ISIS: A Comprehensive Examination of the New Face of Modern Terrorism - Research Paper

Introduction

This research paper provides a comprehensive examination of the ISIS group, which is among the new faces of modern terrorism with higher standards and objectives than the past groups. A study by Gulmohamad (2014) reported that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIL, started as part of Al-Qaeda, but became more extreme, to an extent where Al-Qaeda cut bonds with the group due to the increase of liabilities. Moreover, as Byman (2016) provides, ISIS aims to start an Islamic state all over the Sunni region of Syria and Iraq. The group follows the rules provided under the Sharia law in the Quran, towards its activities and objectives (Hashim, 2014). At the moment, ISIS has control of over hundreds of square miles in Syria and Iraq and ignores the laws of global borders. As the research will provide, the group has an extended strategy that is set to increase its operations through the existing and new territories altogether.

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The group's initial financial plan involved extortion and robbery from the public. However, they are now dedicated to generating resources on a large scale, through severe attacks as well as capturing and holding people captives in different territories (Byman, 2016). Moreover, the group also generates most of its revenue from oil production. As this paper will show, ISIS draws its origin from the destruction of Saddam Hussein's establishment and the US raid to Iraq, leading to political instability and mass murders in the region (Hubbard & Schmitt, 2014). From its establishment, the US Air force has been on the front towards fighting the group, a fact that has led to killings of many journalists as well as humanitarian workers. By providing a detailed examination of the group, the research will show that ISIS is among the most successful terrorist groups that currently possess a threat to the international community.

Overview of the Group

As a terrorist group, ISIL started from lands that were infested with war, even though the Sunni-Shiite conflict was never a significant split for the group. According to Gulmohamad (2014), as a Sunni Jihadist, the group is headquartered in Baquba, Iraq as well as Syria. More than 500 years ago, as Hashim (2014) provides, during the Ottoman Empire and the State of Peria, there was the development of conflicts due to political feuds between the two lands, a fact that caused a secular split. At the moment the two regions are very separate in the Middle East, with factors such as not praying in the Mosque as well as different holy sites. Al-Zarqawi is among the most important characters credited with the establishment of the ISIS group as well as its original ideology. Even though the U.S troops killed him in 2006, he remained to be the first Islamic to move the rebellion in Iraq from a scuffle against America.

From its establishment, many people have since joined ISIS from various regions, but specifically from the leading countries. According to Byman (2016), there is an estimated number of between 27,000 and 31,000 overseas recruits, most of them being from the Middle East and North America. Most of these individuals moved to Iraq and Syria towards joining the group after the fight broke out in 2011. Accordingly, the most massive numbers of these individuals come from six central countries, including Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Jordan, Turkey and France. Among these recruits, more than 20% have since returned to their home countries since 2015 (Marsden, 2016). Moreover, most of the foreigners have also detracted from the group, as a result of security measures, as well as the general weakening of the group, including other significant reasons. Most importantly, even though the U.S used to produce more members joining ISIS compared to Europe and other western countries, the number has since decreased to utmost one per month.

Group's Overall Ideology and History

ISIS demographics are diverse, involving members of different ages, agendas as well as ethnicities. Specifically, the previous supporters of Saddam Hussein's Baathist organization contribute to a significant portion of the organization (Gulmohamad, 2014). As a result of the U.S intervention, the Baathists supporters that had not been put into the military prisons went into hiding. Later on, upon the U.S withdrawal, the temporary government left an authority void. This acted as a perfect set up for the formation of the ISIS, which was known as Al Qaeda in Iraq at the moment (Chaliand & Blin, 2016). Moreover, the group further joined with the previous members of Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch and enhanced the formation of ISIS. The group has also expanded to what it is today, both geographically and operations wise. ISIS now have large areas in Iraq and Syria and are responsible for creating chaos as well as murdering and terrorizing thousands of people as well as driving others from their homes. ISIS operates as a theocracy, with its ideology representing radical Salafi Islam, a strict as well as a pure form of Sunni Islam. The group promotes various forms of viciousness and views Muslims that fail to agree with its understandings, to be defectors (Chaliand & Blin, 2016).

ISIS was established in 1999, by a jihadist from Jordan, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. However, its roots were established in 2004, when al Qaeda formed. During this time, the invasion by the U.S to Iraq took place, with al Qaeda aims to eliminate the presence of the Western countries and to replace the same with a Sunni Islamist organization (Abrahms & Potter, 2015). In 2006, Zarqawi was executed in an attack by the U.S, causing the Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri to become the new lead of the group. Later, Masri also died in operation, leading to Abu Bakr as-Baghdadi to take power. According to a report by Kfir (2015), ISIS has since weakened both militarily and financially. For an extended period, the group has been losing control of territories in major centers. Moreover, most of its leaders have been killed while others were captured, like the arrest that happened in May 2018, to five key officials of the group in Syria and Turkey.

Geographic Makeup of ISIS

ISIS is an international terrorist group and has religious, administrative as well as military authority over Muslims, all over the world. As Kfir (2015) provides, the group used most of the boundaries in Iraq and Syria to establish subdivisions of the territories that it conquered and claimed and named the divisions as wilayah. Moreover, by June 2015, the group had already established official regions in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria, Pakistan, Nigeria as well as Afghanistan as its territorries. Even though regions such as Bangladesh, Somalia, and the Philippines sent their pledges of allegiance as well as published media releases, the group has not yet announced further branches but have recognized the new affiliates as only its soldiers. Despite its territorial expansion, Chaliand & Blin (2016) points out that ISIS had lost most of the regions in its primary core areas in Iraq and Syria by March 2019.

From its establishment, ISIL has claimed responsibility to many terrorist attacks in different corners of the earth. Among the most known attacks linked to the group includes the November 2015 attacks in Paris, where a sequence of shootings and bombings in the streets of Paris led to the killing of 130 people. In June 2016, a member of the group opened fire in a club in Orlando U.S and executed close to 500 people (Wood, 2015). Research further shows that in July 2016, an ISIL terrorist truck driver killed a multitude of individuals in Riviera town in France, resulting in the death of 86 individuals (Kfir, 2015). Also, a single bomber, at an Ariana Grande show killed 22 people on site, in the Manchester Arena in England.

ISIS's Tactics, Behaviors, and Methodology of Activities

In 2017, the ISIS group suffered a significant defeat to the U.S, due to the nature of their tactics and behavior. As such, the group has been enhancing its strategy in an evolving manner. After the end of the caliphate, the group avoids the engagement in major battlefields, and instead focus on terrorist attacks in various regions, including the Middle East among other conflict zones (Wood, 2015). ISIS now prefers to carry out separate suicide attacks as well as hit and run operations to the various conflict regions. As another example of tactical and behavioral activities, the group early January this year, ISIS attacked the Russian military facilities through drone attacks (Reuter, 2015). This action shows the group's desire to impose massive pain and effect to its enemies, while at the same time avoiding direct engagement with the military on a large scale.

ISIS's Force Multipliers, Finance, and Administration Structures

For the survival of ISIS, there are essential strategies and including financial as well as the administration set up of the group. The oil operation is among the considerable money maker of the Middle East as well as the ISIL group. The terrorist organization mainly depends on the revenue from the oil business to fund its operations in different parts of the world. As such, their activities in Iraq and Syria have not only resulted in landing capturing but also essential oil fields. The group also leads in the oil industry because they meet all the oil needs and therefore, controls the market (Stergiou, 2016). Its structure and strategy towards moving the money acquired involve significant approaches, the most effective tactic involving the utilization of intermediaries. Moreover, ISIS also uses smuggler routes as well as families that have routes to the past. ISIS organization also receives daily donations from different parties, including wealthy countries, business people, as well as the Persian Gulf Royalty. As Aliu et al. (2017) point out, the ISIS terrorist group also sources its operational funds from raids, attacks, and selling of the ancient artifacts from museums.

Conclusion

ISIS is the new aspect of terrorism in the world today. As a terrorist group, ISIS started as part of the Al-Qaeda group bit then split up as a result of being a liability. ISIS is currently in control of over hundreds of square miles in size. Despite dangerous enemies with the U.S as the primary barrier, ISIS has managed to grow and expand massively as a result of new solder territories and individuals. Moreover, their engagement in the oil industry and leading the market is the main contributor to its expansion. Besides, the group also depends on other sources of finance to fund their operations in different regions. As such, the group is considered as a successful terrorist group that postures a risk to the neighboring areas and the entire world in general.

References

Byman, D. (2016). ISIS goes global: fight the Islamic state by targeting its affiliates. Foreign Aff., 95, 76:https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/isis-goes-global

Gulmohamad, Z. K. (2014). The Rise and Fall of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (Levant) ISIS. Global Security Studies, 5(2). DOI: 10.24193/csq.23.1

Marsden, S. V. (2016). A social movement theory typology of militant organisations: contextualising terrorism. Terrorism and political violence, 28(4), 750-773. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2014.954039

Chaliand, G., & Blin, A. (Eds.). (2016). The history of terrorism: From antiquity to ISIS. Univ of California Press. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=U6swDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=ISIS+history&ots=2V1wRiw5_Y&sig=JJEmXkKNQArBX-NeHRr8SbU6Whc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ISIS%20history&f=false

Kfir, I. (2015). Social identity group and human (in) security: The case of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 38(...