The growing power of the IS militias in Iraq and Syria poses a far greater threat to the people of the Middle East than to those in the West, columnist Sunny Hundal writes on the blog of the Arabic news channel Al Jazeera: “In the eyes of many jihadis, the Islamic State has established the most successful and feared caliphate in recent history. That in itself has spurred many to join it.
“The immediate goal of the Islamic State is to forcefully take over other Arab states and bring their subjects under their own banner. The murder of Americans such as James Foley is meant to shock the world, to bring attention and attract more support.
“But make no mistake: the real threat from the Islamic State is to other Muslims in the Middle East. Sooner or later people across the Middle East will have to face up to this threat.”
Source: Al Jazeera, Qatar, August 27
Eric Koch’s new book, New Beginnings, was launched on September 20. The book is available from 
