Steven Sotloff Beheaded by ISIS - This World Needs Change

The Islamic State in Iraq

This is a touchy subject for a Crime in Toronto Blog.  I am branching out here showing that CIT also weighs in on worldly topics, as a simple viewpoint from a Toronto man.  The death of Steven Sotloff illustrates the issue with ISIS and their lack of boundaries.  It is a crime for them to do this, and we need to rid the world of these people that take innocence and slaughter it if they do not get the ransom they demand.

The Reaction From Commenters

It is disturbing to read some of the comments on sites like Huffington Post.  From the brain to the keyboard, we are witnessing unparalleled activity of idiotic proportions.  Nobody gets it.  We have a man dead, and a family that is trying to deal with it as best they can.  Yet, we have people commenting about how Obama missed the signals that ISIS was growing to what it is today.  We have the Right versus Left feud taking a stance as if this was a political battle.  For example, Kenny Cannon, of New York, New York, mentions that the reason Sotloff is dead is because ISIS knows that Obama will not do anything in retaliation.  It is absurd to say this, when we hear of the drone strikes that Obama is calling the shots for, daily.  This is not political anymore.  This war is purely religious, and an absurd one at that.
The reason these journalists are dead is because we were not willing to bargain with Islamic radicals.  Sotloff died in the most disturbing way, but if we were to meet the Islamic State demands, the future would be one of kidnapping for weapons until the war waged for 10 more years and 30 more groups were created.
The political pundits feel we need to do something as warriors, but this battle is much more than that.  The war with weapons has never been won, only postponed through minor victories.  I feel as though boots are what truly upset the radicals.  Obama is not doing anything wrong by using technology instead of man.  We can guide drones instead of lose lives.  The President has nothing to do with the death of Sotloff.  He is merely trapped in the words that the far right have been throwing at him since elected in 2008.  If he doesn't remove troops, he is condemned, if he does, then he is blamed for more death.  Doesn't anyone get it?  The Mujahideen, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the many other Nomadic fighters of the Middle East only have one thing in mind; mobilize until a new front is found.  Do you truly think that the men of Al Qaeda that were in Iraq in 2006 peacefully opened up Hookah shops for everyone to enjoy?  No way!!  These bastards that are killing innocence, are still there, and have regroup to organize a new army.  It is not an army of a nation.  We will find that probably 10% of these soldiers in ISIS are new fighters from other countries, while the remaining are the ones that roam from throughout the Middle East in search of a war.
Lets face it, the aftermath of the Iraq War was not a success.  As soon as the troops pulled out, the bloodiest battles since 2006 were happening.  These men that are creating new wars have nothing to live for otherwise.  They are merely trying to 'cleanse' the Middle East of the 'germs' they feel the West left behind.

The Iraq War is Still an Issue for George W. Bush

I recently saw a special that depicted the artistic side of George W. Bush, and how he began to paint.  I was fascinated to hear that children were predominant in his works.  The question clearly came as to why, and he went on to discuss how these are Iraqi children he is depicting.  It must have weighed on his mind so much that now that he is out of power, he now uses a brush to show regret.  The reality is that there were 100's of thousands of civilians killed in Iraq.  This is a direct creation of the new fighters.  If you were an only child in 2003, and your father was killed, would you not want to get revenge?  There are many other scenarios that would thwart this type of dogma alignment with ISIS that we have to know that much of it was self-created.  Yes, there needed to be something done to Saddam Hussein, but the actions taken may serve to harm our future, unless we act now.  The war happened, and did rid the Middle East of a man that was not helping his own citizens.  I just hope that George W. Bush is able to sleep at night in 10 years from now as he sees there was some sort of light at the end of the tunnel of decision.

The Hotbed That is the Middle East

Can you name a country that has not had any issues for the last 10 years in the Middle East?  Well, here it is below.  I think it is pretty self explanatory as to the conflicts: Gaddafi, DEAD.  Saddam Hussein, DEAD.  Syria, Civil War.  Israel and Palestine, CONTINUES DEATH.  Egypt, COUP D'ETAT.  The only countries we do not hear too much about are the nations that the international community fears; Iran and Saudi Arabia.  Other than that, the Middle East is an eternal conflict zone, that will never shed itself of issues because there are so many justifications for war there.

Map of the Middle East - Conflict Ridden

Now, back to the Nomads of the Middle East.  They will never be able to rid the West of its powers, so they should learn to embrace us.  We are not evil people.  We want people to live by a justified means.  They can't stand the fact that women should have powers.  We clearly see this in the video that was released in Syria in the American Embassy, where some ISIS fighters were mocking one fighter for not having a firmer grip on his wife.  This is disgusting, and you need to get a grip on the fact that you will not own your wife.  She owns the right to life and the liberty to decide.

I know that there is guilt for George W. Bush, but the reality is that we must do something.  We have to change the way this word functions with religion.  As he thinks of his actions, hopefully we recognize that this is the chance to bring some decency to the actions he took.  If we are to salvage something positive, it would be that we were able to allow women to achieve the same status as man.  It would be that women would not fear having to live a life that was instructed to them.  As of right now, we are losing lives, and radical Islam is trying to take over.

Red Rover, Red Rover, We Call ISIS Over

Wouldn't it be great to see what ISIS would do if they came to visit Toronto or some other Western city as a tourist?  What would they do?  Would their first action be to find a Mosque?  Would they go for a Shawarma at one of our fine diners?  Would they make a Molotov Cocktail and head to the St. James Cathedral?  I mean it though.  Imagine this.  You setup an exchange with an ISIS fighter where they come to visit our city.  When they arrive at the airport, they are hugged and loved by your atheistic family.  They are taken to your own where you share your life stories.  There is laughter and reciprocity.  Clearly this is not possible now.  That fighter is angered for their inability to have a great life in the middle east.  They have found a leader of confusion, and they would not be willing to arrive at that airport with the hopes of hugging your family.  They are hardened, just as we are hardened.  As we get older, we become set in our ways.  I am here with my keyboard, set in my ways, based on what I saw and read as a kid.  ISIS too is now set in their ways based on what they saw as a kid, and now what has polluted their minds for hatred and revenge.  It is hard to overcome, but not impossible.  These fighters still have an ounce of love that can grow to a generation of forgiveness.  These people clearly hate the West.  They have no desire for us to go near them.  But, I think they would be able to sway in another direction if they had a purpose in life, other than fighting.  These are warriors that only seek a fight.  Why would anyone seek a fight if they felt secure in their religion and how they can provide for their families?  So now that we realize there is no chance for ISIS to stay at my grandmother's house, let's get back to understanding the situation.

The History of the Middle Eastern Confrontation

Russia realized this in Afghanistan, America realized this in Afghanistan, and now we are witnessing the patience of these groups and their ability to emerge and regain control.  There is no chance that Obama will put troops back on the ground, but this is the way of the Middle East.  George H Bush had to leave early too.  this is because there is no way to be as patient as Islam is.  They have an eternity, while we only have an election year.  Think back to the history of Islam and what it stood for.  They created the 'Assassin', and this hails from their need to constantly murder for gain.  The Caliphate and the Imam were once the same person.  But no, the history of Islam had to split and create factions, so that we have eternal war within Islam between the Sunnis and the Shia.  There are over 500 million Shia throughout the world, which accounts for only 25% of the Muslim population.  Is that not alarming to you?  So, we have the selfishness that created the Shia through death, now causing much of the worlds struggles in the Middle East.  There are battles to this day, all over the Middle East.  "From Pakistan to Yemen" the war continues amongst these two sects.  That is over 1,900 years of conflict that has never been resolved.  Why has this never been resolved?  Because there is no solution!  If only we could treat these two groups like two men fighting at the bar; kicking them both out because they are impacting the liveliness of the bar.  In this case, the bar is our world.  The peaceful Muslims can go to any club open, but not the nasty ones.  That goes for any Christian and Jewish person as well.  No more partying for anyone if you hurt another human being.

Sadly, in this world, we seem to think that war is tolerable.  We feel the injustice of it, but we allow it to happen.  We attempt to do 'nation building' but it goes wrong.  We want every nation to live like we do.  It seems that their reasons for not taking part in Westernization are different from my reasons for wanting change in my own country.  Their views come from strictly religious motivations, where there is only ONE WAY, and nothing in between.  Mine would reside more within financial means, like taxation and wages, but that is nothing compared to their justifications.  My thoughts are hopeful changes, where as the Islamic State wants death, and will do what it takes to rid their streets of democracy created by occupation.

As I finish this article, it strikes me that nobody ever truly wins.  We bounce from war to war, where the "good side" loses loved ones because they had to fight the "bad ones."  We will always have this fear of life that weighs down on us and gives us awful words to read about.  It is as if we are addicted to killing our own people for the sake of victory.  Our need for more, our need to control, our need for business, and our need to religiously congregate is hurting us more an more.  When will we be able to live in peace with no issues?  Ever since the world travelled to new lands, we have never had peace.  Peace only existed when we were with our own clan.  I just hope that we one day realize how important we are to each other, and that we have a common goal to prolong life instead of eradicate it.

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