As I was reminded recently, I’ve been blogging here for more than a decade. For several years before that I had been leaving long, link-filled comments on other people’s blogs. As early as the end of 2001 I was emphasizing the point that, contrary to the assertions of some who thought it was just a relatively small group of guys, Al Qaeda was more like a modern franchise operation like McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts, complete with headquarters resources and quality assurance.
After more than a decade times have changed. Today Al Qaeda is more like a brand. How much does “headquarters” really monitor and provide resources for the “franchises”? There’s a new terrorist organization on the block. DAESH. (I prefer that to ISIS or ISIL for propaganda reasons.) Younger, hipper. Disaffected people who thought that Al Qaeda was just too secular and too passive. Think of it as Five Guys to Al Qaeda’s McDonalds.
There are several contrasting, even complementary views of DAESH. One is that it’s an unlikely partnership between the group I mentioned above (guys who thought Al Qaeda was too secular and not violent enough) and some of Saddam’s generals and intelligence apparat. That’s how they explain, for example, the tactical sophistication I mentioned earlier today and the infiltration of cities prior to actual invasion that has been characteristic DAESH’s operations. They’re just activating old sleepers.
What I think we might want to consider is that DAESH is much more a network organization than Al Qaeda ever was. More like Anonymous than Burger King. Much more media-savvy. Skilled with using social media. And, like Anonymous, it may no more be possible to defeat DAESH using military force than it would be to “degrade and destroy” Anonymous that way.
