The Perfect Storm
What started as an explosive movement in Iraq has now suddenly
turned into a global phenomenon that the West and the democratic
world as a whole is ill-equipped to deal with. - John Cantlie
“This is a core principle of my presidency: if you
threaten America, you will find no safe haven.”
Obama, September 2014
“As they carve out an area of safe haven, this will be
a launching point for attacks on America, the West,
and attacks globally.” RAND Corporation, March
2015
The pledges of allegiance that are now being
announced on a seemingly monthly basis from
Islamic groups around the world to the Islamic
State are exactly what every mujāhid prayed for and
a nightmare scenario for the military and political
leaders of the democratic world. The incredible
growth of the Caliphate and the fact that it is a
living, breathing entity with thousands of square
miles of territory has given Muslims around
the Middle East, Asia, and Africa the belief and
confidence to take up arms, pledge their loyalty,
and launch operations with a unity and strength of
purpose that has simply not been seen before.
74 SPECIAL
What started as the most explosive Islamic “group”
in the modern world has rapidly evolved into the
most explosive Islamic movement the modern
world has ever seen.
Nothing on this scale has happened this big or this
quick before. Huge swathes of Pakistan, Nigeria,
Libya, Yemen, and the Sinai Peninsula are all
now united under the black flag of tawhīd, gelled
together as one by the Islamic State. Mujāhidīn
of Afghan provinces that were the scenes of
fierce fighting for over a decade costing America
trillions of dollars are now, less than six months
after America “withdrew” with its tail between its
legs, loyal to the Caliphate.
The mujāhidīn of West Africa control much of
Nigeria and their attacks are intensifying, pushing
back an exhausted and smashed national army
that is now is in a virtual state of collapse. They
declared allegiance to the Caliphate in March, and
they are the same group, remember, that Obama