Why is nothing being done about ISIS?

[John Galt]

i've seen numbers of strength between 30 and 200K. I want to assume it's closer to the former number, but 200K is a sizable force. with influence growing outside of just syria/iraq i'm not sure if we're "winning". i don't think we could possibly lose but this can be protracted, and i do think with strongholds in lybia the west -- specifically italy, which has a fairly small military for a country its size in europe (depending on numbers, possibly smaller than ISIS) and has been directly threatened along with the vatican -- does have risk here

[Dylan]

The kind of risk emerging from small-scale terrorist attacks, not the risk of being absorbed into a caliphate.

ISIS's influence is grossly exaggerated by US media intent on (1) scaring the crap out of people and (2) painting President Obama as an appeaser of a Nazi-like war machine that threatens to consume the entire world if not checked by immediate action by a strong, cowboy-like leader (perhaps a Bush).

Don't buy into it.

[Dylan]

Looking through, it seems Egypt put out a report that ISIS had about 180,000 militants. I just don't buy it. The CIA put them at 30,000 in September. Since then the US Central Command estimates we've polished off about 6,000 via airstrikes, disregarding the combatants killed on the ground. That's just one area. There's simply no way they increased by six fold over a 5 month period. Nope.

And they lost a TON of skilled fighters in their defeat in Kobane. The battle-hardened veterans they had died in spades in that hellhole. They're increasingly using young men and some women as combatants, suggesting they are desparate for fighters. Clever video editing =/= combat experience. A ragtag bunch with little military experience just doesn't stand a chance of having a significant influence long term. Even in a region full of mediocre militaries they're a joke. I mean, my god, even the Iraqi army has stood up to them a few times and I'd put South Bronx's best agains the Iraqi army any day of the week.

People are in hysterics about this but once the world turned its attention to them they were exposed as amateurs trying to play in the big leagues. They've had basically no significant gains since America decided they were worth dropping some bombs on and we're training and arming "friendlies" (whatever that means in this region) to continue the battle on the ground. The tide turned months ago and their influence will continue to wane.

It's over for them. ISIS lost they're just too stupid to know it. It'll be a pain in the ass finishing them off and like I said earlier we'll be playing whack-a-mole with these folks for decades, but let's not pretend ISIS is anything more than a flash in the pan.

[The dane]

I am continuously amazed at how well the ISIS propaganda has worked, goes to show what you can do when your motives align with most of the press and the politicians (fearmongering).

If we remove all the hyperbole, what has ISIS actually done that we should all be so scared ? Their bodycount doesn't seem to be any higher than the other factions in the Syria + Iraq civil wars, both of which started long before ISIS came along. And they haven't carried out any major attacks outside their home turf, so I really don't see why I should be shaking in my boots. The only thing that is objectively different about ISIS is their widespread use of social media, which I suppose could pose an added risk of lone wolf type attacks from morons inspired by ISIS, but if someone is stupid enough to become a terrorist after reading twitter, I tend to think their ability to plan a large scale attack is somewhat limited ...

If I made a list of my top 10 priorities there is no way ISIS would be on it, probably not top 100 either.

[John Galt]

[Dylan]

[Dylan]

[spacemonkey]

Its hard to believe how easy it is to con the feeble minded into joining such fiasco's.

[The Comrade]

[Dylan]

Sure, it's possible. I don't see it as likely at all though. And most of the people dumb enough to sign up for Desert Jihad Vacation did so in the early days when ISIS was sexy and looked unstoppable. Now that they're on the heels and most of the low-hanging fruit already joined I'd imagine recruitment isn't quite as easy as it once was. But if they want to fight Western-armed Peshmarga and Syrians and Iraqis with 16 year old Western girls raised on McDonalds and Facebook they're welcome to have at it.