Is anybody else as worried as I am about ISIS

[Fatlapdancer]

I don't really know the first thing about the whole situation but they seem to be fairly prolific in the Middle East now. What do you think?

There is lots of info on the web about not just Isis but the middle eastern politics in general. They are just the latest in a long line of extremists who thanks to global media have a huge platform. Thats the scary part.

I think this isn't an aibu, and maybe if you don't know anything about it you should maybe learn before starting a discussion.

I think people in Syria, Libya and Iraq probably are.....

Yanbu to feel fear if anything. If you do want to know more, the bbc webpage, wiki etc are good, Aljazeera news channel is brilliant. Its one if the most respected news agencies in the world and has done excellent documentaries.

*fear OF anything

Perhaps the OP hopes to learn through starting a discussion?

ISIS are going to get creamed, (by just about everybody). It's not a great military strategy to antagonise every country on earth, set people on fire and cut various citizens' heads of on utube. But, even without ISIS, radicalisation and sectarianism aren't going to go away.

dora Exactly, they will go and someone else will take their place. Its only when it affects Westerners that people here seem to take an interest. I suppose that's human nature. Not sure what can be done.

Nope...I think that they are simply another terrorist organisation

When this one ends another will begin

Personally I'd cut their news supply and do absolutely whatever necessary to quietly annihilate them.

If anyone's watching the Battle of Tikrit at the moment, the crunch point is what the Iranian led Shia militia will do with captured Sunni/ISIS fighters and sympathisers. (ISIS are getting a pounding at the moment, so there's little doubt about the outcome) Plus there are 30,000+ against them in the battle and a few hundred (maybe up to 1500) ISIS

ISIS doesn't want to/can not win the battle. But what it hopes is that the Shia will slaughter hostages (as ISIS have done) and that will turn the whole country into a bloodbath.

So, it's not really ISIS that we should worry about (they're gonners) but what's going to happen next.

I think a lot of people are worried. It makes sense to educate yourself about what is going on.

I think we are being spoon fed terrorism.

The word is that the Iranian general (Suleimani) who's leading the fight for Tikrit, is a cunning and experienced anti-terror fighter. One way for him to avoid the dilemma of what to do with prisoners, is not to take any. I'd imagine that he knows what he's doing.

I'm probably going to demonstrate my ignorance here, but they seem to be very similar to the Taliban in many ways, but have spread to several different countries and social media is being used by them and others both to promote them and to expose the horrors they are inflicting.

Their beliefs don't seem to be much different.

The 24 hour news channels are like moths to the flame. Then again there is a massive upheaval in (what was) Syria and Iraq going on, with more refugees than since the end of WWII. It's a massive and complicated story.

Then with the home grown European jihadis there is plenty that should be reported on. Whether it does an individual any good to watch it is another matter.

Agree with Dora

Plus, long-term the worrying part is more about what's happening in response to ISIS, ie we're helping out Assad now, letting Iran get even more influence in Iraq, turning a blind eye to Egyptian human rights abuses so they'll go after ISIS, etc. All of that just fuels more radicalism so it's never-ending really.

A lot of people are saying this is the Thirty Years War for the Middle East and I think probably that's right. Certainly will be if Lebanon falls into open civil war again.

I do hope people learn more and more about it because our leaders are making some really dumb decisions and people should know that.

Except that ISIS is an international utopian, expansionist/Jihadi and ultimately genocidal organisation and the Taliban are a local, traditional one. So, no, not really similar in any way, other than violent and Muslim.

Luckily there are far, far fewer militarised groups in the anti ISIS war than there were in Lebanon. I notice ISIS has tried to stir up trouble in Beirut. But, it hasn't come to anything. They'd love that!

wowfudge you're right that there are some similarities between ISIS and the Taliban -- as you say, their brutality, their extremist religious views and belief in fundamentalist principles. But they come from different schools of extremist Islam and their political ideologies are different. The Taliban are as much a tribal as religious movement and really only care about Afghanistan and Pakistan, whereas ISIS are trying to go global and reach out to (Sunni) Muslims everywhere.

Lois mentions aljazeera; I'd like to have a look to widen my world view, but I don't like rolling news channels (which I assume it is) - are there particular programmes that anyone can recommend, please?

The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cockburn is on my amazon wishlist as I would like to know more. Very very well reviewed book

does this link work?
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b048nsnk

goring yes it is rolling news but its much more measured and sober in its reporting. Its broken up with documentary pieces. The BBC World Service radio on dab is excellent too. You might prefer that.

I'm not the biggest fan of Vice usually, but they are one of the few outfits who got cameras inside ISIS territory and they did a rather remarkable doc about it:

news.vice.com/video/the-islamic-state-full-length

Martin Chulov also wrote a good piece on the origins of ISIS in American-occupied Iraq: www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story

I'm a little more concerned about Russia at the moment.