AMBIVALENT POLITICS AIDS ISIL’s ADVANCES… The military advances of ISIL (Islamic State in the Levant), has carved out an impressive swath of real estate that overlaps Syria, Iraq and extends to the border of Turkey. Since they first appeared in Syria in direct opposition to the Assad government this extremist Sunni-Muslim sectarian branch of Islam, has established a virtual Caliphate based in Syria. The phenomenal military advances of this militant sectarian group were crystallized when their acronym morphed from ISIS (Islamic State in Syria) to ISIL (Islamic State in the Levant), which clearly set forth their primary objective. The Levant is a term that dates back to medieval Islam and refers to the greater Middle East which over laps boundaries of countries like Syria Jordan Saudi Arabia, Israel, etc. This brazen and barbaric perversion of Islam has stridently telegraphed their territorial objectives when they changed their name from ISIS to ISIL. But as a practical matter this military juggernaut has successfully and skillfully hijacked Islam as a means to achieve and advance military, economic, and political power in order to manifest their aberrational perception of an Islamic state. The stunning success of their military and territorial undertakings has regional governments, the US and western powers at bay and in a kafuffle. In the public imagination ISIL has morphed from a reportedly rag-tag group of terrorists and junior varsity players seeking stardom in the big league, to a highly mobile and well disciplined military machine that has heretofore been unstoppable… They have a war chest in the billions, state of the art military equipment and hardware and streams of recruits from western countries among other places in the world. The great military powers in the region, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc. the United States and western powers are ambivalent about aggressively engaging ISIL’s militarily and the idea of putting “boots on the ground” is apparently a non-starter across the board. As a consequence of reluctance and/or equivocation on the part of regional stakeholders, the US and western powers, ISIL forces have achieved inconceivable success and strategic positioning moving forward… It is currently an open question as to when and where this Islamic based political and ideological juggernaut will travel or end. But it is a foregone conclusion that the forces of ISIL will continue until they meet an irresistible opposing force. The overriding suspicion is that the inevitable global “crisis” will ultimately animate the relevant regional and western geopolitical stakeholders. Until crisis mode pervades or a worst case scenario begins to lurk on the immediate horizon, the United States, the west (NATO) and their allies in the Gulf region will continue to bark loud from on high, while side stepping the imperative of “boots on the ground” to decisively end the problem. This political dance by the United States, et al, may be characterized as a “slow-drag” but will likely turn into a profound spectacle as the present increasingly begins to mirror and reflect the past. Accordingly, Syria, Iraq and Turkey and the region have ancient and prophetic histories relative to the advancement of human events. Their respective histories represent interesting food for thought and reflection, as events escalate and unfold. The historical infamy associated with Syria occurred more than 2000 years ago, when Paul of Tarsus was traveling by horse back on the “road to Damascus” in route to confront Jesus Christ as an arch adversary. Following a mystical experience wherein Paul encountered the risen Christ, biblical history records the contributions of the subsequent “Apostle” Paul to the early theology of the Church of Rome. The Apostle Paul never met the living Jesus Christ, but subsequent to his mystical encounter while on the road to Damascus he met the disciples of Jesus and offered much scholarship to them and the theology Catholicism. Some theologians refer to some aspects of popular Christian theology in the west as “Pauline…” Present day Iraq is well known to antiquity as Mesopotamia and the largest city “Babylon” continues to live in infamy and biblical context. John of Patmos is credited with authoring the final chapter in the New Testament known as Revelation. Events as foretold in this book of prophecy occur in a place referred to in the text as Asia Minor. Asia Minor happens to be present day Turkey. Based on the ancient history and antiquity associated with these ancient lands, Syria, Iraq and Turkey, it will be interesting to see how these unfolding events within Islam and the economic/strategic imperatives of the United States and the western world will all play out in the foreseeable future. Interestingly enough, these events predate the advent of the United States and western European countries as we currently know them. The European power of that period was the Roman Empire and they were the major factor that determined the political, economic and social facts on the ground in the region. Therefore, Syria, Mesopotamia and Turkey had to deal with the footprint of the Roman Empire, and the details associated with that interface are substantially lost to history, save romantic historical accounts by the relative military victors. Although a compelling argument can be made that the United States and the countries of Western Europe are heirs to the Greco-Roman historical narrative. But the linear nature of the popular Greco-Roman narrative does not facilitate a comprehensive overview or comparative analysis of competing world events during the period. Nevertheless, we don’t expect that history will repeat itself as the present unfold before us, but history will most likely rhyme going forward…
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:44:27 +0000
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