Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have heard about ISIS. However, I’ve realized several people only know it’s a terrorist group in the Middle East and aren’t entirely sure how it came to be, what its ideals and goals are, and how it’s gaining power. I myself wasn’t sure either and didn’t want to get involved in conversations about the war in Syria and the attack in Paris without a full understanding. So here is what my research revealed:
The Origins of ISIS
In 2003, the United States invades Iraq on the premise that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. During this time, a group of renegades from Jordan, Jama’at al-Tawhidw’al-Jihad, combine forces with al-Qaeda, making it al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Jama’at al-Tawhidw’al-Jihad’s leader is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and al-Qaeda’s leader is Osama bin Laden. Both become leaders of AQI and set its main focus on attacking the U.S. and its allies. They considered them responsible for strengthening Arab regimes AQI considered traitorous. Bin Laden wished to establish a caliphate or a form of Islamic government led by a political and religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Zarqawi not only wished to destroy U.S. forces and its allies, but also local collaborators and opposing religious sects. Zarqawi was killed in 2006 by a U.S. airstrike after he had launched an attack on Shias and their holy sites. His successors rebranded the AQI as the Islamic State of Iraq and after the Syrian uprisings, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. Al-Qaeda is ruled by Ayman al-Zawahiri, however, it has considerably weakened since the emergence of the U.S.-backed Awakening, the Sons of Iraq. In the meantime, ISIS has only gained power and territory.
What ISIS Believes
ISIS’s main goal is to establish a caliphate. They are so fanatical about this idea that they are killing anyone and destroying anything that has conflicting views; even fellow Muslims. Islam has separate sects, the two largest being the Shi’ite and the Sunni. ISIS claims it wants to restore an early type of Islam, however its strategies are far from the Islamic way. Islam has always exercised religious tolerance, even in previous times when overrun by persecution. One of the main concerns with their ambitions is that they have no geographic limits to their proposed caliphate. To expand their borders, they have attracted thousands of foreign fighters to fight for their cause in other countries.
How ISIS is Gaining Power
Initially, ISIS was funded by donations from its wealthy supporters; however, it has expanded into a self-financing business. They have become somewhat modern day pirates. The territories they conquer, they siphon oil, kidnap and extort, loot and sell antiques. These techniques have made them the wealthiest jihadist organization in the world. Some estimate its worth to be over $2 billion. It uses this money to expand and conquer even more territories. It also gains power by gaining manpower. It uses social media exceptionally well and has gotten over 12,000 living in other countries to join its cause. This brings up an even more terrifying issue: they don’t need to travel to other countries to commit acts of terror. They are able to spread their word and convince people abroad to fight for their cause. ISIS has such strong supporters in other countries that they have even encouraged and succeeded in suicide missions. It is widely known that ISIS has become the largest terrorist group the world has seen.
