Living With ISIL

On January 3, 2015, Jordanian Pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh was burned alive a month after crashing his plane near Raqqa, Syria. The video of al-Kassabeh locked in a cage burning was released by IS prompting retaliation from Jordanian officials. The video was released just days after negotiations for Japanese journalist Kenji Goto's life were ineffective for his beheading happened promptly. In response the Jordanian government executed two prisoners Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli.

The constant threat of ISIS has taken a toll on the victims across the region. 1.967 million people have been displaced between January 1 and November 15, 2014. Kobani the city between the Syrian and Turkey border is in shambles but was not overtaken by ISIS. Some residents who fled to refugee camps have returned to their homes destroyed but refuse to leave. One resident said, "I will not leave my city. I will stay here...I will die on the Syrian land". Their homes may be destroyed but they will not feel defeat.

Hanan, a 26 year old from Syria was forced to marry an ISIS chief officer in order to save her father's life. She became his sex slave and maid cut off from her family and only permitted phone calls to them in his presence. A third of women in Syria under the age of 18 are married off to ISIS officers as sex slaves under the ruse of marriage. There are no advocates for these women able to protect nor save them from this awful fate.

What can be done to stop ISIS and the effect they have?
The United States has a few theories:
The first is that we need to "Put boots on the ground" and fight against ISSI. Senator John McCain is very vocal in his approval of this counter measure while President Obama is more hesitant. Obama does not want to continue fighting in Iraq and feels that it would be putting soldiers directly in harms way.
The second option is to expand the Air strikes but the drawback with that is that they are not always very effective.
The third and most favorable option would be to engage the Sunni population to fight back. By engaging the Sunni population it would be empowering them to stand up for themselves and take back their country while keeping our soldiers safe.

ISIS is a disaster because it is effecting millions of people across borders and the situation is not improving. There seems to be no effective way of combating the organization and this downward spiral of retaliation and pain seems to be constant.

Sources: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2938199/Burned-alive-cage-ISIS-release-video-claiming-horrifying-murder-captured-Jordanian-pilot.html
http://www.internal-displacement.org/middle-east-and-north-africa/iraq/figures-analysis
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/04/middleeast/kobani-syria-destruction/index.htmlH
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/04/middleeast/isis-jordan-what-next/index.html