Understanding ISIS

Jeffrey Bale was not one of those people. In an interview with the Washington Post, the associate professor in the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program said: “Those Western government officials and academic ‘experts’ who were claiming that the IS was focused entirely on carrying out operations in territories in Iraq, Syria, or other Muslim countries, thereby suggesting that the group did not represent a serious threat to the West, have been wrong all along. All one has to do to understand the motives and goals of Islamist groups is to pay attention to what they themselves are openly and, indeed, proudly saying.”

Bale, who leads Institute seminars on global jihadism, state terrorism, and apocalyptic millenarianism, has been studying terrorism and extremist movements for nearly 30 years, and his commentary on the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State has been consistent in its assessment of the danger it poses to the United States.

“[The Islamic State has] identified us as their enemy,” Bale told CBS-affiliate KION in December, the day after President Barack Obama issued a four-point plan to combat the extremist group. “So when somebody is identifying you as their enemy, the least you should do is respect them enough to take them seriously. And say, ‘You’ve identified us as your enemy, we will identify you as our enemy. And now that we’ve recognized you as our enemy, we are going to take whatever steps are necessary to weaken you and prevent you from carrying out attacks.’”