...1A 9 December 2015 ISIS - A Threat to the World ISIS, a self-proclaimed Islamic state, is a wealthy terrorist group that defies the reputation of the Fertile Crescent. What was once the “cradle of civilization,” (Fulford) is now a hotspot of ISIS terrorist activity. ISIS has begun to make headlines in the news for the continued violence that they continue to spread throughout the Middle East. Through the combination of: barbarism, military skill, strong religious beliefs, and the twisted use of social media, ISIS has become one of the most notorious terrorist groups in the world, and the actions of this group of outlaws have prompted reactions from various world leaders. If ISIS is not combatted, they could become powerful enough to wreak havoc amongst the entirety of the Middle East. ISIS is an acronym standing for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria; it is also sometimes known as ISIL, because sometimes "Syria" is replaced with the term "the Levant". At a certain level, one gets the impression that ISIS just emerged from nowhere: the organization was not a presence in Iraq when the United States was actually engaged in full-scale military operations there and has only emerged as a strong political power since the American withdrawal from Iraq. Ward has pursued the hypothesis that the origins of ISIS can be traced back to an American prison camp in Iraq called Camp Bucca: "According to a CBS News investigation, at least 12 of the top leaders of ISIS served time in Camp Bucca...
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...Terrorist groups are generally associated with qualities such as being extremely volatile, inhuman or even heedless. However it isn’t very often considered that in addition to these infamies, terrorism, like other forms of organized crimes, is decisive, calculated and meticulously premeditated. The real strength of these organizations last in the interdependency that they create between the region that they operate in and themselves. The reason why these outfits spreading violence are so difficult to combat is the economic interdependency in particular. They become ingrained in the regions they function in and moreover gain profits for the acts of terrorism in the region. The profits that are gained are through tactical victimization of populations...
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...Who is the consequential terror organization of today? Terrorist organizations are threats to all people, both to the people who reside in the same country and to rest of the world. Organizations who cause mayhem and terror have their reasons why they conduct such behavior. From radical political parties trying to start a new world that fits their insane and out of pocket eyes. To terror organizations fighting to wipe clean of a certain minority group from the world. We live in a world that has many wealthy, prestige, and frightening terrorist organizations all around us. Yet, which organization is the most hair-raising and spine-tingling of all? In order to understand which terrorist organization is the most threatening to the rest of the world. We must analyze the two major organizations who are causing death, poverty and a world that no one wants to live in. Those organizations are ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq & Syria) and Boko Haram (Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad). ISIS emerged out of Iraq, as soon the Bush Administration had stopped the siege of Iraqi government in 2003. The reason why this terrorist organization actually thrived is because of the wrong method counter-terrorism. With the western world (states who follow a democratic...
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...ISIS ISIS is radical terrorist group the represents the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq. Their ideology originates from the Wahhabism belief system. ISIS has branched off from the terrorist group AL-Qaeda and has become one of the most extremist jihadi groups in the world. They control a territory that stretches from the Western part of Iraq to the Eastern parts of Syria. Their army is made up of thousands of religiously intolerant individuals who view anyone who does not share the same beliefs as them as an enemy. (Gerges)“Isis is a symptom of the broken politics in the Middle East.” In the past decade many Middle Eastern governments failed which created a power vacuum that ISIS took advantage of. ISIS poses a huge threat to the areas that they reside in, as well as to the Unites States national security.. Many of their attacks and killings have been recorded and posted on the Internet in hopes to inflict fear upon the rest of the world. Technology has played huge role in ISIS’s continuous expansion. In order to understand the way members of ISIS think, one must trace their roots back to the belief system known as Wahhabism. Wahhabism is a severe form of Islam that follows the literal interpretations of the Koran. Strict followers of the faith believe that those who do not practice the same form of religion as they do are mortal enemies. Many researchers believe that Wahhabism has misconfigured the true meanings of Islam, and that this faith is a direct result of many terrorist...
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...“If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles“ –– Sun Tzu, Chinese philosopher and military strategist, around 500 BC. “Our terrorism against America is blessed terrorism.” –– Osama bin Laden (on video) “The acme of this religion is jihad.” — Osama bin Laden (Bergen, 2001, p. 41) Many have asked, “what can we do to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)? ” There have been a variety of suggestions from airstrikes, isolation , establishing a national unity government in Iraq to the feasibility of a counter-offensive using 'local' militia's and only as a last resort U.S. Boots on the ground. These are all worthy ideas; however, it is imperative to get a fundamental understanding of what has caused this problem because ISIS is growing and becoming stronger (even though current air strikes and counter-offensives have been successful). Before a decision can be made a rigorous analysis is necessary, a sociological analysis, so that the United States and the rest of the world can determine what must be done regarding ISIS and why. (Thesis): This paper will argue that the challenge of removing IS lies in our ability to understand and realize that the terror group’s appeal is not its alleged goal of a regression to the glorious past of Islam (as Armstrong put it), nor that Islam is the fundamental cause of this anomaly, but that ISIS's appeal is, as Dorsey and Ali state, “...the opportunity it offers the socially, economically...
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...In June 2014, the Islamic State which sometimes calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shram (ISIS) announced its establishment on the world politics (Lister, 2014). The organization is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who declared himself the Caliph. On his announcement, al-Baghdadi assumed the title of the Commander of the faithful Caliph Ibrahim II. Islamic State aspires to unite all Muslims in one state. According to the jihadists, this is only possible through a caliphate in which ISIS is closest to achieving. The difficulty of the formation of the caliphate is the harsh opposition the group obtains from the Shias who are a fifth of all the Muslims. Such oppositions had already been observed in the history of Islamic schism (Lister, 2014). ISIS ideological appeal has worked in its favor to recruit its fighters all over the world. The strategy has also resulted to some supports from Muslim countries such as Pakistan. Nonetheless, the group has unspeakable violence majorly directed to Christians and the Shias. This paper conducts an in-depth analysis of the Islamic State regarding its evolution, modus operandi in terms of its operations and recruitment. The paper then assesses the impacts and threats of the group not only in the Middle East, but also world-wide. Literature Review The Islamic State has made great advances in both Iraq and Syria. It has captured significant cities, military armaments, weapons and oil...
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...Intelligence Mission on ISIS Report Chye Yue Zhang SCTY 415 Studies in Intelligence II Abstract The threat of terrorism became very real when it caught the United States off guard and seized the attention of the rest of the world on the 11th of September 2001, using four hijacked airliners led by a terrorist organization named al-Qaeda in an attempt to conduct suicide missions of prominent landmarks of the U.S. The Twin Towers in New York were destroyed while the Pentagon in Washington D.C. suffered damage that took a year to repair. The total fatalities amounted to almost 3,000 while twice the amount of people were injured. Since then, most nations in the world have become wary of terrorist and militant groups and the potential threats that they pose. This can be seen by the tightened national securities of many countries especially on every possible stations and ports of all modes of transport that a terrorist may pose a threat to. At this point of time, although the al-Qaeda is no longer a prominent terrorist threat, another established and independent militant organization by the name of the Islamic State (IS) got the world concerned about its activities in the Middle East which in turn affected and continues to affect the rest of the world through its twisted beliefs and brutality. This paper aims to define this currently infamous group’s beliefs and objectives, how it works as an organization, how it is a threat to many countries all over the world, and the methods...
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...Sarae Sinville ISIS in Iraq The recurring problem in Iraq is the terrorist group ISIS. ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq. ISIS is able to control Iraq by using a great deal of terror. ISIS kills, kidnaps, etc., Iraqi citizens without any regret. They kidnap children, random people, and people who don’t follow the Islamic faith. ISIS continues to try to take control the Iraqi government, even they control oil refineries around the world. There was something called the battle of Tikrit (Tikrit is the name of the capital of Iraq), which was a war between the Iraqi government and ISIS....
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...United States (U.S.) in the 21st century because of the threat terrorist organizations pose on homeland security. Since September 11th, 2001 (9/11), the U.S. has been on the offensive against certain foreign terrorist organizations, with a large focus on al-Qaeda. After a decade of fighting al-Qaeda, the U.S. felt as if it’s efforts in Iraq had been successful in terms of reforming the Iraqi government into a democracy, setting the country up to effectively combat al-Qaeda threats without the help of the U.S. However, upon the departure of the U.S. from Iraq, the tumultuous relationship between Shia and Sunni tribes escalated and soon a civil war was underway. This conflict gave rise to a new Islamic...
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...The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Hank Gray American Military University The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is the biggest threat to the Unites States of American in the world today. It is not a question of if they will attack but when they will attack on American soil. To really understand how they might do it and why they want to one must first look at their history and beliefs. Al-Quade started during the Cold War when Russia invaded Afghanistan. The United States was against all things Russian and started to support the locals fight back against the Russians. This led to the United States giving Al-Quade weapons and training. After the withdrawal of the Russians in 1988 a named Ahmad Fadhil Nasal Al-Khalaylah joined Al-Quade. Once there he met a man named Sheikh Abu Muhammad who had a lot more violent outlook then Obama bin Laden. Unlike Bin Laden, Al-Khalaylah, who changed his name to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, grew up very poor and was a lot more extreme because of this fact. In 1999 he returned to Jordan and formed his own organization known as Jamaat Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad or the Organization of Monotheism and Jihad. On September 11, 2001 Al-Quade made their motives known when they committed a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and another flight that crashed before reaching a target. This would led to the United States invading Afghanistan in 2001 and in 2003 Iraq. Zarqawi’s group was...
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...Rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS aka Islamic State of Iraq and Syria was created in 2006 by Abu Ayyub al-Masri and started out as an al-Qaeda splinter cell group. They are the most brutal terrorist organization alive today. According to the Jerusalem report3, a letter was discovered from the compound where Osama Bin Laden stated that ISIS was even too brutal for him and kicked them out of al-Qaeda. He stated, “ISIS's blatant disregard for civilian life was likely to damage the reputation of al-Qaida should the groups remain associated” (JPOST Staff). I also believe that if Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is not wiped out, it will become a threat to the world because wherever they go, they kill, kidnap, extort money, and behead...
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...The War Against ISIS Ahmed Sheikhahmed Southern New Hampshire University Background Description of how the War against ISIS Began ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) is a terrorist group that has the objective of forming a caliphate (Islamic State) in territories stretching from Syria to Turkey, to Lebanon, to Egypt, and to Jordan, if not beyond (Blaise & Jessica, 2014). The group started in 2004 as al-Qaeda in Iraq after which it rebranded itself to ISIS two years later. The group was an ally of Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda and had similar ideologies. The war against ISIS began after the group started radicalization and terrorist activities, by capturing swathes of lands in Syria and Iraq. The group was formed out...
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...conflict in Iraq? Argument for US re-involvement in Iraq This paper will present the arguments for and against the idea of the US getting involved again in the conflict in Iraq since ISIS militants have started a coordinated attack on cities in Iraq, as well as the conclusions of the group after both sides of the debate have been presented. The U.S. is right to get involved in Iraq The history of U.S. involvement To justify the U.S getting involved again in Iraq, you have to examine the history of the original invasion in 2003. This military operation helped save thousands of Iraqi civilians, overthrow a ruthless dictator that developed and used chemical weapons on his own people, supported terrorist organizations, and helped to restore order where order was lost for decades. The military operation also disarmed a vast terrorist training and financial support network that was looking to attack the U.S. Although there has been a huge public backlash due to the media supporting the whole "WMDs in Iraq was a lie to get us to go to war", the fact was that the regime’s overthrow by the U.S. was supported by almost all of Iraq. This also gave notice to other Middle Eastern dictators such as Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi that the U.S. would not tolerate support for terrorist organizations that threatened our country. I believe that war is awful, soldier's lives get torn apart by post war PTSD, and the economic impact has been immense. However, at the time, invading Iraq was definitely...
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...these actions of brutality. ISIS is one of the many terrorist groups that was founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In detail, the powerful militant group consists of Middle-Eastern Iraquians and Syrians. In 2004, the organization known as “Al Qaeda’ in Iraq formed, leaving traces of ISIS intel. Abu Musab, who was originally in Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, founded the militant group. In 2006, the founder Zarqawi was killed in a U.S air strike....
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...Al-qaeda is one of the largest terrorists groups in the world, allied with many large Islamic terrorist groups. These groups targeted the United States, including other allied countries, and the Twin Towers were one of many, targeted by Al-qaeda, killing thousands in the process. The 9/11 attack was the largest scaled attack on the United States, the attack resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths, and millions worth of damage. Within 24 hours of the 9/11 attack the United States, met with the NATO committee and came up with a decision to go to war with Iraq, and sent thousands of troops within 72 hours after the announcement. Proving that the Iraq/ Afghanistan war was the cause of numerous, deadly attacks on America and NATO allied countries....
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