VOA: Why Is Islamic State So Hard to Beat? – Interview with Yan St-Pierre

January 07, 2016

VOA News reporter Sharon Behn asked Yan St-Pierre about the US strategy against IS for her article “Why Is Islamic State So Hard to Beat?”

Yan St-Pierre, a counterterrorism expert for MOSECON, a security consulting company based in Berlin, agreed there have been some gains. But he cautioned against declaring any kind of victory.
“It sounds as if you are putting a dent in their armor, but they adapt. They might have some problems for three, six weeks, a few months, but they will adapt,” St-Pierre told VOA.

All aspects of IS, military, social, propaganda, have to be tackled simultaneously, he said. “If you focus on the myth, they can rebuild it. If you focus on the military, the myth will allow them to rise again and rebuild the military.”

“As long as that myth is alive, there are not enough bombs to destroy IS,” St-Pierre said, adding that as yet there are no credible, functional alternatives, and no credible unifying leaders to counter the group either in Iraq or Syria. St-Pierre warns IS is also developing fallback positions. “They are progressively getting more and more involved in Libya, Yemen, Somalia. They are trying to build bridges that become areas they can develop.”

To read the full article, please refer to the link above.