IS or ISIS this is the dilemma

(To Andrea Pastore)
17/03/15

The convulsive days following the conquest of Kobane and Tikrit by the black men of the caliph brought to the fore a dilemma that goes beyond the mere semantics to enter into the field of psychological operations, the so-called Islamic state must be classified as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or as IS (Islamic State)?

The question as mentioned exceeds the merely theoretical dimension and enters the operational practice of a terrorist movement that soon undermined the primary role of Al Qaeda.

Calling the Islamic state of the east actually compressed not only the hegemonic expectations of an organized group, but limited the media impact connected to the operational capabilities of the black flags, in fact sanctioned a border, a limit.

Taking into account the renewed ecumenical spirit with which the men of Al Baghdadi act, it was necessary to take a step forward by defining the conglomerate of faith and terror with the appellation of Islamic State.

The breaking of the semantic boundaries has a main purpose, that of demonstrating that the horizon of the movement born between Syria and Iraq has as its strategic end the whole world.

The attitude described and the objectives set could appear at the limit of megalomania, but they are functional to overcome the impasse of the symmetrical confrontation with the West on the physical plane, in fact if it is true that the gap relative to the military arsenals is almost unbridgeable, cognitive and moral domain IS has virtually won the game.

The dynamics of exporting the dictates of the Islamic state in the world through those who have carried out an operational cycle in Syria or Iraq (Siraq nda) not only reinforces the spirit of belonging to a group, but aggravates the condition of indeterminacy in all those states in which is difficult to grasp the presence of individuals belonging to the caliphate, however the absolute solipsism of the so-called foreign fighters, as regards the phases of recruitment, makes it very difficult to identify and above all maximize the effectiveness of the propaganda activities put in place from the throats of the east.

At the moment the West has no strategies, for this reason it risks to contribute decisively to the definitive transition from the ISIS strategic horizon to that of IS.

(in the militia images at work in Iraq)