The horrors do not desist. The basic respect for humanity that was an assumed human trait has been betrayed. This betrayal is the greatest since the atrocities of World War Two. As humans, we put up with injustice, daily, in the world. Death and an overall bleak picture rules the world, but we’ve always believed humans are filled with at least some restraint. Most groups do not cross the lines, but one recognizable one has on a regular basis—ISIL.

That’s not to say that other militant groups and Syria’s corrupt government are somehow absolved from the inhuman behavior of their soldiers. Assad’s regime and other government forces, even some predominantly Shia outfits fighting for Iraq, are guilty of gross injustices. That said, ISIL, the Islamic State, are the worst people on the planet right now. And they’re proud of it.

They relish the mystique that goes along with that perception. But ultimately, they’re just a horde of uncivilized adults obsessed with killing. They’ve rejected their human programming, though I imagine during the first instant of possible failure, many begin to question what they’ve done. Alas, there will be no rehabilitation for these extremists and no redemption. The eventual destruction of ISIL is a certainty. It’s the group’s underlying cause that raises greater concern.

Read this and imagine what it would have been like to be a villager, trapped as ISIL beheaded people and threw them in a mass grave.

NEAR BASHIQA, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Kurdish fighters exchanged heavy fire with militants on Monday as they entered a town held by the Islamic State group east of Mosul, while troops advancing south of the city discovered a mass grave containing some 100 decapitated bodies.”

The Kurdish forces are a terrific ally and bold enough to take on ISIL head on. The Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) will follow suit and eliminate ISIL in Iraq. It has always been the case that a victory over ISIL is not possible without Iraqi forces. Iraq is the most important country in the Middle East for security, it could be argued. They’re capable, they’ve obviously seen their share of war, they’re westernized to a large extent, and they are a powerful force in the region, historically. The Iraqis are the warriors of the Arab world. In the battle for Mosul, they’ll prove that notion remains true.

Featured image courtesy of Al Jazeera