there are a couple of things that would need to occur in the middle east, to truly stabilize the region. The main part is in how the lines are drawn between the various sects. There are older ethnic boundaries in countries like Iraq, which should technically be 3 separate countries. (an in depth study into this can be found here;
http://csis.org/publication/pandoras-box-0 )
Israel does have a place in the Middle East from a historical perspective, which needs to be recognized. Likewise a Palestinian state needs to be created, and for the most part I see it as Arab countries that are sympathetic to this cause should step up and provide the land for Palestine to be created. <-- i.e. money where mouth is.
A majority of what is occurring in the middle east was created through a calculated division of lands by the European empires back in the early 20th century. The way the maps were redrawn was to pit ethnic groups against each other, to cause civil unrest and keep the region destabilized. There must have been early geological reports coming out of the area showing oil reserves, which would have been a strong incentive to suppress the middle east as it has been for the last 100+ years. Granted the region was hardly a shining example of peace beforehand, but it had an ethnic structure to it.
ISIS is blowback for ill management of the region, it is also a lever or cats paw being used to get to the following:
The New Mediterranean Oil and Gas Bonanza
Part II: Rising energy tensions in the Aegean—Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria
By F. William Engdahl
Global Research, January 27, 2013
Global Research, 3 March 2012
"The discovery in late 2010 of the huge natural gas bonanza off Israel’s Mediterranean shores triggered other neighboring countries to look more closely at their own waters. The results revealed that the entire eastern Mediterranean is swimming in huge untapped oil and gas reserves. That discovery is having enormous political, geopolitical as well as economic consequences. It well may have potential military consequences too.
Preliminary exploration has confirmed similarly impressive reserves of gas and oil in the waters off Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and potentially, Syria."
http://www.globalresearch.ca/...oil-and-gas-bonanza/29609
In light of the above, we need to seriously ask how much of what has occurred in the middle east over the last 4.5 years is truly a coincidence.
The Arab Spring begins in December of 2010, and the Syrian civil war soon follows in 2011. From a political stand point, or more so from a stand point of who weapons are purchased from; Syria would technically belong to Russia thru relations with Iran and China (See SCO - i.e. Shanghai) . In light of new oil discoveries a civil war would be to change the regime and move the Syrian regime to a more pro-western world stance. ISIS/ISIL would have been a cat's paw in an attempt to achieve this. Perhaps it is a monster they lost control of? The alternative being the monster is still under control and has certain useful functions in delivering messages to those who step out of line, or attempt to exert pressure for a larger portion of the pie. That being said the pie is being carved up as we debate this, it also appears like Russia and Iran, have managed to gain some serious ground, at least based on an analysis of recent surface events. Mainly the recent US negotiations with Iran, which may just be a distraction or misdirection, which the current US administration is very fond of using.
In most cases conflict are economic in nature, and it takes a lot of money i.e. financing to wage any type of successful or long lasting campaign, be it seen as terrorism or resistance fighting. The term used by newspapers will depend upon how those writing the story wish such a group to be perceived as. A terrorist group has a much larger array of lateral movement in the sense it does not need to adhere to normalized war conventions. Resistance fighters on the other hand need to adhere to certain rules, to maintain their status as such. Perhaps the limitations imposed on the latter is non-conducive to the task being asked of them or for the region in which they are operating. What is seen however is that their usefulness has not expired. Historically, the fast demise of such groups occurs upon achievement of objectives, wherein top echelon and those logistically holding the organization together are removed. This coupled with a lack of new funding, tends to decimate these types of organizations. Recent drops in oil prices may have been a message to ISIS to play ball or lose major parts of its funding. Although such price drops in commodities usually need to kill multiple birds with one stone when executed, and I can think of a number of scenarios, where such a message needed to be sent.
In the case of ISIS/ISIL, my gut feeling is it is much more of an economic move than some religious extremism in action. I could be wrong, but many pieces conveniently fall into place, with such an organization creating the needed "controlled chaos" from which those with a principal interest can maneuver unseen.
mFrost