After 9/11's Anniversary, a Reflection on the Fight Against ISIS
Monday, Sept. 11 marked the sixteenth anniversary of 9/11, a day that shattered the West’s naïve sense of security and inaugurated an era of costly wars. For former President George W. Bush, it was the first day that “America felt its vulnerability even to threats that gather on the other side of the Earth.” Yet after years of fighting “on the other side of the Earth,” peace in the turbulent Middle East remains more elusive than ever. The rise of regional powers like Iran, as well as the deficiency of effective governance threaten to further exacerbate, rather than quell, terrorism and extremism.
“Me and my brother against my cousin; me and my cousin against our neighbor.” Though pessimistic in its portrayal of human relationships, this old Bedouin proverb appears to have foreshadowed the Syrian Civil War and, more broadly, the fight against ISIS. More than just a proxy war between the United States and Russia, the regional crisis involves players with particular and often unpredictable strategies that prioritize the national pursuit of power.
Iran, for example, has been funding Shiite terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and bolstering the Assad regime. After Obama unwisely lifted sanctions on the Assad regime, money began flowing into the country’s beleaguered economy. Tour operators have seen a surge of bookings, with airlines like Air France recently adding flights to Tehran. The deluge of money allows Iran’s theocratic government to maintain—and augment—its geopolitical influence. Hezbollah has received thousands of rockets and long-range missiles from Iran, and most have been used either against Israel or U.S.-backed rebel forces. The Wall Street Journal reported that more than seven thousand Iranian troops were aiding the Syrian regime. The United States must reinstall sanctions on Iran and stop “supplying” money to its own enemy.
The United States is likewise in denial of Turkey. In the past, U.S. presidents have played a tough balancing act between including Turkey in Western organizations like NATO and confronting it about its self-centered foreign policy. The painful truth is that Turkey allows ISIS to operate in the northern portions of Syria, hoping that the terrorist group will suppress Kurdish independence movements. Afraid of the separatist tendencies of its own Kurdish population, the Turkish government encourages chaos and genocide in regions with many Kurds. Although the Trump administration’s funding of the Syrian Kurdish Militia is a step in the right direction, much more must be done to force Erdogan to the negotiating table with the oppressed Turkish Kurds.
In terms of territorial size, the fight against ISIS could be called a success. On Aug. 19, 2014, ISIS published a video of the beheading of American journalist James Foley. Since then, the United States, along with NATO allies, has partnered with Iraqi forces to counter ISIS’ expansion. On July 9, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in the reclaimed city of Mosul to declare victory over ISIS. U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have taken control of two-thirds of Raqqa, ISIS’ de-facto capital and headquarters. Their territorial demise has incited dissent within ISIS’ ranks, which has in turn undermined their ground offensives.
But ISIS’ territorial demise does not make it a figment of the past. In the 16 years since 9/11, new technologies have endowed terrorist organizations with the means to disseminate propaganda, recruit followers and reach beyond the territorial expanse of their caliphates. ISIS used the messaging app Telegram to coordinate the November 2015 Paris attacks. Similarly, Swiss messaging app Threema allows ISIS to encrypt its messages. The war against ISIS will no longer be fought on ground; the Internet is the new battleground. The United Nations will need to create and pass legislation that forces states to banish tech companies with inadequate cyberinfrastructure. Only then will the lifelines of ISIS and other terrorist groups be toppled.