The Islamic State group has, among other things, been known to produce some very convincing propaganda. This has helped it gain traction over the past 4 to 5 years in Iraq and Syria. As a result, the foreign terrorist organization remains in control and has dedicated members in a variety of Middle Eastern and Northern African countries.

One extremely disconcerting thing about the group is its recruitment and conversion of people from all over the world. Its propaganda strategically captivates a particular group of people: the vulnerable. To break that up even more, the vulnerable consist of women, children and those searching for a higher purpose.

With homegrown terrorism on the rise, it is time that President Barack Obama and his administration come up with a solid plan to stop this organization before they do something unprecedented. The Islamic State group is a manipulative, volatile force of terror that has goals of stripping countries of their cultures and customs and implementing the beliefs of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and radical Islam.

Despite how the Islamic group State portrays itself in the Vice News documentary, it is not made up of the nationalistic friendly guys ensuring fairness in Iraq and Syria. The group has taken many lives, and most recently captive Kayla Mueller was confirmed to be dead.

The 26-year-old aid worker was taken hostage by the Islamic State group after leaving a Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Aleppo, Syria in August of 2013. Last week, the Islamic State group claimed that Mueller was killed by a Jordanian air strike, which created a wave of skepticism. The Daily Beast reported that the Islamic State group putting the blame for Mueller’s death on Jordan was an attempt to create a riff in the alliance between the U.S. and Jordan. No matter the circumstances, on Tuesday, Mueller’s family announced that they had received confirmation of her death.

An unfortunate part about the Islamic State group situation in the Middle East is that we, average American citizens, have no idea what is truly going on. Sure, Secretary of State John Kerry can tell us that we are taking back land and taking out top organization leaders, but there is no way to show this is valid. The overly-complicated realm of foreign affairs is hard to communicate to the public without starting a wave of mass hysteria.

Last congressional session, Tea Party favorites Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) proposed similar bills in the House and Senate in response to this issue. Bachmann proposed The Terrorist Denaturalization and Passport Revocation Act, which would revoke the citizenship and passports of American citizens who go to fight for terrorist organizations, such as the Islamic State group. Cruz’s Expatriate Terrorist Act of 2014 sent a similar message, that fleeing the U.S. to fight for the Islamic State group is a renunciation of citizenship, therefore they should not get that back.

Radicalism, regardless of what cause or religion lies at the core, is an issue that should not be taken with a grain of salt. It is the reason why over 100 Americans — including some from upstate New York — over 130 Canadians and over 130 Austrians have left their lives in order to join the Islamic State group; the reason the Charlie Hebdo shooting occurred; and the blame for the Boston Marathon bombing, just to name a few.

One thing is for sure: Kerry should not be declaring that everything is just peachy in these volatile areas. Rather, a serious plan needs to be developed between the U.S., Turkey, Jordan and other countries in the Middle East, in order to weaken and disseminate the aspiring caliphate that these extremists aim to create.

Vanessa Salman is a sophomore policy studies major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at vksalman@syr.edu.

Published on February 11, 2015 at 12:30 am