How America Loses to ISIS

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Islamic State terror attacks across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States have sent shockwaves through every home on three continents. Fear of terrorism, and by extension, Islam, is deciding the US presidential election. The United Kingdom left the European Union after more than 40 years specifically to reduce the number of Muslim immigrants living there. Syria has been in a ruthless civil war for five years. The rises of ISIS will prove to be one of the most detrimental factors of this decade.

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I watched the Twin Towers fall on 9/11 from across the Lower New York Bay. I wonder if my parents ever thought that their ten year old boy would ever be part of the ensuing conflict. But here we are, 15 years later. The battle never ended; our enemy only changed faces. The worst part- it is our fault. America responds to fear with overwhelming firepower without knowing where to fire. Yet as always, we will defeat our enemy in the physical space. We will carve land from the Caliphate with Iraqi and Kurdish forces alongside us. But it will not be enough. ISIS is more effective in a different part of the battlefield. They will defeat us in the virtual space of the internet and TV.

[] ISIS' long-term territorial desires.

The American media fails to make the distinction between a full-fledged recruited member of ISIS and a home-grown terrorist with few, if any, links to ISIS leadership. Almost every attack claimed by ISIS in Europe and America has been committed by a citizen of that country- Belgium, France, America, and elsewhere in Europe. In fact, American citizens swearing loyalty to ISIS has been a bigger problem than any of the refugees whom we so deeply feared. We are fighting a new type of enemy that does not even know who its members are, and they do not need to. Individuals feeling disenfranchised, fearful, or internally conflicted swear their loyalty to an organization which they have only heard of on television or the internet. The American media does not distinguish between this type of individual and people who plan attacks with direct influence from ISIS leadership. We are creating ignorance among our population, and it is turning the rag-tag band of al-Qaeda remnants into a legend. ISIS does not need to hold land; their Caliphate extends into the digital realm. Through the virtual space, ISIS leadership commands an untold number of soldiers, even though they have never seen them. They cast their commands through propaganda footage and words of encouragement as though casting bait. When someone bites, ISIS claims responsibility for the attack.

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America does not know how to fight this enemy, so we will elect Donald Trump with the expectation that he can save us. We will be disappointed. By treating every Muslim like a terrorist, we play into ISIS' hands. ISIS preys on the fearful and disenfranchised; Muslims who call America home will soon feel lost among their own countrymen. They can be more easily tapped, and this radicalizing will be accomplished through the virtual space. This is how they defeat us. They will turn us against ourselves.

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We will defeat ISIS in their Caliphate: the physical space. They will lose their cities and roads. But we are not used to fighting an enemy in the virtual space. While ISIS loses cities in Iraq, they gain the admiration of people who would otherwise commit suicide in their basements. Now those same people go out with a bang in the name of the Islamic State. To defeat ISIS in the physical space, we must first kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader among their cult-of-personality. Then, we must let the ISIS legend fade as a means of degrading its reputation. Let it be known that the Islamic State is not worth dying for. I hope it will not be many years before we realize this strategy.