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The Islamic State (IS) is an outcome of the US invasion of Iraq circa 2003. It has almost 30,000 fighters, governs territory and is rapidly expanding its influence with its followers coming from different countries who have joined it willingly. Can a counterterrorism strategy work for this ‘pseudo-state’?

The IS is not like al Qaeda. It possesses territory, has a huge number of followers, is self-financed, attracts the youth easily and most importantly, lives in urban areas. Al Qaeda was totally different and not as strong as the IS is. It kidnaps, takes ransom money and loots public property and has sources of finance different from al Qaeda.

There now exists a phrase, ‘kill one and beget two free’. The US itself is not in a position to wage a new war against the IS because its public would resist such an action and due to the 2016 US presidential elections, no candidate wants to lose popularity at this stage.

The growing power of the IS is dangerous for the countries neighbouring Syria and Iraq, and if the Middle East is in havoc, the state of affairs can endanger the whole world. All powerful actors on the planet — the US, Russia, China, France and the Middle Eastern countries — should collectively devise a strategy and demolish the IS completely. The current counterterrorism strategies that have so far been employed have not worked. A different strategy of containment may work in this scenario.

Zuhaib Ahmed Pirzada

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2015.