War against ISIS will be won by ideas, not bombs
The conflict with the so-called Islamic State or ISIS is complicated and nuanced.
In the United States, we have little experience in our comparatively short history with fighting anything like the Islamic State. The Islamic State holds territory in the form of land, but it also holds territory in the minds of people.
The territory of the mind is much more dangerous than any land anyone holds. The best way to combat this danger is with ideas, because ideas are bullets of the mind.
This week, a United States air strike killed 38 people in Libya, one of whom is thought to be Noureddine Chouchane, a leader of the Islamic State in Libya. This air strike caused the deaths of at least 38 people, but what did it accomplish? The Islamic State will have one less person to spread its poisonous ideas, but he’ll undoubtedly be replaced by another who’ll use this event to justify their hatred for the United States.
By carrying out these air strikes, we aren’t changing anyone’s minds. We must fight the Islamic State by giving them no reason to hate us.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind.”
What Gandhi meant by this is that killing our enemies doesn’t solve any problems; it only gives them a reason to keep fighting us. We must somehow change their minds.
Some may say the minds of the people of the Islamic State can’t be changed. In that case, the only way to deal with them is to exterminate them. I don’t think anyone believes this is the right thing to do, or that it’s even possible. So, the only way to beat the Islamic State is to convince them what they’re doing is wrong.
This doesn’t mean we should run away from the problem — it means we should show the Islamic State that we’re willing to act American no matter what.
For example, there were a number of people who urged the public not to go shopping during Black Friday, because it may be a terrorist target. This isn’t the American thing to do. The American thing to do would be to go shopping in spite of the threat of terror. If we change our behavior because of fear, the terrorists have won.
Our war with the Islamic State must be confined to ideas. We must stop resorting to acts of violence to fight violence. We must start fighting violence with peace.
