Commentators and some individuals are starting to talk about how naïve we in the West have been to think ISIS only a regional threat. Along with it goes the implication of "why me?" - and a question of what was done to deserve war.
Apparently the West did want to, and it declared war when it began bombing in the Middle East. It is small wonder that there has been a reprisal (barbaric though it is).
François Hollande stated that the attack against Paris, “is an act of war… [by] Da’esh, against France”. And he’s right. Paris was ISIS’s retaliation against French engagement coalition bombing; the group said as much, and this has been pointed out by individuals from the Institute for Strategic Studies when interviewed by Al-Jazeera on 14 November 2015.
A now there are some suggestions that the West should withdraw. That would be wrong. To do so would send the message that terrorism works, and would set the dangerous precedent that attacking civilians means you can achieve your ends. But it is time to accept the inevitable and stop refusing to enter dialogue with ISIS. We thought that unacceptable with the Taliban for almost a decade, but we finally realized the only hope of peace would be a solution that included them[2].
Northern Ireland was not solved because the British were able to arrest and imprison all the terrorists, or because the IRA and affiliated groups were able to blow up all British soldiers. And the war with ISIS will not be ended because one or other side has total victory. It will inevitably end with a negotiated peace. That is possible. We did it with the Taliban (pre-2001), we are talking with them again and ISIS are not that dissimilar to the Taliban; as Voactiv highlight.
To put it in the words of British TV show Doctor Who: “no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die! You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does until what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning. Sit down and talk!”
The decision was made taken to make this a war and the West is certainly experiencing the uncontrollable violence and deaths that are inevitably incurred as a part of it. How long will it be before it is accepted that there must be a negotiation with ISIS?
Footnotes
[1] I say the West, and not just Paris/France, as the coalition against ISIS is made up of many Western states, and (rightly) many displayed their solidarity with the French people.
[2] Thomas Waldman (2014), “Reconciliation and research in Afghanistan: an analytical narrative”, International Affairs, Vol.90; No.5, September 2015, pp.1049-1068