On September 5, the United States convened with its NATO allies in Wales and announced that a coalition (Britain, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland, and Denmark) would wage an air strike campaign against the Islamic State (IS). On September 10, US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad to meet with the new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who appealed for international help. The stage was set. In a televised address on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, President Obama essentially reiterated what everyone already knew, but there are a few points worth discussing: “ISIL is certainly not a state…it is recognized by no government, nor by the people it subjugates. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.” No, IS is certainly not a state, but it is quickly becoming one. As VICE News has shown in the Syrian city of Raqqa, IS is developing institutions and infrastructure in a surprisingly rapid manner. They’ve established Sharia schools for their young and military training camps for their adolescents; they’ve instituted a “justice” system…
