Quora Answer: As of 2019, has ISIS been Wiped Out?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “As of 2019, has ISIS essentially been wiped out?”

Far from it.  ISIS is a terrorist outfit organised in cells, and geared towards asymmetrical warfare.  There is no actual leadership structure to destroy since cells are independent, claiming a loose affiliation to the umbrella “caliphate”.  As such, it is insufficient to defeat them militarily, and deny them territory and one would a conventional armed force.

To defeat ISIS involves three things.  The first is refuting their Wahhabi ideology and refusing it the space to take hold in Muslim communities, where they tend to radicalise the upper echelons of societies first.  The Sri Lankan bombers came from the wealthy elite.  Osama bin Laden was from a billionaire family.  The average poor Muslim is far too busy trying to make ends meet to involve themselves with the literature.

The second is to address legitimate issues of disenfranchisement among Muslim minorities, or minorities even in Muslim-majority nations.  This undercuts their propaganda.  When Muslim communities have a stake in society, they have no reason to tolerate such an ideology.  Building a relationship with these communities also gives us access to human intelligence on potential cells.

Finally, all terrorist attacks cost money.  Funds should be tracked. Foreign funding of indigenous Muslim mosques and centres should be curtailed.  This requires extensive intelligence in fund movements.

Ultimately, it is vigilance and an absolute intolerance of Wahhabism and Wahhabi funding that keeps groups like this at bay.  They are an existential threat to the cohesion of the secular, multicultural state, and should be treated with the severest measures.