Given the nightmare that US invasions have resulted in during the past quarter century, and that Israeli invasions have resulted in during the past 70 years, the rough edges of the revolutionaries will have to be tolerated by fretful liberals as the lesser of two evils--women and minorities are suffering horrendously under US 'protection' now. Over time, the hard edges of the revolution will be worn down and women and minorities will be better accommodated, as even Saudi Arabia crudely shows.
The US model of Islamic justice
The worst country for public executions--beheadings--is Saudi Arabia (79 in 2013). IS is supposed to have beheaded 75+ Syrian and Lebanese troops this year. The real problem is westerners, approximately five of whom were beheaded, including US-Israeli Jerusalem Post journalist Steven Sotloff.
But should IS be expected to simply free its captives, while the US Saudi allies continee to practice this? Is that what the US does when it obliterates a Muslim martyr like Bin Laden, not giving him a Muslim burial, but rather flinging his bits and pieces out into the ocean?
And why is the beheading of an enemy soldier or an enemy reporter intent on defaming IS more reprehensible that, say, the beheading of a Saudi witch? So to meet US criteria for justice, the western 'bottom line' is don't kill people with western passports. Torture is not so much a problem--there is always diyya (compensation). Western media quickly forgets any torture that doesn't meet the needs of western propaganda. What western media doesn't even mention is that ISIS never tortures, unlike Saudi Arabia, Syria and other western allies in the war against terrorism.
The Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler, as a hostage in the Sahara in 2009, for example, was surprised at how well he was treated, and saw no evidence of torture. He was awed by the al-Qaeda kidnappers' selflessness and courage. In his 'season in hell' the hostages were treated the same as the captors treated each other. Fowler understood why they became terrorists and why simple Muslims support them: their personal asceticism, disdain for western consumerism, personal commitment to Quranic principles, desire to emulate the great leaders/ followers of the past, and their bravery, vs the venality of the Muslim establishment. His conclusion: al-Qaeda will continue to attract young recruits not concerned with long life (their options in the Muslim world are bleak), but rather authenticity and martyrdom.
IS confirms Fowler's account. His 'season of hell' was in fact paradisiacal compared to the hell that many, many Muslims are living--and dying--through every day. It is time westerners recognize the simple truth of a century of imperial intrigue and end this living hell, not by killing the 'enemy', but simply by getting out and staying out.
US does exactly what ISIS wants
The US, by supporting Nusra and training the anti-Assad rebels in Jordan (including IS), by turning a blind eye to Saudi machinations, by flooding the region with arms, above all by kowtowing to Israel, has driven the region to the current impasse. IS promises a way out which at least makes sense, and has the advantage of ridding the region (nay, the world) of the worst violators of human rights--Saudi Arabia and eventually Israel. The loss of Saudi oil is a small price to pay.
Time to give IS a chance to evolve into a world actor. This is what the US should have allowed with the Taliban in Afghanistan and didn't. That day of reckoning now looms. Time to respect and recognize as legitimate those Muslims who are willing to sacrifice their lives to help bring down the Saudi tyranny and rebuild the caliphate, rather than continuing to slaughter them.
Back when Obama was still a free man, he attended Trinity United Church of Christ where the pastor was Jeremiah Wright. There can be no question that Obama admired and respected Wright; he even adapted Wright's eloquent "audacity to hope" for the title of his own autobiography. Wright said recently: "President Obama was selected before he was elected, and he is accountable to those who selected him. I'll never forget one of the most powerful things he said to me in my home in April 2008. He said, 'You know what your problem is? You have to tell the truth.' I said, 'That's a good problem.'"
The neocon wars of the 2000s were the steel fist approach to subduing Islam: kill millions and terrorise the survivors. But they have been a disaster, made the US and Israel pariahs, and left a trail of terrorism in their wake.
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