Rudimentary talk-radio analysis aside...<p>I find Daesh far scarier than other Islamic fundamentalist movements because their techniques are more sophisticated and their aim is much higher. The &quot;they&#x27;re killing us!&quot; argument is so silly... terror attacks are to stir western nations into violent action, not to actually significantly injure us. And it works - far too many Americans and Europeans live and act politically in abject terror of very low-impact, unlikely events.<p>What scares me about Daesh, though, is that I think they&#x27;re trying to goad outside powers into massive wars with each other! This is why they&#x27;ve attacked <i>everyone</i> - the US, France, Russia, and all the major Arab nations. Everyone is off fighting in Syria, and not as a unified front, but a bunch of independent powers making independent alliances and jockeying for position.<p>During a recent presidential debate, Rand Paul wisely asked the question, &quot;Are you ready to shoot down Russian planes?&quot; (note: I&#x27;m not a Rand Paul supporter. I just thought he was spot-on with this.) If the US creates a no-fly zone while Russia wants to do bombing runs in it, we could have a situation where American and Russian planes are in direct combat. There&#x27;s a non-zero chance that this could lead to nuclear war and the destruction of the West as we know it. And we&#x27;ve already had the first taste of it, with NATO member Turkey shooting down a Russian plane.<p>If I wanted to destroy the West, that&#x27;s exactly what I&#x27;d do - provoke a war between the US and Russia with those giant Cold War nuclear arsenals.<p>And that makes me think Daesh is by far the most sophisticated and dangerous enemy we&#x27;ve seen since the Nazis.