ISIS poses an
extremely different threat to the United States than al-Qaeda did in 2001; I
would go so far to say that ISIS poses a more substantial threat than al-Qaeda
ever did. The terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001 caught the
American public off guard. It was not expected and was a terrible tragedy,
however it was one attack on a nation’s peoples. We were devastated because as
a national we were not ready for the extreme loss of innocent people. Over
3,000 people killed in the terrorist attack. This attack threatened the
American civilization and in turn created a sense of nationalism that had never
before been seen. ISIS is threatening the United States interests rather than
targeting and killing westerns like Al-Qaeda did. ISIS is transnational and is
involved geopolitically. This allows ISIS to have a greater threat
internationally, state-to-state.
Some argue that
al-Qaeda was a greater threat to the United States. This is all due to the 9/11
attack. After the attack, President George Bush called for a “War on Terror.”
This heightened the threat of al-Qaeda in the American public. This “War on
Terror” was created to justify and gain support for the wars that followed in
the Middle East. These wars produced substantially more death than the 9/11 attacks
because the United States was fearful of a terrorist organization. The loss of
life on September 11th was extensive, but it was a one-time
occurrence. This argument is not to say that al-Qaeda was not a viable threat
to the United States, only to say that it cannot cause as much damage to the
United States as ISIS can.
ISIS is seizing
territory and is building an empire for its people. Along with territory, ISIS
has a sort of government in place as well. ISIS wants to be recognized as its
own nation and is building its forces to be considered one. ISIS has over
30,000 pledging allegiance and prepared to go to war against any military
force.[1]
All of these play into the role that ISIS is currently playing in the
international, geopolitical sphere, ISIS is part of the conversation. ISIS not only
has control over territory, but also has control of US interests such as oil.
This control is the reason that ISIS poses such a threat to the US.
Some
people believe that because ISIS is transparent about what they are planning
whereas the United States did not know what to expect with al-Qaeda that ISIS
is less of a threat. Although al-Qaeda was unpredictable it posed less of a
threat to the United States interests. Al-Qaeda attempted to break the American
moral but in turn made the nation stronger as well as caused us to increase our
military forces in the Middle East to combat the organization. The United
States should be more worried about the threat of ISIS because it is an
international threat and could affect more than direct deaths within the US.
ISIS could cause economic, political and social distress if it continues to
grow the way it has been. ISIS is more of a threat to the United States than
al-Qaeda in 2001.
Although I think ISIS may pose a more significant threat than Al-Qaeda did, there are many parts I would have to contradict. In the early 2000's, many top Al-Qaeda officials agreed the main threat to their movement was the far threat of the United States. Al-Qaeda believed all the corrupt Muslim regimes or Middle Eastern instability resulted from foreign Western powers. So wouldn't Al-Qaeda be more of a threat to the United States? ISIS on the other hand targets expanding Sharia Law and their Sunni sub-sect in the Middle East. Although we now see more brutal acts of ISIS members because of social media, many of the acts were carried out by lone wolves who only pledged allegiance to ISIS and were not ordered by the ISIS hierarchy. Even though ISIS's estimated pledged numbers of supporters do seem intimidating, consider how many global supporters from states and nations are allying to combat the organization. States across the EU, NATO, North America, and Middle East are helping combat the organization. Even Muslims of the Sunni faith in the Middle East are against ISIS's expansion. This kind of international support had not really been seen since the first Gulf War. Consider also the two different ideologies. Al-Qaeda was not so much concerned about seizing land but eliminating a threat. ISIS on the other hand is focused on controlling land and maintaining the caliphate. In a way, this helps states combat ISIS because it is harder for them to flee their land and dismantle their caliphate. Although ISIS seems to be more extreme to non-believers, think of the security measures the United States has taken since 2001. More funding has been diverted into the Department of Homeland Security, cyber-security, the FBI, and CIA since the attacks on September 11th. Although there will still be attacks on American soil and throughout the world, ISIS may have a harder time to inflict world damage than Al-Qaeda did.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely understand the point that you are making. I am in no way suggesting that al-Qaeda was not a threat, but more so in the international realm it is an extremely viable threat. They are not currently working to specifically take out westerners but their ability to build their empire could result in a worse threat than al-Qaeda ever presented. The United States is definitely not treating ISIS with the same urgency as al-Qaeda but maybe we should be because they do have this geopolitical power and it is growing.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very valid point because in a way no action just allows these terrorist cells to grow and expand. i feel like the U.S is not treating ISIS a threat because ISIS wants Western powers to come attack them because they believe it is a part of their faith to defeat these powers. However, the United States knows this and also knows the American people do not want another costly war in the Middle East.
DeleteWhile I agree that ISIS poses a great threat than Al Qaeda did I think the nature of the attack on 9/11 created a greater sense of urgency and therefor a more robust plan to attack. The US government while viewing ISIS as a threat, may feel less urgency in reacting and take a different approach given that there has not been a significant attack on American soil with a grave loss of life. When an attack such as 9/11 touches home the response is much different and more severe in nature. I believe that ISIS is unpredictable perhaps in a different way than Al Qaeda given that there are individuals committing or willing to commit attacks on their own in the name of ISIS without the order coming directly from the top which may have been the case in Orlando, however, this is my personal speculation. In addition members of ISIS have greater mobility particularly in Europe because citizens of the EU are joining ISIS taking their EU passports with them making travel easier because of the loose border system. This poses are greater threat to European countries but all the same an unpredictable one.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the statement that the US should only be worried if there is a significant loss of life. The United States should be prepared always and should not just wait until some catastrophic event to occur to consider ISIS a threat. ISIS is an international threat, and they are not focused on large attacks and killing westerners like al-Qaeda was but they are building power in their territory and this is what makes them a threat.
DeleteI think that it is important to take into an account a few things when trying to say that ISIS is more dangerous than Al Qaeda. First, Al-Qaeda had to build their own networks to organize a large scale attack on US soil. ISIS however took many of the channels that ISIS has created and has not been able to pull off any attack in America rather than loan wolf operations. I think its also important acknowledge that after 9/11, the US has increased its security and that makes it harder to plan attacks. But one of the goals of ISIS is to draw the US or the West into war in the Middle East to bring about the end of the world. This is something that they have had very little success at so far, yet Al-Qaeda managed to do this. If ISIS is to be a more dangerous threat, shouldn't the West want to step in and stop them?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that ISIS is trying to pull off an attack on America? I don't think that is the goal right now, or if at all. I think the west is stepping in, maybe not to the extent that people think they should if ISIS was a huge threat, but it is still a threat.
DeleteI feel that ISIS Is a greater threat to who we are as a people; who we are as the United States of America. However, I think al Qaeda posed a more serious threat to American lives. As of right now, ISIS has not executed an attack with the same magnitude that 9/11 had. However, the threats carried out by ISIS on American soil, and abroad have challenged who are as a people. They have challenged the acceptance of other beliefs. The attack in Orlando was horrific. However it was not ad deadly as the attack on 9/11. The more violent of the attacks, 9/11, challenged us to whether or not we would allow a terrorist organization to become a world player. The US responded. The attack in Orlando challenged us to hold firm in what we believe; to not succumb to the ideas of less acceptance. For this reason, I feel that ISIS and al Qaeda pose different threats, and require different reactions.
ReplyDeleteDifferent threats does not mean that one is lesser than another. ISIS is not trying to attack the US but that does not mean they should not be considered dangerous.
DeleteI would have to say that I disagree with your final argument that ISIS is a larger threat to the United States than AQ was in 2001, primarily because ISIS' intentions are not to directly target the West, but grow an empire, which you pointed out. AQ's intentions were specifically to target the West, making them a direct threat to the US population in a way that ISIS is not. However, people argue that ISIS is a direct threat, mostly because of "lone-wolf" terrorists that pledge allegiance to ISIS, but these actors are generally not even in contact with leading ISIS members. If ISIS notices that its efforts to build a caliphate are not likely to succeed and changes its strategy to attacking the West, then, due to the wide spread of ISIS ideologies via social media, I would agree with you, that ISIS does have more potential to threaten the US. However, as it currently stands, ISIS' intentions are not to target the US and, therefore, AQ in 2001 was absolutely a larger threat to the US. AQ was also more difficult to track down, and the US' military is designed to combat state-like entities, such as the Islamic State, so it the US military is more equipped for combating organizations such as ISIS, as opposed to AQ, which existed mostly underground. I also do not believe that the Western or "American" way of life (i.e. democracy, freedom, etc.) was ever "under attack" by either of these organizations. This was merely the rhetoric surrounding attacks from either of these organizations that was/is used to motivate citizens to support war or other types of federal spending to fight threats to US interests or foreign policy.
ReplyDelete