Islamic State?

So . . .

Islamic State / IS / ISIS / ISIL / Daesh are big in the news after the attacks in Paris on Friday. The slightly bewildering list of names for this murderous organization may be symbolic; the great powers of the world can't even decide what to call them, let alone what to do about them. Daesh (a name based on the acronym for "Islamic State in Iraq and Syria" in Arabic) is the name the group itself likes the least, so from here on, I'll refer to them as that :) .

They're callously violent, but clearly not all stupid; some are experts at online recruitment, and France's security services can't have been slack after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, so Daesh clearly have members who are effective at planning and operational execution (a regrettable grisly play on words here, I know). They define themselves as Muslims, but have mostly killed other Muslims so far, Muslims who don't share their love of killing or enslaving everyone who disagrees with them. They distribute an apocalyptic vision that is drawing in disaffected Muslim twenty-somethings in their hundreds and thousands; they say, "The end of the world is nigh, and we're the winning side, so you'd better join up, or else."

Daesh specialise in creating atrocities so horrific that the Western press apparently cannot help but report on them in graphic detail. This serves several purposes for them; it spreads fear through the populations of their enemies, it functions as free advertising for them as an aid to their recruitment, and it creates anger in the minds of opposing political and military leaders, potentially clouding their judgment, and possibly leading to ill-considered reprisals that fuel Daesh recruitment rates even more.

Daesh are selling oil from the oil wells they've captured on the black market in Turkey. They sell antiquities and artifacts (when they don't blow them up for publicity). They extort money from local citizens in the areas in which they have a military presence. They do a little heroin trafficking from Afghanistan. They also get direct donations, through various phony charities. They are, therefore, extremely rich, which enables all of their activities.

So, solutions? Ground forces in Iraq AGAIN are not a popular concept in the US and UK, and I don't think any other European democracies are keen either. The Counter-DAESH Coalition drops some bombs and provides some humanitarian support, but that doesn't seem to have a decisive effect. The states appearing to have most success against them are Iran (not popular with the West), what remains of Syria's "official" government (even less popular with the West), Russia (are we seeing a pattern here?), and Iraqi Kurdistan (not technically a sovereign state); the official Iraqi government and military are doing what they can, and Turkey has started to get more involved, but the situation grinds on.

Perhaps the only plausible resolution, and I know many won't feel this is plausible either, is if the members of Daesh decide they don't want to continue as part of a murderous organization, and if Daesh are no longer successful in recruitment. This is where Christians have an advantage over sovereign states, as the power of prayer can change hearts and minds in a way that military power simply cannot. I humbly suggest to all who claim faith in Jesus Christ that we pray that all members of Daesh start frequently having doubts about the rightness of their actions, and that they start to listen to their doubts, and that those considering joining would have the same doubts, and decide not to join as a result. Repentence is what these people need, beyond all else.