161
votes
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
The stated goal of ISIS is to eliminate "the grey area". Today there is a sizeable minority of Muslims living in western society. ISIS wants to show that it's not possible for Muslims to live in the ...
- 3,652
121
votes
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
This question seems a little like why do terrorists commit terror?
The aim of a terrorist group isn't usually to be left alone, but more to provoke conflict, or as a form of violent protest against ...
- 8,437
98
votes
Accepted
Why is Islamic State (IS) referred to as "so-called"?
The name Islamic State is a claim to a global caliphate.
This claim is rejected by everybody else, from western leaders to Muslim leaders, to other Islamic extremists.
"so-called" is added to make ...
- 36k
68
votes
Accepted
Why did the Islamic State target Brussels when Belgium isn't bombing them?
Because Pape doesn't know what he's talking about.
Islamic jihadist groups Boko Haram and Al Shabbab terrorize African communities in Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and ...
- 860
57
votes
Accepted
Why don't countries revoke an IS fighter's citizenship arguing they have become citizens of IS?
Because recognizing another entity as a country entails admitting it's legally entitled to hold some territory. So the next question would have been: what territory is ISIS legally entitled to hold/...
- 145k
43
votes
Why did the Islamic State target Brussels when Belgium isn't bombing them?
First of all, ISIS claims that "killing kafirs is always good".
Official ISIS Announcement on Brussels Attacks
First we want to make it clear to all that what makes the kafir’s blood permissiable ...
- 2,332
36
votes
Why is Islamic State (IS) referred to as "so-called"?
Because they (Daesh) claim that their government is "Islamic State", but they consider most of Muslims as polytheist or infidel, and on the other hand, the majority of Muslims all over the ...
- 6,247
35
votes
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
Many answers here are attempting to answer your question in a similar perspective, and they are all extremely interesting and most of them seem very well documented.
What I'll offer you is an attempt ...
- 467
34
votes
Accepted
What are the differences among ISIS, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban?
TLDR:
Persecute civilians locally
Attack civilians in Western countries
Military operations
Can be engageddiplomatically
Taliban
✔✔ (1994-2001)2021+: ???
allowed Al Qaeda operationsleading to 9/11
✔✔...
28
votes
Accepted
Why isn’t Israel fighting ISIS?
Because they don't pose an immediate threat that needs to be countered ASAP
ISIS isn't a tangible current threat to Israel's existence.
They are definitely a threat to Syria or Iraq strategically. ...
- 91.8k
27
votes
Why don't countries revoke an IS fighter's citizenship arguing they have become citizens of IS?
Clever arguments don't really matter that much, it doesn't make the problem disappear, from either a political or human rights perspective. Some countries have revoked citizenship in similar ...
- 30.5k
24
votes
What strategy was ISIS employing with terrorist attacks in the West?
The involvement of ISIS in terrorist attacks on the West is actually more limited than one might expect.
Especially when excluding those attacks that weren't planned by ISIS, but "only" ...
- 36k
22
votes
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
A short answer is the last paragraph.
Born and raised as a Muslim, though I am more inclined to defend my lifestyle choices with progressist politics, rather than entities with extra-political ...
- 577
20
votes
Why does Daesh not attack or even threaten to attack Israel?
I think there may be a couple of components to this
Israel has excellent defenses and is very strict regarding points of entry into their territory. It's plausible that DAESH has attempted to ...
- 529
20
votes
Why does Daesh not attack or even threaten to attack Israel?
There are a variety of reasons:
ISIS is quite happy with the status quo of Israel attacking, or at least putting pressure on, their main tactical enemies (Shia block in general, in the ...
- 91.8k
20
votes
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
One reason for provoking powerful opponents is to establish in the eyes of potential recruits that you are a powerful organization that can accomplish what other organizations cannot.
Doing this may ...
- 73.2k
17
votes
Why don't countries revoke an IS fighter's citizenship arguing they have become citizens of IS?
Your question is predicated on an entirely false assumption, namely:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights held that she cannot made stateless
The UDHR is merely a declaration, and as such is ...
- 1,315
16
votes
Why does Obama say ISIL (instead of IS or ISIS or Islamic State)?
The reason for the disagreement about how to call the world's least favorite terrorist group is that the group changed its own name several times and because their native tongue isn't English, so ...
- 74.8k
15
votes
Why did the Islamic State target Brussels when Belgium isn't bombing them?
There's a big assumption in the question. Was Belgium the original intended target?
Or did these terrorists, who were mostly from Brussels and had been using Brussels as a base since before the Paris ...
- 1,584
15
votes
Why is Islamic State (IS) referred to as "so-called"?
This is a specifically BBC policy, that some other outlets are following.
The general policy at the BBC is to use the name for a group that is generally understood, and that the group itself uses. ...
- 115k
14
votes
Why did the Islamic State target Brussels when Belgium isn't bombing them?
ISIS has limited options, they can't strike at just any location they would ideally want to hit. ISIS has to recruit people who are willing to do their bidding, these people have to be able to make ...
- 4,719
13
votes
To whom does the Islamic State sell their oil?
The government of Turkey. Though this is hotly contested, there is some direct evidence and much circumstantial evidence to suggest that the Turkish government has at the very least facilitated/...
- 7,568
13
votes
Why did the Islamic State target Brussels when Belgium isn't bombing them?
Brussels is also the center of Europe, and therefore a desirable symbolic target. From both the ISIS terrorist's point of view and that of Europe's warmongering elite, looking for public support for ...
- 149
13
votes
What strategy was ISIS employing with terrorist attacks in the West?
It's extremely difficult to get into the specific motivations of individual actors or even organizations, absent explicit statements - which are often of questionable credibility if the speaker knows ...
- 16.4k
11
votes
Accepted
How truthful is the Russian allegation, that Turkey is buying oil from ISIS?
Although I like the answer from @user3765080, I think that this question requires a definitive answer and the answer should be yes. If we ask about Turkey, we mean all the people of Turkey whether ...
- 332
11
votes
Why doesn't Turkey invade Syria and destroy ISIS?
A few personal thoughts on this topic.
Turkish army has to go through the Kurds' lands. That seems impossible without fighting against Kurds first. And that would be both troublesome and frown upon ...
- 2,332
11
votes
Accepted
Would killing ISIS journalists be considered a war crime? If so, could ISIS use the ICC?
ISIS is not a member of the ICC, therefore it can't appeal to it.
Intentionally killing journalists would be a war crime. However, if journalists are killed by an attack aimed at a legitimate target, ...
- 2,661
10
votes
Why did the Islamic State target Brussels when Belgium isn't bombing them?
Here are some stats from the University of Chicago (Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism):
1 - Attacks by location:
2 - Attacks by year:
3 - Attacks by campaign:
And here are the contribution ...
- 444
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible