I wanted to think "he's oversimplifying the-" and then I thought "he founded STRATFOR, shithead. Odds on, he's got a better handle on this than you."
This is really blunt. I guess Friedman thinks we will see another major terrorist attack on US soil within the next 3-5 years. I'm a little skeptical. If the capability was in place to pull one off, ISIS wouldn't wait years to do it, because their future is still too uncertain.Logically, the best course for the United States is not to engage. IS is beginning to realize this and seemingly prefers to force a battle. That is why we are beginning to see terrorist actions flaring in Western countries. The lesson al-Qaida taught IS is that the Americans have a threshold and that if you cross it, they will react dramatically.
They've got all the ability they need for a certain scope -- see map, article -- and not even close to enough in my opinion for the ambitions he ascribes to them. War Nerd's right; Friedman's right. A group that rapes a bunch of desperate Yazidis is scary but not Scary.