Does Hillary Clinton have the answer to the killing fields of terrorists groups like Boko Haram and ISIS?
As ISIS’ death toll reaches hundreds of thousands, according to some estimates, and Boko Haram’s killing spree in Nigeria tops 10,000 this year, the former secretary of state and the leading candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination suggests the answer is women playing a larger role in conflict resolution. In addition, she told a conspicuously unfilled hall at Georgetown University this week that the U.S. needs to show such groups “respect” and even “empathy.”
I’m not kidding.
“It’s important to underscore this overriding fact: Women are not just victims of conflict – they are agents of peace and agents of change,” she said, adding that women need to fill more leadership roles in the world. One can only assume she feels she’s the best to do that in the U.S.
She said the answer is “smart power – using every possible tool and partner to advance peace and security, leaving no one on the sidelines, showing respect, even for one’s enemies, trying to understand and insofar as psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view, helping to define the problems, determine the solutions. That is what we believe in the 21st century will change – change the prospects for peace.”
Is she joking?
I’m sure she brought broad smiles and hearty guffaws to the beheaders, torturers, butchers and rapists of ISIS and Boko Haram.
The suggestion came just before ISIS released a video in which it forced 22 of its members to behead what they claimed was a group of Syrian army officers and pilots. This time, the executioners showed their faces. The killers included one Asian, some whites and two thought to be French citizens among other non-Arabic nationalities.
The video made the point that ISIS has an army of global fighters who threaten every country in the world.
ISIS now controls total land mass in the Middle East larger than many U.S. states. In fact, ISIS is now the de facto ruler of 6 million people, with more land than the Iraqi and Syrian governments combined. It controls territory in Iraq, Syria and Libya, and it is engaged in a guerrilla war with Egypt in Sinai. It has also launched attacks in Saudi Arabia.
You can see ISIS operatives from Israel’s Golan Heights. They are also active in Lebanon. ISIS is being supported by Turkey, from which it recently launched attacks on the Syrian town of Kobani.
In the U.S., the FBI has just warned military service members that ISIS is planning to attack them at home.
The Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium in Florida says ISIS is unlike any other terrorist force the world has seen since the days shortly after Muhammad, explaining the unconventional, asymmetrical nature of the force.
Its “successes in Syria and Iraq is not a sole trajectory of the IS as a single force, but present a complex web of alliances with various brigades and foreign fighter groups. These alliances have enabled the IS to not only gain and capture areas, but also wield sustained controlled.”
The report says ISIS’ foreign military units include three from Libya, one all-female force from the U.K., one from Chechnya, another from Lebanon, one from Egypt, two from Dagestan, one from Indonesia, two from Germany, one from Tajikistan and others from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Belgium, the Palestinian Authority and two other multinational Arab units and one other multinational foreign unit.
Most of them come through Turkey, a country the U.S. tried to recruit in its mini-war on ISIS.
Many of ISIS foreign fighters are used as suicide bombers. A list of ISIS suicide attacks in Iraq from June through October was leaked to the Iraqi news website Ynews. The list shows ISIS conducted 67 suicide attacks in five months. Fifteen of the suicide bombers were Saudis, eight were Iraqis, six were Tunisians, five were Moroccans. These fighters, along with Syrians, Libyans, Uzbekistanis, Palestinians Azerbaijanis, Germans, Turks, Lebanese, Indonesians, Australians, Pakistanis, all took their own lives.
Is the antidote to this kind of bloodbath “respect” and “empathy,” as Hillary Clinton suggests?
I’m not sure who’s crazier – ISIS or Clinton.
Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].
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