Summary: As we slide deeper into the Long War with Islam, blindly, urged on by ignorant voices, we do so against the advice of experts like Ahmed Rashid. Here he tells us about ISIS, their origins and their goals. He explains what were doing wrong, and recommends a better course. (First of 2 posts today)

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ISIS: What the US Doesn’t Understand

By Ahmed Rashid

Blog of the New York Review of Books

2 December 2014

Posted with their generous permission

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Over the last few days, as the United States has stepped up its bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria, it has been hard to escape another reality: the US is still looking for a coherent strategy against the Islamic State. Along with its relentless drive across the deserts of Syria and Iraq, and its continued massacre of civilians and members of endangered minorities, ISIS can now also claim…