POSTED BY Veronica LaClair
On Friday, October 17, 2014, the newest breaking news heading scrolled across my television – “Report: ISIS has three warplanes.” Like most news headlines, which are short and broad, this headline captured my interest and had me staying tuned-in to learn more.
Like any organization, the terrorist group ISIS is taking advantage of the technology available to them in order to objectively reach their goals. Although ISIS is now in control of “three warplanes,” the reality is that they are still missing many of the vital technologies needed to use these warplanes and to carry out their terrorist objectives. Land to sky communication technologies, ammunition, landing and maintaining fields, etc., are still out of ISIS’s reach and control. However, it may not be an impossible reality in the months and years to come if this group cannot be stopped.
With the constant acquisition of new and increasingly dangerous technologies at the hands of a world terrorist organization like ISIS, a number of concerning realities must be aired. How do world peace and political organizations combat this increasing threat? Which countries should be responsible for combating this terrorist group? What are the legal, political, and societal ramifications of taking such actions against ISIS? What are the global ramifications of ISIS continuing to grow and gain technological war fighting capabilities?
The daunting reality is ISIS seems to be out of the control of the legally and politically rational game in which the world powers play. Think of a Chinese Checker board, with each point a separate color, a separate team – or country if you will. All players move around the board in whichever manner they please, but all according to a general set of rules. What ISIS is doing is moving around this board, and not conforming to the overarching rules, which apply to others. We recently saw with Russia and Ukraine that sanctions and global political consequences are little more than threats when a global power is on a mission.
Although the solution to the ISIS Crisis may not come within the weeks to follow, what needs to happen as soon as possible is the removal of technologies like warplanes and fighters from the hands of such organizations. As always, this is easier said than done, and above my pay grade to even rationally provide a solution for. Political powers cannot underestimate the importance and impact of technology at the hand of the enemy and a legal/political strategy must be utilized in order to ensure the safety of the global community.
