ISIS Rears Its Head Once More
From Australia to Syria, the fight against Islamic State isn’t over.
The murder of three Americans in Syria may not have been the only ISIS attack over the weekend. The more we learn about the rampage at a Hanukkah party in Australia, the more it seems to have been inspired or even directed by Islamic State. Clearly, this fight isn’t over.
Two ISIS flags were found in the terrorists’ car at Bondi Beach, along with explosive devices, and investigators believe the father-son duo had sworn allegiance to the group. The two spent November in part of the Philippines that has long been plagued by jihadism, and Australia’s ABC News reports that the men received “military-style training” there. Interaction with real-life jihadists is often decisive in tipping over extremists into carrying out terrorist actions.
The attack, Australia’s deadliest in decades, could have been worse if not for the actions of a few. Previously we cited Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Muslim passerby who disarmed a terrorist for a time. New video has shown that Boris Gurman, a 69-year-old ex-Soviet Jew, earlier wrestled a rifle out of one of the terrorists’ hands as they emerged from their car. Gurman and his wife, Sofia, were then shot and killed, dying in each other’s arms.
The tragedies, in Syria and Australia, underscore that ISIS hasn’t given up. Stymied for now in its desire to recreate a territorial caliphate, it will attack Americans, Jews and Christians wherever it can. This is one reason U.S. policy seeks to prevent the terrorists’ recovery in Syria: Better to fight over there than in Sydney and U.S. cities.
Fewer than 1,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Syria, concentrated in the Kurdish northeast and at al-Tanf in the southeast, near the borders with Iraq and Jordan. They are there, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack noted after Saturday’s attack, “to finish the job of defeating ISIS once and for all.”
This includes assisting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces with security for the thousands of ISIS prisoners they hold. Should they ever escape, the problem would be ours as well as Syria’s. The limited U.S. presence, Mr. Barrack said, “empowers capable local Syrian partners to take the fight to these terrorists on the ground, ensuring that American forces do not have to engage in another costly, large-scale war in the Middle East.”
Syria, under its new management, has joined the political coalition against ISIS. The next step is for Syria to contribute militarily—and purge its own ranks of foreign jihadist commanders. From Syria to the Philippines, it is a mistake to allow ISIS to benefit parasitically from power vacuums.
The murder of three Americans in Syria may not have been the only ISIS attack over the weekend. The more we learn about the rampage at a Hanukkah party in Australia, the more it seems to have been inspired or even directed by Islamic State. Clearly, this fight isn’t over.
Two ISIS flags were found in the terrorists’ car at Bondi Beach, along with explosive devices, and investigators believe the father-son duo had sworn allegiance to the group. The two spent November in part of the Philippines that has long been plagued by jihadism, and Australia’s ABC News reports that the men received “military-style training” there. Interaction with real-life jihadists is often decisive in tipping over extremists into carrying out terrorist actions.
The attack, Australia’s deadliest in decades, could have been worse if not for the actions of a few. Previously we cited Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Muslim passerby who disarmed a terrorist for a time. New video has shown that Boris Gurman, a 69-year-old ex-Soviet Jew, earlier wrestled a rifle out of one of the terrorists’ hands as they emerged from their car. Gurman and his wife, Sofia, were then shot and killed, dying in each other’s arms.
The tragedies, in Syria and Australia, underscore that ISIS hasn’t given up. Stymied for now in its desire to recreate a territorial caliphate, it will attack Americans, Jews and Christians wherever it can. This is one reason U.S. policy seeks to prevent the terrorists’ recovery in Syria: Better to fight over there than in Sydney and U.S. cities.
Fewer than 1,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Syria, concentrated in the Kurdish northeast and at al-Tanf in the southeast, near the borders with Iraq and Jordan. They are there, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack noted after Saturday’s attack, “to finish the job of defeating ISIS once and for all.”
This includes assisting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces with security for the thousands of ISIS prisoners they hold. Should they ever escape, the problem would be ours as well as Syria’s. The limited U.S. presence, Mr. Barrack said, “empowers capable local Syrian partners to take the fight to these terrorists on the ground, ensuring that American forces do not have to engage in another costly, large-scale war in the Middle East.”
Syria, under its new management, has joined the political coalition against ISIS. The next step is for Syria to contribute militarily—and purge its own ranks of foreign jihadist commanders. From Syria to the Philippines, it is a mistake to allow ISIS to benefit parasitically from power vacuums.
One Subscription.
Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines
to 100 year archives.
Archives
HT App & Website
