(CNN)— Whenever ISIS carries out a new atrocity, whether it's beheading a
group of Egyptian Christians or enslaving Yazidi women in Iraq or burning its
victims alive, the big question most people have is: Why on Earth is ISIS doing
this? What could possibly be the point?
Adding to your list of enemies is never a sound strategy, yet ISIS' ferocious
campaign against the Shia, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, and Muslims who don't
precisely share its views has united every ethnic and religious group in Syria
and Iraq against them.
ISIS is even at war with
its most natural ally, al
Qaeda in Syria.
The Nazis and the
Khmer Rouge went to
great lengths to hide
their crimes against
humanity. Instead, ISIS
posts its many crimes
on social media for
global distribution with
seemingly no thoughts
for the consequences.
ISIS' beheading of the
American journalist
James Foley in mid-
August galvanized much
of the Western world
against the group and
led to an intensified
U.S.-led air campaign
against ISIS, which,
according to U.S.
military officials, has
killed at least 6,000 of
its fighters.
The burning to death by ISIS of the Jordanian pilot, Muath al-Kaseasbeh,
galvanized much of the Arab world against the group and has brought Jordan
into the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in a much more aggressive manner.
The beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya by an ISIS affiliate led
Egypt's air force on Monday to drop bombs on ISIS positions in eastern Libya.
Former CIA director Robert Gates is reported to have kept a maxim on his desk
that read, "As a general rule, the way to achieve complete strategic surprise is
to commit an act that makes no sense or is even self-destructive."
ISIS keeps surprising the world and its actions do indeed seem to make no
sense or are self-destructive.
So what is going on here?
A key window into understanding ISIS is its English language "in-flight
magazine" Dabiq. Last week the seventh issue of Dabiq was released, and a
close reading of it helps explains ISIS' world view.
The mistake some make when viewing ISIS is to see it as a rational actor.
Instead, as the magazine documents, its ideology is that of an apocalyptic cult
that believes that we are living in the end times and that ISIS' actions are
hastening the moment when this will happen.
The name of the Dabiq
magazine itself helps us
understand ISIS'
worldview. The Syrian
town of Dabiq is where
the Prophet Mohammed
is supposed to have
predicted that the
armies of Islam and
"Rome" would meet for
the final battle that will
precede the end of time
and the triumph of true
Islam.
In the recent issue of
Dabiq it states: "As the
world progresses
towards al-Malhamah
al-Kubrā, ('the Great Battle' to be held at Dabiq) the option to stand on the
sidelines as a mere observer is being lost." In other words, in its logic, you are
either on the side of ISIS or you are on the side of the Crusaders and infidels.
When American aid worker Peter Kassig was murdered by ISIS in November,
"Jihadi John" -- the masked British murderer who has appeared in so many
ISIS videos -- said of Kassig: "We bury the first crusader in Dabiq, eagerly
waiting for the rest of your armies to arrive."
In other words, ISIS wants a Western ground force to invade Syria, as that will
confirm the prophecy about Dabiq.
We live in an increasingly secularized world, so it's sometimes difficult to take
seriously the deeply held religious beliefs of others. For many of us the idea
that the end of times will come with a battle between "Rome" and Islam at the
obscure Syrian town of Dabiq is as absurd as the belief that the Mayans had
that their human sacrifices could influence future events.
But for ISIS, the Dabiq prophecy is deadly serious. Members of ISIS believe that
they are the vanguard fighting a religious war, which Allah has determined will
be won by the forces of true Islam.
This is the conclusion of an important forthcoming new book about ISIS by
terrorism experts J.M. Berger and Jessica Stern who write that ISIS, like many
other "violent apocalyptic groups, tend to see themselves as participating in a
cosmic war between good and evil, in which moral rules do not apply."
This also similar to the conclusion of an excellent new cover story about ISIS in
the Atlantic magazine by Graeme Wood who writes, "Virtually every major
decision and law promulgated by the Islamic State (another name for ISIS)
adheres to what it calls, in its press and pronouncements, and on its billboards,
license plates, stationery, and coins, 'the Prophetic methodology,' which means
following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail.
Muslims can reject the Islamic State; nearly all do. But pretending that it isn't
actually a religious, millenarian group, with theology that must be understood to
be combated, has already led the United States to underestimate it." Amen to
that.
ISIS members devoutly believe that they are fighting in a cosmic war in which
they are on the side of good, which allows them to kill anyone they perceive to
be standing in their way with no compunction. This is, of course, a serious
delusion, but serious it is.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/16/opinion/bergen-isis-enemies/index.html