kurds in the north were gassed with chemical weapons. People not in favor of the group from Tikrit were tortured and sometimes killed. Etc., etc.
Al Assad likely isn't any more a saint.
So.... Here are my questions. And don't worry... I don't expect there to be a right answer. (I do however expect smartaleck answers from one usual suspect.) Let's try to be civil, and try to enlighten.
1) What caused all this?
2) Do you blame anyone or not?
3) If you were the leader, what would you do?
Thanks in advance.
- Bill