Why ISIS Cannot Be Negotiated With --- because the damage that warmongering US neocons and zionists have done to the region are too severe for them to forgive. They would rather see their heads roll than to negotiate.
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 2:05:53 PM UTC-6, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2016/01/why-isis-cannot-be-negotiated/125020/ > ? > > > Why ISIS Cannot Be Negotiated With > > January 11, 2016 By H. A. Hellyer > <http://www.defenseone.com/voices/h-hellyer/11814/> > > Jonathan Powell argues that talking to terrorists has brought peace in the > past. But the Islamic State really is different. > > *In his recent Atlantic *piece > <http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/12/negotiate-with-isis/419157/> > on > “What to Do About ISIS > <http://www.theatlantic.com/special-report/what-to-do-about-isis/>,” > Jonathan Powell, a former senior British diplomat, posits that eventually, > the West would have to negotiate with the so-called Islamic State. It’s a > comforting thought, in a way—the suggestion presupposes that ISIS, just > like many other armed organizations throughout history, is the kind of > group that can eventually be reasoned with, however distasteful its enemies > may find the prospect. Noting numerous examples in which governments have > talked their way to peace with terrorist organizations, Powell > acknowledges, “of course people argue that ISIS is completely different > from anything we have seen before. But people have said that about each new > armed group since the rise of the IRA in 1919.” > > If Powell’s historical analogies worked, the struggle against ISIS would > be a lot simpler. Unfortunately, the analysis underappreciates how direly > different ISIS actually is. The armed groups that Powell describes as > having accepted negotiated settlements were fundamentally nationalist > organizations—even where the group or “nation” on whose behalf they fought > was sometimes defined partly in terms of religious identity—with > fundamentally political and pragmatic aims. ISIS is instead a radical > supra-nationalist group based on a deeply perverted interpretation of Sunni > Islam, and it has hugely maximalist goals. > > Powell’s key example is the Irish Republican Army, which was a Catholic > organization insofar as it used Catholic identity for political ends, > cultivating a sense of Irish Catholic nationalism to fight for the ejection > of the British from Northern Ireland and for political union with their > Catholic brethren to the south. But the IRA was not trying to conquer the > whole of the British Isles for Catholicism, nor to hasten the return of the > Christian messiah and the end of the world. Powell, who was the chief > British negotiator in Northern Ireland when the Good Friday Accords helped > bring an end to decades of violence in the country, notes that “when we sat > down with the Republicans … we found that there were a series of legitimate > subjects they wanted to discuss—from power-sharing between Catholics and > Protestants to the protection of human rights.” > > ISIS, by contrast, is not fundamentally nationalist in this way, as > Powell implies in his emphasis on the group’s appeals to Sunni identity, > whether in Syria or Iraq. Rather, even while individual paths to joining > ISIS may vary tremendously, and no doubt do in some cases rest on > nationalist Sunni grievances, the leadership of the group has been quite > clear about its genuinely held aims, which include the complete domination > of Syria, Iraq, and locations far beyond. > > It’s not the presence of religious identity as such that makes ISIS > different. As Powell points out, there have been a number of militant > groups in history that have used religion for political goals and were > still susceptible to negotiated peace. The Irish Republican Army was one > such example, as were various Muslim groups, including the Moro Islamic > Liberation Front in the Philippines, which Powell points to as proving that > governments have “made peace with Islamic [sic] guerrillas before … so it > is not impossible to do.” Religion, or even strong ideology, as in the case > of the FMLN in El Salvador, does not make negotiation impossible. Indeed, > many, if not most, of the rebel groups currently fighting Bashar al-Assad’s > repugnant and brutal regime in Syria are motivated by religious precepts, > and instrumentalize religion for political ends. Those groups can and > should be negotiated with, and in some cases empowered against Assad and > ISIS, even while their interlocutors must continuously interrogate any > faults, flaws, or failings they may have. > > <a href=" > http://ad.doubleclick.net/N617/jump/defenseone.com/section_threats;pos=defenseone-instream;sz=600x300;"; > > title="">< img alt="" src=" > http://ad.doubleclick.net/N617/ad/defenseone.com/section_threats;pos=defenseone-instream;sz=600x300;tile=4;"/>< > > /a> > > <a href=" > http://ad.doubleclick.net/N617/jump/defenseone.com/section_threats;pos=contextual-large-rectangle-tablet;sz=700x350;"; > > title="">< img alt="" src=" > http://ad.doubleclick.net/N617/ad/defenseone.com/section_threats;pos=contextual-large-rectangle-tablet;sz=700x350;tile=5;"/>< > > /a> > > <a href=" > http://ad.doubleclick.net/N617/jump/defenseone.com/section_threats;pos=contextual-large-rectangle-mobile;sz=300x150;"; > > title="">< img alt="" src=" > http://ad.doubleclick.net/N617/ad/defenseone.com/section_threats;pos=contextual-large-rectangle-mobile;sz=300x150;tile=6;"/>< > > /a> > > But these other groups, from Ireland to the Philippines to Syria, fought > or are fighting for limited political goals, within a defined geographic > space—whether those goals were Catholic rights in Northern Ireland, Moro > autonomy in the Philippines, or the reformation or end of the Assad regime > in Syria. ISIS, however, is not primarily a Sunni Arab uprising aimed at > protecting the civil or political rights of Sunni Muslims in Syria or Iraq. > ISIS is an outgrowth of a broader uprising. But it is more than that. > > This is evident, for example, in the context of the Syrian Civil War, > where ISIS is one of the major combatants, but is correctly not invited > to international negotiations > <http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/iran-saudi-arabia-us-syria-217318> > aimed > at resolving the conflict. On that battlefield, and in contrast to other > groups there, ISIS is not just an insurgency working for a specifically > Syrian political cause. Its has regional and global ambitions that go far > beyond defeating Assad’s army. And unlike the Kurds, whose own regional > ambitions extend only to the lands Kurds have historically occupied, ISIS > specifically rejects territorial limits to its power: Its very slogan > <http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/is-isis-still-remaining-and-expanding> > is > “remaining and expanding.” > > The IRA was not trying to conquer the whole of the British Isles for > Catholicism, nor to hasten the return of the Christian messiah and the end > of the world. > > An insurgency can end through negotiation and the satisfaction of certain, > often predictable, political aims, such as the withdrawal of foreign > military forces, or the granting of autonomy. But ISIS does not demand > the withdrawal of foreign military forces—quite the contrary, it has > expressed the wish to draw foreign armies into its territory > <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/>, > > and to export its military force beyond Syria and Iraq. It does not call > for the simple granting of autonomy to its members and supporters in Syria > and Iraq—it works to end the autonomy of others in both places, and far > beyond, not least through ethnic cleansing and the worldwide export of > wanton violence. If ISIS were willing to be satisfied by, say, a joint > Sunni Arab zone in Syria and Iraq, governed under a perverted form of > Islamic law, then one could talk about the possibility, if not the > laudability, of negotiation. But the point of ISIS is precisely that it > cannot be satisfied without forcibly changing the very contours of the > current international order. > > Powell suggests that “even if some of the hardline leaders of ISIS … want > nothing less than their full demands (including ushering in the > apocalypse), other more moderate leaders will, under military pressure, be > prepared to settle for more modest gains.” Negotiations should, in his > view, “strengthen those moderates’ positions in ISIS’s internal > discussions.” Indeed, it is possible to “peel away” ISIS members, as > evidenced by the number of occasions on which ISIS recruits have defected > <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28269596> after realizing that > the group isn’t all it is cracked up to be. But those “moderate” former > members are essentially irrelevant to the group (unless of course they’re > targeted for execution); they are not about to influence discussions within > ISIS, much less take it over. These defections have in no way pushed the > group toward being more palatable to international norms—in fact ISIS’s > continued ability to recruit depends in part on the leadership’s very > refusal to accept “nothing less than their full demands.” If ISIS remains > true to its principles, that’s also the reason the world can accept nothing > less than the group’s full defeat. > > > > > > > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmazlyODZsBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0NTI2MjIwMDI-> > > > - New Members > > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/members/all;_ylc=X3oDMTJnbXZjcTI0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2bWJycwRzdGltZQMxNDUyNjIyMDAy> > > 1 > > [image: Yahoo! 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