How pathetic is ISIS?

Very pathetic — despite what you hear from the howling ideologues on America's right wing

ISIS militants
(Image credit: (Medyan Dairieh/ZUMA Press/Corbis))

ISIS has gruesomely beheaded yet another Westerner — this time, British aid worker Alan Henning. When I heard, my first reaction, as always, was to be furious at the group's barbarism. But about two seconds later, something else popped into my head: Boy, these ISIS guys sure are a bunch of pathetic losers.

That is not to minimize the horrific violence inherent in the act of beheading, or the terrible tragedy this is for Henning's friends and family. But think about the bigger picture: The United States is firing hundreds of hugely expensive, technologically sophisticated missiles at ISIS from positions of complete safety. And how does the group respond? By sending some dude in a cheap Halloween costume out onto a rocky hillside to manually slice the head off of an innocent man who came to Syria to help people in need.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.