Know Your Enemy: Daesh, the Islamic State (Pt. 1)

by Buck Clay · December 10, 2015

A ragtag group of backwater extremists have risen to international media heights and challenged the peace of mind and collective safety of the free world. Generally speaking, most people know little about them. A dangerous position, and if one man is historically noted as an expert on that point, it is Sun Tzu. In his classical masterpiece, the “Art of War,” Section III, Attack by Stratagem, he tells us, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Simply put, know your enemy.

What’s in a name

One notable concern regarding this understanding of our enemy is that we cannot seem to simply agree on what name to call them. The Islamic State in Iraq and as-Shām are also commonly known as ISIS, IS, ISIL, or DAIS (pronounced Daesh). The lattermost is based on the acronym of their latest name, Dawlat al-Islāmiyya fī al-Irāq wa s-Shām. Simply put, beyond the most popular term used, ISIS, we should be calling them Daesh, as it’s perceived by the enemy as a derogatory term. Kurdish coalitions have been using the term Daesh for the majority of the conflict.

About Buck Clay

is an American. He served eleven years for God and Country with the illustrious Airborne Combat Engineers and dedicated four of those years traveling to wonderful faraway lands where he dug around in the dirt looking for bombs. After much soul searching, he decided to return to academia. There he obtained two additional university degrees, and he is now pursuing a fourth - because university is fun. Currently, he travels around quite a bit, and finds comfort on sunny desert mountaintops and seaside resorts where people try to kill him.

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allwet
Well said Brad. I was just about ready to let a typo ridden rather furiously hasty expletive laden reply. Okay, not really....but I had to think NICELY enough for my teeth to shrink back down. I am still getting used to it myself, but the only constant in life is change, lock on, or get locked out! It was an easy choice;)
allwet
uh oh.......
allwet
Well Buck I guess I mistook another piece that mentioned the tax structure, public works, and infrastructure for part 1. Fantastic job.I will have to graze on it a few times for it all to sink in. Sun Tzu. Ah, every generation that turns an "all knowing" deaf ear to history, is set to learn his lessons the hard way. ISIS-media fave because it sounded so cool to so many-so obviously a godsend of a buzzword, I fucking hated that. "So fuck those guys. Daesh it is." Roger that. Nice work with the economy angle-it is the most oft ignored, to the detriment of all.We have the ass kicking down, when we can actually do it, despite ROE's that are desperately political nature(Ask Mr Tzu about 'em.....WTF).We go completely anti Tzu in occupation stages,ie; fatally predictable, and for an end game to work(not swear allegiance, then haul ass home), the "warlord economics" is gonna have to be changed. Thats a whole lot more difficult then a few cobbled together phases of "all you gotta do is".
allwet
At least;)
allwet
The economy has always been one of the tricky parts and seemingly most ignored, a local populace with no alternatives...has no alternative.Poppies go far comparatively speaking-whereas you can Rx 'em, build schools, drill some wells to improve living conditions for the short term.....but if they cannot rise above an economy forced on them by the powers that be for the past umpteen hundred years, then even a brilliant strategy is doomed to fall victim to withdrawal pains. We pick up and with draw(defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, actioned by social media opinion and political ineptitude/cowardice despite our best efforts!), the hammer of retribution falls, and they are back into the dark ages once again.