Quote: Standee "leave them to it, we've been trying to "fix" the Middle East for centuries, it cannot and will not be done. leave Israel and Palestine to it as well.
We need to become a lot more Swiss about life, look after ourselves unless it's a direct threat.'"
Of course it's a direct threat. It may not right now, in August 2014, but if IS continue to take ground and absorb hardware and manpower, it will be before you know. Should they defeat the Iraqis and Kurds the entire area is suddenly under a huge threat, although as a Shia state Iran is a pretty considerable opponent (IS do not consider Shias to be 'true' Muslims).
Make no mistake, their goal is the re-establishment of the Caliphate under fundamentalist Sharia Law, and beyond that to establish their brand of Islam as far afield as they can. In many interviews they talk of the black flag over Downing St and the White House. Their policy is 'convert or die', no questions asked. How long before they look to take the West on directly?
Where do you think the motivation, and to varying degrees the planning and finance came from for 9/11, 7/7 and Madrid, as well as other attacks? And this lot make Al Qaeda look like those Widnes muppets invading the pitch last week.
No, eliminate them now while local forces can still put up a good fight, ideally aided by NATO air power.