IS has really called the emperors with no clothes into the sunlight. This is a fascinating case, and I'm just glad I don't reside in that part of the world. I have the feeling that nations, like individuals, grow up through adolescence into maturity, and the Middle Eastern Islamic world is still in adolescence.
The US wants to do something to nip IS in the bud, which by now is a mighty big bud. But the surrounding countries are all looking for their own narrow advantage, and still obsessed with old feuds in which a tolerance of difference is unacceptable. I expect it's that old devil 'honour', devouring its victims.
If the US attacks IS, it will strengthen Bashar al-Assad, because IS is one of the most powerful rebel groups. But Saudi wants to weaken and destroy Bashar al-Assad because that will weaken and embarrass Iran - Saudi being Sunni and Iran Shia. IS is Sunni, but Saudi is concerned about them because Saudi Arabia is run by secular dictators, not religious. So the Saudi government is threatened by IS.
Iran is helping Bashar al-Assad because he is a Shia sect, and they don't want SI to gain any power in Syria.
The whole scene is a convoluted scheming arena, into which IS has marched, and is likely to sweep up vast areas before all these countries around will respond. But all these countries are led by non-religious governments who are scared shitless of religious uprisings, and who suppress their populations brutally.
Then you have the extra scheming of these countries wanting the US and UK to interfere and attack IS, hoping firstly they will be successful in defeating IS and secondly will distract popular discontent against the US instead of their own governments.
Their really is a good case for letting the bastards suffer for their own stupidity.
But amongst all this is the big question of 'Where are all the Muslim reactions to IS?' Muslims around the globe are against IS, while it is stealing their youth from under their noses to join them, so why aren't they agitating, marching in the streets, writing against the corruption of their faith by IS? As far as I know, only one person has written publicly about this - a woman, Yasmine Bahrani (a professor of journalism at the American University in Dubai), in The Washington Post, has spoken up.
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/where-are-the-marches-against-the-islamic-state/2014/08/29/531f6052-2ed0-11e4-994d-202962a9150c_story.html]
There appears to be a collective cowardice and double standard by Muslims. They are happy to froth endlessly at cartoons of Mohammed by non-Muslims, but when people who pretend to be of their own faith begin to wreak havoc against the long dedicated efforts of Muslims to present the sane version of their faith to the world, they all go silent. Are they afraid? Or is there another reason for their silence?
The same can be said about Jews and Israeli Zionism - it is destroying the centuries of good will built up by Jews, and paid so dearly for. Why are they all silent about what the Right Wing government in Israel is doing to their culture across the world?
There is something deeply human and short-sightedly self-interested about all this. No point in getting into a state - all humans are cowards and one-eyed.
