Jordanian response to ISIS - Middle East must destroy this evil group

Iraq, Syria and Jordanian military must unite to destroy the evil Islamic State, acronym ISIS.  (Turkey could help, too.)

At this point, with Jordan's King Abdullah in the lead, the United States must support the efforts to mobilize the Islamic nations. 

This is an opportunity for the Islamic nations to become the troops needed on the ground, to augment the relentless anti ISIS air strikes.  

America has a rare opportunity to be heroes against evil, rather than an occupying nation.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, Americans in the Middle East should not be put at risk of capture by ISIS. It's not about being brave. Obviously, America's military have already demonstrated extraordinary bravery in fighting Islamic extremists. It's about keeping the US military out of orange covers with a cowardly black robed executioner standing over them.  

It's only a matter of time before an American military person is captured by ISIS. Rather than allow our American military to be subject to an international media circus that will undoubtedly result in an execution, the efforts should, instead, be in support of Middle East Muslims to defend their own nations. Unless the Middle East unites against ISIS, the evil group risks taking over the region. Subsequently, in the event the Muslims don't respond, the ISIS revenge will become an indescribable regional blood bath.

Jordanian fighter jets dropping bombs on ISIS makes excellent video imagery, but the bombing must be augmented by troops on the ground. Those offensive troops must be from a united Muslim coalition. 

So far, however, the Muslims have retreated into their Medieval tribal community rivalries, rather than unite against their common ISIS enemy. 

Perhaps the US military can educated team building and conflict resolution.....although overcoming centuries of tribal loyalties will likely be challenging, to say the least.  

Nevertheless, military training alone may not be enough. Coalition building is also essential.

Muslims must unit to defend their own cultures against an evil ISIS take over.

Evil ISIS (Islamic State) has blown it with Japan and neighbor Jordan

ISIS has not produced evidence of life for captured Jordanian pilot.

If evil ISIS (the non-Islamic State of middle east terrorist militants) has a prisoner to trade, they'd better produce this exchange or risk creating yet another world enemy in their Jordanian neighbor. If ISIS can't produce the Jordanian pilot being held as a captive, who is requested as a trade for a female suicide bomber who's now on death row, then the ISIS militants will have enlisted yet another world enemy in Jordan.

Where's the Jordanian prisoner pilot? Surely, he would've been in the ISIS video with the Japanese prisoner, requesting the release of the (failed) suicide woman bomber, but he's not. Although the Jordanian pilot is generating anti war feelings among his nation, the issue might backfire if the ISIS terrorists are unable to provide proof of life of the two hostages (Japanese and Jordanian).

How hostage pilot drama is feeding an antiwar movement in Jordan

Jordan has refused to pull the trigger on a prisoner swap, saying it lacked proof the pilot held by Islamic State jihadists was still alive. Jordan says its role in the US-led coalition has not diminished.

By Taylor Luck, Correspondent JANUARY 30, 2015

Christian Science Monitor reports:

AMMAN, JORDAN — The ongoing drama of a Jordanian pilot held hostage by the Islamic State has escalated into a political crisis for King Abdullah II, threatening the position of a stalwart US ally and leading player in the coalition against the jihadist group. Jordanians have been gripped by the detention of Lt. Muath Kassasbeh, whose fighter jet crashed near Raqqa, Syria on Dec. 24.

A sunset deadline passed Thursday with the government refusing to pull the trigger on a prisoner swap with the jihadist movement, saying IS had failed to provide proof Lt. Kassasbeh was still alive and well. Rather than blame IS (the evil Islamic State) for the protracted hostage crisis, the public at large and members of the pilot’s family have turned on the government. They are hitting the streets and faulting Amman for putting Jordanians into harm’s way in a war they say is not their own.  

The finger-pointing has given rise to something even stronger: a full-throated antiwar movement.

Rallies in solidarity with Kassasbeh have quickly turned into anti-coalition protests, with participants denouncing the US and its allies as “cowards” who are “using Jordanian blood” to fuel their war against the Islamic State.

Protesters have even gone as far as challenging King Abdullah himself – rallying outside the gates of the Royal Palace and demanding “Abdullah, why are we fighting?” or resorting to more personal jabs such as “Abdullah II, where are you?”

The anti-coalition movement has also flourished online. 

Activists have gathered under an Arabic hashtag on Twitter that translates as #NotOurWar, organizing protests, calling on Jordanian authorities to withdraw from the war against IS, and detailing the civilian deaths caused by coalition bombing runs.  (Note: this is very naive, because ISIS will invade Jordan & these protesters are living in a state of psychological denial to believe otherwise.)

“The hostage crisis has turned public opinion against the war, which was already unpopular to begin with,” says Oraib Rintawi, political analyst and director of the Amman-based Al Quds Center of Political Studies.

Yet perhaps the biggest threat to Jordan’s role in the coalition is posed by Kassasbeh’s family itself.

The pilot’s father, Safi Kassasbeh, has emerged as a sympathetic figure and victim of the conflict. The family has called on Jordan to withdraw from the coalition and has openly questioned coalition leadership over the details surrounding Kassasbeh’s crash-landing.

Kassasbeh hails from the East Bank Bararsheh tribe in the southern province of Karak, the backbone of the Hashemite monarchy’s tribal support, whose members fill the ranks of the military and security services.

Should the Karak tribes move to withdraw their sons from military service or boycott the coalition in protest – as some have threatened in private – the move would cripple the Jordanian Armed Forces and its military and logistical support for the coalition.

In addition to pledging its air force, Jordan has allowed American warplanes to use its airstrips and military bases near its eastern borders as launching pads for strikes in neighboring Syria and Iraq.

The US and its allies have relied heavily on Jordanian intelligence and Amman’s ability to extract information from returning Islamic State fighters, which according to security officials have become a “huge source” of intelligence for coalition operations.

Despite the growing public dissent, Jordan shows little sign of backing down from its war against the Islamic State. According to government sources, Jordanian jets have continued to participate in bombing runs.

King Abdullah vows to stay the course

Abdullah has pledged Jordan’s commitment to fighting religious extremism in public speeches both within Jordan and abroad. In two separate summits with Jordan’s central and southern tribes last month, the monarch sought to convince Jordan’s tribes that the US-led campaign against IS was indeed “our war.”

In fact, Abdullah has intervened personally in the Kassasbeh hostage crisis, reassuring the pilot’s family while following up on government’s efforts to release him.

Yet, as the pilot hostage crisis drags on, anti-war activists say they will not stop until they force the king’s hand.

“We won’t stop at saving Muath, we will continue until we get all the sons of Jordan out of harm’s way,” said Mohammed Abdullah, one of several dozen protesters outside the Royal Palace late Wednesday.

“Jordan will never again spend its blood for the wars of the West.”

(Julie's note- Meanwhile, ISIS seems to patiently await the outcome of this turmoil, but without providint proof of Kassasbeh's life. Is it possible Lt. Kassasbeh tried to escape and was killed in the process? Or, has he just disappeared, altogether?  It seems like evil ISIS would show their prisoner if he were alive. IMO). This hostage situation will backfire on evil ISIS, unless they produce a prisoner exchange.