Professor David Odalric de Caixal i Mata is a military historian, an international geostrategist and Jihad terrorism analyst, as well as the General Director for Spain of SECINDEF (Security, Intelligence & Defense), at Israel International Consulting. He came to UIC Barcelona to describe the global strategy that is being undertaken to combat the Islamic State to law students. 

Before beginning to talk about international defence movements, David Odalric provided some contextual information. To do this he described the inner functioning of the Islamic State and located the most radical Islamic group on a map. The Islamic State is a Sunni organisation, their leader is Al-Baghdadi and their aim is to build a caliphate that includes the Pyrenees and the southern border of Kenya (North to South), and Pakistan to Finisterre (East to West). The Islamic State’s aims to fly their flag- the one waved by Mahoma- over this territory within the space of five years.

In order to fight against the Islamic State it is necessary to combine air attacks with ground attacks.  

A group which disperses to avoid being bombed does not have time to organise itself to face combat on the ground.  According to David Odalric “probably the best example of this phenomenon can be found in the 1991 Gulf War”. 

The United States remains at the forefront of an international coalition against this Islamic group. The alliance includes 40 countries, some of which, such as Russia or Spain, only send weapons and military advisers for the Kurds and Iraqis who are fighting against the Islamic State. 

Contemporary geopolitics in the Middle East is highly confusing.  An example of this is the fact that the United States is fighting in Syria against Iran, supports Iran in the fight against the Islamic State, has negotiated with Iran and Switzerland in relation to the nuclear programme and is fighting against Yemen, which reinforces Saudi Arabia, the main country promoting terrorism.

The military strategy of the Islamic State is magnificent. It must also be taken into account that the armed organisation is being fed a cocktail which makes it highly powerful: very strong anti-Western sentiment, hate for Shia Muslims and the weakness of the states that surround it. There are currently plenty of rumours that point to the creation of up to five new no-man’s land areas. 

The United States and Russia have secret strategies that are in complete opposition to each other. North Americans chose to allow the Islamic State to get on with it in their attacks against the Syrian army, loyal to Bashar Hafez Al-Assad. The press even published a story stating that the United States was providing the radical forces with weapons. Their strategy failed. General Allen, after a media scandal and the arrival of the Russians on the scene, resigned as director of the international coalition. 

Russia acted later and in a very different way.  The Soviets positioned themselves on the side of Al-Assad and bombed the Islamic State forces every time they entered into contact with the Syrian army.  The Russian priority is to defeat the Jihadists before they occupy the Russian Caucasus. 

David Odalric also mentioned the videos released by the Islamic State.  He explained that they are distributed by a North American company and asked why they are still being broadcast in the West. To provide a response to this, he described a declaration given by an ISIS leader:  “We have been funded by the Obama government, among others”. 

The Professor finished his talk by talking about the current situation; the fact that terrorists are now trying to get to Europe disguised as war refugees. The new focus will be the Balkans which, according to the CIA, will be fully Muslim by the year 2025.  Odalric also pointed out that the next objective of the Islamic State is Libya.