Who Else Can Fight ISIS?

It goes without saying that ISIS (the Islamic State In Syria) is beyond abhorrent. They are an evil group and represent the very worst of humanity. Their litany of crimes, which grows more gruesome by the day, reads as if the nightmares of the Middle Ages had come to life and had taken over large swarths of Syria and Iraq.

Unfortunately the fundamentalist ideology is based on 12th Century doctrine and they have proved to be a formidable armed force. They have not only captured Iraqi oil wells but they are also financing their slaughter by robbing banks, selling slaves and are recruiting through social media.

Because of this the world has finally decided to reign them in.

Last week President Obama announced that the US Military would commence operations to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS. Fantastic. Who else is showing up? Well Poland, France, Australia, Britain, Germany, Netherlands and Canada.

Great group! Seriously! For these nations to commit troops, be they air or land, shows that they believe that ISIS is an organisation that has to be stopped at the stem before it can worm its way into the rest of the world. I wholeheartedly stand with these countries in their battle against these Islamic terrorists.

But they shouldn't be fighting this war.

This is not their war and they should not be sacrificing blood and treasure to reign in this disgusting group.

It's only in the last few hours that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt have all signalled their support for a US led coalition against ISIS.

Except their support isn't really coming with troops or planes or any kind of legitimate help.

They're mainly there for moral support. They're the guys who stand on the sidelines and say "buck up, trooper". They're not actually going to get their hands dirty. They are providing intelligence and humanitarian relief for those who are suffering under the oppressive heel of ISIS.

That's bullshit.

Consider the fact that it was Qatar and Saudi Arabia who funded ISIS as a counter to Bashar al-Assad. Also consider that Saudi Arabia is the greatest exporter of Islamic fundamentalist terror as they have been spreading the Wahhabis wings throughout the world. Petro-dollars are helping fuel the very terror that the West is now committed to fighting.

Yet none of these countries, who are all major beneficiaries of US funded weapons (state of the art weapons), are committing even a machine gun? The Israelis have already said that if ISIS takes down the Jordanians they'd blow the living hell out of them. If the Arab nations weren't so pissy about siding with Israel then I'm sure that you would be seeing Star of David adorned jets flying over Iraq and Syria bombing ISIS positions right now.

But here's the thing.

The Arabs want to play themselves as the perpetual victim. They want to export this terror and then have the West come and help them when it bites them in the leg. THEN they want the West to take the blame for any Arab casualties that may occur. The Arab States not only have a role in fighting ISIS, they have the only role. They are the ones who should be forming a broad Arab coalition and killing ISIS. The West will gladly help them with intelligence, logistics and humanitarian missions but that's it.

IF (and that's a big if) the Arab armies find that they are not match for ISIS then absolutely the West should commit themselves militarily to fighting the extremist group.

I have never shied away from advocating interventionist policies if I believe that it is in the greater good of the human race. I do believe that ISIS MUST be stopped militarily. But the Arab nations have to finally come to the table and lead the charge.

Arabs, it's time to embrace your inner Saladin and start kicking ass.  

This Country Is Making Me Sad

Save for the 1930s there has never been a more depressing time to be growing up in Australia. Whilst our standard of living may be the envy of the world, our economy booming and the technology at our fingertips constantly astounding us more and more each day we appear to be lacking in a far more important element: morality. 

There is a moral vacuum in this country and it has become evident that the institutions that we once turned to for support and advice have failed us. Religion has become embroiled in scandal, politics in corruption and government services are beyond inadequate. As a young man who has grown up in this nation, imbued by my parents and civic leaders with a strong moral compass, I cannot help but look at the crumbling state of this country and feel despair. Where did we go wrong and how can we fix it? 

First it’s important to identify some of the moral failings that this country has experienced. Our religious institutions are currently on trial for not only refusing to identify pedophiles within their ranks to police but for actively covering up the crimes and bribing victims for their silence. In politics it seems that we are losing more and more Members of Parliament, on both sides of the aisle, to the Independent Commission Against Corruption enquiry here in NSW and calls for a Federal ICAC are being wilfully ignored by the Australian Parliament. Our policies and legislation on refugees, terrorism, the environment and communications infrastructure have made us the laughing stock of the developed world and our government services, such as DOCS, have become woefully underfunded to the point where they are almost doing more harm than good. 

So, yes. Looking around at the institutions one is meant to rely on, meant to have faith in, is simply asking to be slapped in the face by a depressing reality. But what can we do to change it? Is it something simplistic such as reintroducing bible studies in schools or a more drastic change such as a dictatorship? The right-wing in the US have developed a strange love-affair with Vladimir Putin, the polar opposite of the feckless Obama, so perhaps Tony Abbott should trade in the budgie smugglers for a horse (he can even keep his shirt off). 

But unfortunately it does not seem that a mere change of government from Labor to Liberal, democracy to dictatorship, will shift from the moral decay that we have begun to experience. This is not a issue which will be resolved by more, or less, faith in the public square. Simply look towards the reign of terror that is ISIS to see the danger of merging of religion and state. Equally devoicing our society completely of religion seeks to undermine the core tenant that has brought Western civilisation to the forefront of the human race. 

Is it perhaps time that we do away with age limits in politics? William Pitt the Younger was only 24 when he ascended to the Prime Minister’s chair and his reign is often considered one of the best that Britain ever experienced. From ending the slave trade to enacting a number of social and economic reforms (along with giving the French a well-deserved hiding) it is easy to imagine that allowing a bit more idealism, not yet tainted by the cruel reality of political life, could do the Parliament a bit of good. Unfortunately every time I see Wyatt Roy in a suit during Question Time I fear that I compare him more to a Ken Doll than a Ken Livingstone.  

Equally the answer is not about funding, or defunding, certain programs or institutions. A bloated budget often leads to a gluttony of problems but equally austerity measures have proven to fail time after time after time. The worst part of our moral decay is that it appears to be endemic and that no amount of public shaming can help stop it. George Pell, recently promoted to his new post in Rome, has no qualms about how he solved the ‘problem’ of institutional child abuse within his ranks and our government continues to promote policies which are making international NGOs decry our treatment of refugees. There is nothing that can help solve our decayed morality in the short term. Only long-term solutions are able to haemorrhage this wound. But for now let’s just understand that we live in an incredibly bleak time but the dawn may soon rise for a brighter tomorrow.