A trio of bombings fell on the Iraq capital of Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least 66. ISIS has claimed responsibility for all three of the attacks. It seems that the ongoing violence and war that is happening in Syria is not as relevant as it once was, to a society that never seemed to truly understand why it is ISIS just wont go away. Like geopolitics, and life, we all seemed to re-focus our fears on easier problems, and not bother to find answers to the questions that we are scared to ask. So really, what is ISIS? And how did they become ISIS? And why can’t anyone stop them?
Who is ISIS?
The Islamic State of Syria and Iraq is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The group, also known as “ISIS,” began as the Iraqi chapter of Al Qaeda. Since 2014, the two groups had disagreements and ISIS branched out to form its own terrorist group. The ISIS problem goes back as far as 2011, when a civil war broke out in Syria in response to the attempt to overthrow dictator Bashar al-Assad. Al Qaeda began in Iraq in 2004, and rebranded as ISIS two years later. The group was allied with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda: both are radical anti-Western military groups set to build an independent Islamic State in the region. ISIS became extremely powerful quickly when chaos broke out in Syria and Iraq, because they simply took advantage of the vulnerable state of both vast territories. Since, they have become the largest and most violent group operating out of Syria and Iraq. This includes mass executions, rape, prisoners of war and inhumane acts against civilians. The group holds so much power and governance that they also control tasks of criminal penalties, such as stoning, amputation and crucifixion. ISIS perceives the Western World as either against their Islamic state, or with them. Their “pure” view has become set up as their own version of the Muslim religion,majority of the world’s Muslims find ISIS repulsive. ISIS embraces violence and extreme Islam that justifies acts of terror against civilians around the entire world. The biggest difference between Al Qaeda and ISIS is that ISIS believes the world is going to result in a final battle between Muslims (them) and non-Muslims (everyone else). ISIS has managed to recruit people who don’t believe that, and have joined out of desperation, economics or a distorted sense of adventure. The group managed to fund themselves by selling oil, extracting taxes and extortion. The group seized control of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, just this past summer. Their power base is in Raqqa, eastern Syria, where they now control more than half of Syria’s oil assets, along with a number of oil fields in Iraq. Their oil has found its own way to its own questionable market, and could be making up the $3 million each day, according to energy expert Luay al-Khateeb. The most dangerous element to ISIS is that the group encourages supporters to carry out attacks in its name without permission. This calls for several surprise attacks, and due to their obedience on social media, anyone with the Internet to participate. ISIS has become in many ways like a computer virus, and has taken toll on populations worldwide. More than 11,000 people have traveled worldwide to fight in Syria and Iraq, although some have gone back home again. ISIS aligns themselves with different groups, and sometimes changes allegiances, so countries with bigger Muslim populations tend to send the largest number of fighters. Finland, Ireland and Australia have the highest number of foreign fighters per capita. From a political view, ISIS is putting the governments worldwide in place to conquer terrorist groups. In many ways, ISIS’ own bureaucratic hierarchy is similar to some of the Western countries whose laws it rejects, only without democracy. More than 20,000 foreign fighters from more than 50 nations have joined ISIS and their cause. The influence on politics from the IS has sparked many controversies and social standards. Politicians have formed new perspectives on religion, immigration and alliances all because of the fear that ISIS has embedded in the entire Western World. To get a grasp on the amounts of tragedy that the Syrian people have, and continue, to go through, it can be compared to an eviction of every citizen from California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia and North Carolina.
ANCIENT HISTORY: How did this Happen?
The Sunnis and Shia are the largest and oldest religious groups within the Islam religion. Members of both groups have co-existed for centuries and share many beliefs and practices. However, they also differ in doctrine, ritual, law, theology and religious organization. This breeds competition between leaders, from Lebanon and Syria, to Iraq and Pakistan. The recent religious conflicts have emphasized the deadly divide, and torn communities apart. Majority of the world’s more than 1.5 billion Muslims are Sunnis. This could be up to 85% and 90% of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Sunnis regard themselves as the orthodox branch of Islam. Sunnis also dress primacy, and are guided by Wisdom of Muhammad’s descendants through his son-in-law and cousin, Ali. Shia constitute about 10% of all Muslims, and their global population is between 154 and 200 million. Shia Muslims are in the majority of Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Afghanistan, India, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and UAE (United Arab Emirates). There are three main branches of Shia Islam today, the Zaidis, Ismalis and Ithna Asharis. The Ithna Asharis are the largest group and believe that Muhammad’s religious leadership was passed on to 12 of his descendants, beginning with Ali, Hassan and Hussein. They also believe the “awaited imam” did not die and will return at the end of time to restore justice on earth. Shia tends to make up the poorest sections of society. They often are self-proclaimed victims of discrimination and oppression. Sunni extremists frequently believe Shia heretics should be killed. During the Iranian revolution of 1979, radical Shia Islamist’s were launched, and it became extremely challenging for conservative Sunni’s, especially in the Gulf. Tehran (capital of Iran) came up with a policy of supporting Shia militias and parties beyond its own borders. Soon after, the Sunni-ruled Gulf states matched their links to Sunni governments and movements elsewhere. Today, Syria, Iranian troops, Hezbollah fighters and Iranian-backed Shia militiamen have been helping the Shia-led government battle the Sunni-dominated opposition. Sunni jihadist groups, like ISIS, have been targeting Shia and their places of worship in Syria and Iraq.
What is Happening Today
While more than 4 million Syrians have been displaces, or mass-murdered, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad isn’t one of them. Assad currently controls 25% of Syrian territory, and his life depends on that. Russia hopes to secure a military grasp and protect its access to a deep-water port in the Mediterranean. In recent weeks, this has included sending Assad half a dozen T-90 tanks, 15 howitzers, 35 armored personnel carriers and 200 marines. In addition to Russia’s presence, Iran fears that Syria will fall to Syrian rebels backed by Saudi Arabia, so it has extended a $1 billion credit line to Assad’s regime to help it import critical goods and commodities. Iran’s ability to earn more revenue by producing an additional one million barrels of oil per day by late next year also suggests there’s more where that came from. Iran (Tehran) and Moscow frame their assistance as an anti-ISIS push, so the West has no choice but to be pushed to the back. The West also can’t afford any more power vacuums in the Middle East. In geopolitics, and in life itself, the devil you do know is always better than the devil you don’t know. ISIS also now controls more than 50% of Syrian territory, and is without a doubt the best-funded terrorist organization the world has ever seen. So, although Assad is a dictator and cruel, he is regional and a known evil. ISIS still has potential to go global, and do so quietly. The Syrian pound has now lost 80 percent of its value against the dollar. So whether Assad stays or goes, the human and economic costs of a war speak for themselves. While Iran has given Assad more money, and Russia has given him more weapons, Western countries tried to train Syrian rebels to fight ISIS in their stead. The desperation to topple Assad is short-lived compared to the desperation to invest in defeating ISIS. The US has invested $500 million dollars, and have around 4 or 5 American-trained rebels left to date. The failed attempt led Western countries to “divide-and-conquer” ISIS, allying with Iraqi Kurds, costing the US $180 million in military support. The ultimate goal is to weaken ISIS by forcing it to fight two wars in two locations. Western forces haven’t been giving the same support to the Kurds who are waging the same war against ISIS from the Syrian side. Turkey is the only NATO member that shares a border with Syria and Iraq, so it is critical to any war effort in these countries. So far, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shown more interest in bombing Kurdish rebel groups than the ISIS fighters. This resulted in 300 airstrikes against the Kurdish Workers’ Party, and only 3 against ISIS. Erdogan plans to use the war next door to try and revive his political fortunes and restore his party’s majority with the elections coming later this fall. The most dysfunctional problem within the War in Syria is that every leader has his own personal agenda. Turkey wants to fight the Kurds, Iran wants to beat back Syrian rebels backed by Saudi Arabia, the US is focused on ISIS, and Putin gains political respect by “standing up to the West.” All this overlap only shines one winner: Bashar al-Assad. He may be fighting ISIS on the news for control of Syria, but the rise of ISIS is also keeping him in power.
