As we find ourselves in
a war against ISIS that is undoubtedly about to reach a new level after the attack in Paris, The Daily Beast talked with some military and intelligence
experts who warned that three things must change:
troops in Syria and Iraq to battle ISIS.
The acceptance of hundreds
of civilian casualties.
And the destruction of
Raqqa, the Syrian city that serves as the capital of the Islamic State.
experience hunting Osama bin Laden and trying to outmaneuver ISIS, told The
Daily Beast, “Everybody is going to respond to this thing with solidarity,
tying little ribbons on trees and that sort of bullshit,” when what’s needed,
in his opinion, is “to drive a stake in their heart.”
To do that, this intelligence
officer, who is keeping his identity secret, suggested a force of 6,000 or
7,000 airborne soldiers take control of Raqqa. No warning. No tanks. Swoop
in.
“They have made Raqqa
the capital of their state,” he said. “Take it and you have changed the ground
immediately. You can’t fight ISIS with baby steps, and what happened in Paris
gives you the immediate rationale to do something strategic. Otherwise? They
are winning.”
Paris attack has also changed views about boots on the ground.
Here’s a statement from Diane
Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee:
spreading outside Iraq and Syria, and that’s why we must take the battle to
them. I strongly believe we need to further increase our efforts in Syria and
Iraq directly and expand our support to partner nations in other countries
where (ISIS) is operating.
“It has become clear
that limited airstrikes and support for Iraqi forces and the Syrian opposition
are not sufficient to protect our country and our allies. This is a war that
affects us all, and it’s time we take real action to confront these monsters
who target innocent civilians.”
French criminologist and adviser on counter-terror strategies to officials in
Paris, New York and elsewhere told The Daily Beast that the “Battle of Paris” has
to be addressed at the source.
“If we really want to do
something, we need to erase Raqqa,” Bauer said, adding that the U.S. and its
allies must give up on precision bombing and accept that some civilians in
Raqqa will be killed in this attack.
ISIS is embedded among
the civilian population, he explained, but “they are representing the
civilian population,” a population that has stayed in place and sometimes
profited from the group’s presence. “They are not enslaving them. And a war is
a war.”
that the occupation of Raqqa would lead the West into a long-running quagmire,
which is what ISIS wants?
“ISIS wants us to
conquer the territory, which is not what I said,” Bauer told The Beast. “We
need to erase Raqqa.”
