From LRB, Owen Bennett-Jones reviews Isis: A History by Fawaz A. Gerges; Isis: Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan; and Irregular War: Isis and the New Threat from the Margins by Paul Rogers. The commander stumbles: Trump’s first executive orders will make it harder to vanquish ISIS. Trump’s “Muslim ban” is a huge gift to ISIS: ISIS says the US is at war with Islam — Trump just helped them make their case. Donald Trump is already recruiting terrorists for ISIS. How Trump just made America less safe: The president just handed ISIS a path to rebirth. Kevin Drum is waiting for a 21st century Reichstag fire.
