Stronger military action may be needed against ISIS, Book Rap audience hears

The United States and allies can slow down the rise of ISIS, but the current level of military pressure on ISIS is likely not enough to destroy the Islamic terrorist organization, Jessica Stern, co-author of the new book,“ISIS: The State of Terror,” said at a National Press Club Book Rap March 24.

Appearing at the event with co-author J.M. Berger, Stern said financial and current military actions against the Islamic terrorist organization may not be enough eliminate it because the group is “self-reliant.” ISIS is “so good,” she said, “at raising money through criminal actions like black-market oil and taxes.”

Berger added, however, that ISIS is “burning through the money quickly.”

The two authors provided background on ISIS’s origins. Stern explained that ISIS comes out of al-Qaida in Iraq, formed in 2004 as a retaliation to the invasion of that country. At that time, ISIS founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a common thug, joined forces with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida became best known for beheading Shiites and Westerners and filming the incidents.

But al-Qaida’s successor, ISIS, is “better at disseminating the films and production values,” of the beheadings than al-Qaida, according to Stern.

Continuing the discussion of ISIS’s origins, Berger said that the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006 culminated in al-Qaida throwing ISIS out. Now, he said, the two groups are competing to capture the loyalty around the world, and ISIS is winning.”

“ISIS is expanding and taking in the splinter groups, and Al Qaeda is losing its power,” Berger said.

Stern described some of the psychological aspects of what attracts people to ISIS, including the “apocalyptic narrative” the group espouses. More than 50% of Muslims think they’re witnessing the lead up to “end times,” she said.

Both Stern and Berger described how clever ISIS has become in using social media to reach out globally with its message. They noted that ISIS has created violent videos showing brutal murders and beheadings and has used a systematic approach to disseminate them – including 5,000 Tweets at once on Twitter to create a “trending#.”

Although ISIS “is good at exploitation,” said Berger, “Twitter has recently cracked on this type of activity.”

Besides terrifying the United States, ISIS is working even more directly to cultivate young people, Stern pointed out. She said ISIS is enticing them by promising to provide them housing, food and wives. Ultimately, though, ISIS is only training children how to kill and behead, she said.

When asked during the Q&A for advice on actions the United States should take to combat ISIS, Berger cautioned that “we need to maintain a sense of perspective – not going too far either way” in terms of attack or complacency. He said that finding the correct strategy is “a huge problem with no outcome that doesn’t have tremendous human loss.”

Stern is a lecturer on terrorism at Harvard University, Berger a nonresident fellow at Brookings Institution.

Book & Author Committee member Mark Krikorian introduced the event.