The Islamic State Is Learning From The U.S. On How To Fight Wars

Militant Islamist fighters in military vehicles parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. (Reuters)

What The Islamic State Learned From The U.S. About Fighting A War -- Brian Castner, Washington Post

We’re caught in a revenge cycle with a death cult, and it’s redefining modern warfare.

The horrific murder of journalist James Foley is case in point. Once, hitting targets of opportunity or instituting a propaganda campaign were peripheral to massed armies killing each other in trenches and cities and jungles. To win, one country crushed another’s will to fight by destroying the widest possible number of targets: fleets, soldiers, cities.

No more. After a century and a half of industrial anonymous bloodshed, the individual is key. The Islamic State attacked America when it killed Foley, without a bomb or mass slaughter.

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My Comment: The Islamic State may be targeting the individual .... but they are also looking at the big picture and are not shy to launching mass casualty events.