Charles P. Pierce has written a very cogent opinion piece -- one well worth reading in toto -- for Esquire Magazine. ( There Is Only One Way to Defeat ISIS" ) To summarize his gist, one of the most effective counter-measures that this country and the other western democracies could take against ISIS and all the other gangs of barbarous murderers would be to cut off their financial support at the source. Which financing, according to a study signed by Secretary Clinton, is apparently coming from our own "allies" in the rich oil countries of the Middle East.
It's hard to argue with Pierce's logic. Even AK-47's cost *something.*
But what struck me today was the juxtaposition of this notion with certain things that Bernie Sanders said in the Democratic debate on Saturday. Now, Bernie was speaking primarily about the good of the citizens inside the USA. But I think Sanders' determination to undo the aggressive dominance of the "money men" over our government might also be a necessary (if not sufficient) precondition for the kind of "Destroying the Roots" action Mr. Pierce suggests.
It's not likely that the American oligarchy will ever willingly contemplate insecurity in oil trading or the loss of military-industrial income from, say, the Saudis. Playing tough with the funders of Jihad might cost them money. They hate that.
A one-shot fix of any kind may never be the whole answer, but directly countering the money-power bankrolling the terrorists will be much more difficult as long as our own money-men are calling all our "government's" shots. Pierce’s particular fix, specifically, is right off the table, and will remain so until the citizens regain enough control of the national government to assure a diplomacy benefiting people rather than profits.
It was not part of his debate brief last night, but Bernie's domestic revolution might turn out to have unforeseen advantages on the international front.