Monday, March 27, 2017

ISIS and the forces against it

What strikes me about ISIS fighters vis a vis the Iraqi and coalition forces is this:

It took ISIS forces to capture Mosul only one day. They showed up and Iraqi forces escaped en masse. Iraqis had the best and most advanced weapons and ISIS only had and has hand weapons and some home made one and some toy drones.

Now, after two years of preparation, with the full support of the coalition including US forces, with the most advanced weapons in the world, the opposing faction is fighting for 5 months and they have not yet been able to capture Mosul back. ISIS forces inside Mosul are at most 5000 poorly trained and  supplied fighters, and on the other side we have at least 100,000 forces with the most advanced weapons in their command.

ISIS is evil, there is no doubt in that. One of the most evil groups in modern history, but what is the difference between them and the other side that allows them to resist for more than 5 months against such a huge enemy force? I would say the difference is their unwavering belief in their evil ideology which prepares them to die for it, while on the other side there is no belief, in anything. Even in this modern world, with all the advanced computerized weapons, belief still plays a role. Trotsky said: it is not the readiness to kill others which makes an army powerful, it is their readiness to be killed for their ideology and belief that makes them invincible. And once again we see another example of this truth. Until the time that wars are fought with entirely robotized machines, belief still plays a role. 

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