There is a huge debate on whether or not Al Qaeda, in its prime around 2001, was a bigger threat to the United States' national security than ISIS is today. There are valid arguments on either side. However, I believe that ISIS certainly poses a larger threat due to their organization, repeated terrorist attacks, and their characteristics that make them scarily close to fulfilling the definition of a state. Al Qaeda was an unorganized, ill-defined group that was smaller than ISIS, as well as less experienced in committing acts of terror. These vital differences are what make the latter less terrifying than the former.
ISIS is a very well-organized, well-functioning group of radical islamist terrorists. The fact that they are so incredibly organized and have such a firm standing in their area of influence is extremely concerning. ISIS is, for all intents and purposes, functioning as a state. The members give out parking tickets in their area of influence. Furthermore, their land area that they have "rule" over is very clearly drawn out. They have, what appears to be legitimate control, over this area. In his article, "ISIS is More Than A Terrorist Group", Cronin explains that "al Qaeda members mainly carried Middle Eastern passports, many ISIS members travel on European documents; the majority of those who attacked Paris in November are thought to have been citizens of European Union countries" (Cronin, 2). Essentially, ISIS as an institution, is much more established and legitimate than al Qaeda ever was.
While al Qaeda was committing terrorist attacks in their own sphere of influence, they only committed one serious terrorist attack on United States soil. However, ISIS has committed terrorist attacks in multiple states and is currently threatening to move into the United States with attacks soon. To take things further, ISIS has committed horrible acts of torture and atrocities like beheading prisoners and then making the videos public online. This is something al Qaeda never did. This is something that pushes the line in many ways. This is something that makes ISIS much more threatening as they are publicly showing their dehumanization. They are not behaving like real people but rather machines with no conscious.
Since it is clear that ISIS has proven itself to be a larger security threat than al Qaeda, more actions ought to be taken to contain them. They are a group that is no longer threatening simply our national security. Their actions and growth is moving to threaten our ontological and human security as well. Al Qaeda, for a brief moment in time, did just this. They threatened our country and our nation felt incredibly threatened. Our national security as well as our traditions and views were threatened, or at least many felt them to be. However, ISIS is a threat to us both internationally and domestically. We have members of our own nation fleeing overseas to pledge their support to ISIS. Furthermore, citizens of the United States are committing acts of terror on our soil in the name of ISIS. Again, this is something that our country never experienced in the prime of al Qaeda. Since ISIS is a systematic, organized group, it is imperative that the United States treat them as such and deal with them whilst keeping these inconvenient truths in mind.
I agree that al Qaeda is less of a threat today than ISIS is. ISIS has a quasi-state method of governance, and yet has a wide network of supporters. Technology has allowed this group to develop beyond all other terrorist groups and claim credit for attacks in nations around the world. Their use of modern technology has only increased their mobilization. The threat of their expansion is problematic for future, potentially more lethal, attacks.
ReplyDeleteYou have identified the biggest difference between ISIS and Al Qaeda, and that is the fact that ISIS is a well-organized and functioning terrorist organization, while Al Qaeda is an unorganized and ill-defined group. These are a major difference, because a group being organized gives them the ability to form successful attacks. The point you made on their horrible acts and torture on beheadings is one of ISIS strongest fear factors. They use this to their advantage. Their technique of videotaping them and streaming them online to the public immediately instals fear to anyone who even hears that they commit such acts. By doing this, ISIS is demonstrating that they have no fear and are not threatened by anything or anyone. However, I think everyone has talked about the major concern of ISIS and why it is important to sustain them and combat them, yet, no one is providing solutions or way to deal with them. This is my major concern, because we can acknowledge that they are a group that have become a security threat, but how do you fight individuals who are willing to kill themselves? For me this is the real security issue, because that makes me feel unsafe, the fact that there is no real solution to this issue.
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