Saddam had a death wish….and a life goal: To be a nationalistic leader admired throughout the Arab world.  Nasser was his regional idol and Stalin his international idol.  Half his wishes came true with the creation of ISIS, an Islamic caliphate more brutal than Medieval Christian crusaders, a borderless, mobile religious pyre that plans to dominate Syria and Iraq by force.   Isis was also created to purge Shia Muslims who now have a stronghold in Iraqi government.

Under Hussein’s 24 year rule, the 65% majority Shias were persecuted and denied key government posts by the Tikrit Sunni Hussein.  However, Saddam Hussein was a nationalist.  He wanted admiration within his own borders and his influence to reach Egypt and Jordan.  He was like a Stalinist territorial expansionalist within the traditional stag hunt political system.  Isis wants nothing traditional.  They don’t covet admiration by the Western World.  They are religiously indignant with a superior mentality that will wipe out different sects of their own religion, take women and children hostage and disrespect any surrounding country’s authority or dilemma.

 Isis’s new caliphate breed was founded just this year in January, 2014 by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, (head Caliph), who is headquartered in Ar-Raqqar, Syria.  He has taken advantage of the void and chaos created by the Syrian Civil War and the recent vacancy of American troops on Iraqi soil.  Although Iraq is 90-95% Muslim, it is not enough for ISIS that Iraqi citizens to be of the same faith.  They want a purified state of loyalty and obedience in which they believe will only be satisfied by force. The Muslim population of Iraq is approximately 60-70 percent Arab Shi’a, 20-30 percent Arab Sunni and 10 percent Kurdish.  Iraqi Kurds are mostly Sunni, with about 10% being Shi’a Faili Kurd.   The aim of ISIS is to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and in Syria.  And yet, they would not stop with Syria and Iraq if their power solidified.  

Their intent is to dominate the entire Middle East and eradicate infidels in Western countries.  Isis not only creates a problem for those who are vulnerable to civil war like Syrian refugees.  The security the Kurdish obtained after Saddam Hussein was ousted is now gone.  The Kurds who were always the black sheep of Hussein’s regime and systematically tortured and gassed, are now subject to regional conflict with a group that has only been in existence in 8 months and has committed mass executions indiscriminately.   On August 6, 2014, 80 Yazidis near Kurdish territory in Iraq were executed. Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, stated on August 18, 2014 that the international community would be justified in stopping Islamist militants in Iraq.

He also said that it should not be up to a single nation to decide how to intervene in the conflict.  On August 28th, Isis executed 250 Syrian soldiers and then posted video clips on Twitter.  They also made a symbolic gesture by killing a member of the Lebanese army and Kurdish Peshmerga army.  Isis also seized $428 million of U.S. dollars from a Mosul bank in Iraq.  With the seizure of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, and advances on others, Isis is more than a traveling terrorist group with loose aims.  Funding and soldiers from Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will perpetuate the army to a luxury even First World armies dread to fight.

 Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who is now the Interior Minister said that action must be taken by international forces immediately before all of Iraq falls apart.  Maliki was creating a peaceful government coalition with Sunni and Shia alliances but it fell apart.  He was forced to step down.  One of the leaders of Iraqi’s major tribes, Ali Hatem Suleimani, stated that cooperation in Iraq is limited as long as Maliki is in office. The Sunni leader Suleimani is hiding out in Erbil in Kurd’s autonomous region in which he has been given temporary sanctuary.  

The United States failed in a covert attempt to rescue James Foley and other Americans trapped in Syria.  It was the first ground forces to commit military acts in Syria.  The U.S. must realize that jumping in and out of battles using Special Forces is not effective long term.  In a sense, the U.S. mission in Iraq was not fulfilled.  Stability does not exist in the region even though U.S. military goals are complete.  Even U.S. army elite are shaking their heads.  The Taliban hid in mountain caves and did not want exposure.  Isis has initiated a battle that will cross national lines; defy the United Nations and Geneva conventional warfare.   If Pope Francis, who is peace oriented, is calling for action, Barack Obama and other national leaders must explore options before the massacre increases.  Uttering sanctions with a non-state actor terrorist group will not quell their mission of destruction.