Islamic State responds to President Obama bombing Syria

Some news commentators, like Bob Beckel, have praised the bombings ordered by President Obama in Syria and point out that Muslim nations participated in the attacks. Others question the motivation of the Sunni Muslim countries, like Saudi Arabia, joining the fight against the Islamic State (IS or ISIS).

The primary question: Will President Obama’s plan work?

In his column “Sorry, America Cannot Defeat Islamic Terror Groups“, former federal agent and terrorism expert David Gaubatz states, “I am sure most readers are confused as to why Saudi Arabia and four other Sunni dominated countries are attacking their own (ISIS). First they are doing so for Islam and not America.”

Gaubatz notes, “The answer [to their participation] is within the thousands of Islamic books produced each year by the Saudi government. Essentially these countries fully understand the ISIS Muslims can never be defeated by simply killing individuals. To them the ISIS terrorists who die in Syria and Iraq by their hands are doing so for the betterment of the Islamic ideology.”

“[The] Saudis and the others know Islam will survive for thousands of more years as long as Islamic terrorist groups are the targets of the infidels [kufars], and not the ideology itself,” Gaubatz concludes.

The Islamic State (IS or ISIS) has responded to the bombings ordered by President Obama and supported by a loose coalition of five Sunni Muslim states. MEMRI reports:

On September 23, 2014, the U.S. and its allies targeted the Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat Al- Nusra (JN) strongholds in Al-Raqqa and Idlib, Syria. In reaction, IS and JN members and their online supporters virulently condemned the attacks and threatened retaliation against the West.

Below is a sample of social media responses to the coalition’s airstrikes inside Syria:

Abu Al-‘Ainaa’ Al-Khurasani (@abo_alainaa), another prominent voice in the jihadi movement, tweeted on September 23, 2014: “Woe upon America, and woe upon its people, and woe upon you Arab rulers, feel your throats, [and] say farewell to your thrones…”

A user who calls himself Ibn Ahmad wrote on Facebook: “The Islamic State opened the gates of Hell to the Kufar with shaykh [Abu Muhammad Al-]Adnani’s speech… As I said some weeks ago, the West will see attacks in their homes worse than Al Qaeda’s terror, bi idnillah [God willing]. They dared to bomb innocent people in Dawlah [the IS] so hell is open for [th]em..”

What many news commentators and members of the Obama administration fail to recognize is that IS is more than a terrorist group. Unlike al Qaeda, the Islamic State is an offensive jihad based upon fundamentalist Islam, its members are Mohammedans waging jihad against all “kufars” (non-believers).

Islamic-state-flames-of-war-full-film-IP

Screen capture from the Islamic State “Flames of War” movie. The American narrator is on the far left.

To categorize IS as just another terrorist organization misunderstands its motivation and underestimates its strength.

Other terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and Boco Haram have been waging a defensive jihad based upon perceived wrongs carried out against Islam by kufars. The Islamic State is different in that it is focused on reestablishing the Caliphate. While is uses terror as a tactic, its strategy is global in nature and well thought out. IS is conquering large swaths of land in Syria and Iraq. IS is establishing a Caliphate on the fly, if you will. IS has developed a five-year plan to spread the Caliphate from Africa to China and beyond.

Question: What is President Obama’s five-year plan to stop IS?

Bombings alone will not defeat IS. To stop IS it is necessary to retake the land it now posses and prevent the expansion of IS. It appears President Obama, with his no boots on the ground, is not prepared to do this. Therefore America and this Sunni coalition will fail in accomplishing what President Obama has called for – the destruction of the Islamic State.

To better understand the strategy of the Islamic State watch this IS video titled “Flames of War” (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES):