The Islamic State Widens its Bridgehead in North Africa

isisAs ISIS continues its brutal occupation of large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, effectively blurring the border between those two pseudo nations, a new, if not more menacing threat is emerging in North Africa where the Islamic State is looking to plant its cancerous roots.

In Egypt, the Sinai based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, an Islamist organization responsible for dozens of terror attacks throughout the country announced on its Twitter account that it had forged a union with ISIS and swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed Caliph. ABM has mimicked the Islamic State’s macabre methods and has made use of social media to publicly broadcast grisly beheadings the group videotaped. ABM has also taken responsibility for the murder of America oil worker, William Henderson and was believed to be behind a deadly bombing attack in Sinai that killed over thirty Egyptian soldiers.

In Tunisia, the birthplace of the so-called Arab spring, ISIS has found a virtual recruiting ground for eager volunteers. Tunisia boasts the dubious distinction of being the nation that has contributed the most foreign fighters to Islamic State’s ranks, at least 3,000 according to published reports and many more have been prevented from joining by Tunisian authorities.

Algeria, a nation that experienced 10 years of brutal civil war between Islamists and government forces that claimed the lives of 150,000, is witnessing a resurgence of Islamic militancy. A group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah (“The Caliphate’s Soldiers”) has also recently sworn allegiance to al-Baghdadi. The newly formed group, which splintered from its al-Qaida affiliate, was responsible for beheading a French national in September after ISIS issued a call for the killing of nationals belonging to countries contributing to US led coalition strikes against the Islamic State.

As evidenced by the Iraqi and Syrian experience, ISIS thrives in an environment where lawlessness and chaos prevail and Libya, which saw the overthrow of Kaddafi in 2011, has provided the Islamic State with fertile ground to carry out its objectives and spread its ideology. Libya’s central government is weak and has been unable to exercise any meaningful authority over the country, which has witnessed the rise of a plethora of militia groups with various Jihadist affiliations.

The Libyan town of Darnah, situated on the Mediterranean coastline just south of Crete and east of Benghazi is currently under the complete control of a Jihadist militia that has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State. It is also first town known to be under ISIS rule in North Africa. The allure of ISIS in the Muslim world coupled with the lawlessness that characterizes the current state of affairs in Libya makes it a near certainty that other Libyan enclaves will sooner or later come under Islamic State influence.

President Obama has yet to publicly address the growing threat of ISIS in North Africa and given his past foreign policy fiascos, the prospects of this administration forming a coherent strategy to deal with this looming crisis just south of Europe’s vulnerable underbelly is in serious doubt.

It has widely been acknowledged that the emergence of ISIS as a growing and influential force in the Muslim world is largely due to Obama’s failed policies in the region.

Despite the urging of congressional leaders and other intelligence officials, Obama stubbornly refused to provide aid to moderate groups opposed to Assad until it was too late. His risible “red line” threat after Assad’s usage of chemical weapons against his own populace proved to be nothing short of a colossal foreign policy embarrassment. Faced with a loss of hope, Syrians opposed to Assad gravitated to extremes. In Iraq, Obama continued to provide assistance to Nouri al-Maliki’s government despite the fact that Maliki instituted discriminatory policies against Iraq’s Sunni population which exacerbated already heightened sectarian tensions.

A confluence of events in Syria and Iraq created the ISIS Frankenstein and Obama was instrumental in its creation. He then compounded his error by dismissing the threat posed by ISIS, pejoratively referring to the group as the “JV team.” To make matters worse, the ISIS offensive prompted a panic-stricken Obama to send a letter to the Islamic Republic’s “Supreme Leader” Khamenei, suggesting that the two nations cooperate in their fight against a common foe. Khamenei incidentally, is the same man who authored a step-by-step instruction guide on how to destroy Israel and this is the man Obama wishes to do business with.

In 1942, American and British troops landed in French North Africa in an invasion that would ultimately culminate in a pincer action that would see the defeat and ejection of fascist forces from North Africa. Seventy-two years later, fascism is once again rearing its head in the region. Unfortunately, the leader who presides in the White House today is paralyzed with fear, indecision and incompetence and prefers to appease and accommodate evil rather than obliterate it.

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  • http://libertyandculture.blogspot.com/ Jason P

    I understand the partisan need to blame Obama but in this case I wish FPM would tone it down. Obama didn’t create Islam.

    ISIS is spreading because it is the real thing. Devout Muslims recognize that. Instead of blaming Obama we should blame Islam. This is a teaching moment. We have been yelling for years that the West isn’t facing the nature of Islam in its core meaning. The broad acceptance of ISIS has more to do with its conformity to the example of Mohammad than with a “radicalization” process.

    The left blames America … if we didn’t offend Muslims they wouldn’t be radicalized. FPM blames Obama … if he wasn’t weak, they wouldn’t be radicalized. It’s time to blame Mohammad … if he hadn’t exemplified barbarity they wouldn’t be radicalized.

    Yes, both Bush and Obama blind us to the danger and their hapless response makes them enablers. But discouraging jihadists from directing their barbarity our way is complicated. It starts with understanding who they are and what drives their behavior, i.e. Islam. Neither political party is up to the task, yet. We have to educated them and ISIS is a teaching moment. Let’s not wish it away so fast.

    • Pete
    • Pete

      “It’s time to blame Mohammad … if he hadn’t exemplified barbarity they wouldn’t be radicalized.”

      I agree.

      I am not sure that there would be as many problems in North Africa if Kaddafi had not been dethroned by Obama. More of the radicals would have been hiding out, in prison or dead. There would be a smaller jihad contribution by Libya. It would be harder to travel through Libya to make trouble in Mali, Algeria, Nigeria and points farther afield.

      The crisis in Mali is a direct result of Obama’s killing of Kaddafi.

      Libya might have still blown up, but it might have been better if it blew up 5 or 10 years later so that we did not have intertwined with the problem of ISIS

  • JVictor

    “It has widely been acknowledged that the emergence of ISIS as a growing
    and influential force in the Muslim world is largely due to Obama’s
    failed policies in the region.” This assertion is totally false. Obama’s purposeful policies in the region have allowed the for the rise of ISIS and others. Obama has worked to isolate Israel for his entire “rule.” The man is a homicidal and antisemitic genius–or at least his handlers are.

  • Hard Little Machine

    I’m not sure Obama is impotent so much as blandly indifferent or mildly supportive. Reinventing the world in his own image entails things like this. It doesn’t matter particularly to Obama what the details of that look like as long as it’s loud, violent and revolutionary.

  • Pete

    “It has widely been acknowledged that the emergence of ISIS as a growing and influential force in the Muslim world is largely due to Obama’s failed policies in the region.”

    Who acknowledged this? Where is the list of people?

    I agree that Obama contributed greatly. He should never have taken out Kaddafi.
    Who would have thought that Kaddafi was smarter than Obama?

    Kaddafi said something to the effect “You don’t know theses people. When I am gone things will get worse.” Kaddafi was a man of many flaws, but things have gotten much worse just like he said.

    Of course Kaddafi was smarter than Obama. It is axiomatic. Obma is the least qualified person in any room he walks into.