ISIS

Today in class we were told to find a solution for ISIS. Unfortunately, my group couldn't come up with a solution because it's so hard to take them down when they aren't a nation, we don't know their leader, and we're not exactly sure where they are located. But my group did come up with some facts to get more informed on ISIS. The facts that we found are:

Where Did They Come From?

• “While extremist groups are generally amorphous organizations, ISIS can trace its history directly back to the Sunni terrorist organization al Qaeda, specifically the Iraq faction, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was responsible for scores of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq following the U.S. invasion there.” (Ferran and Momtaz)

Who is ISIS?

• “Born from an especially brutal al Qaeda faction, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has grown from relative obscurity in recent years to overshadow its extremist patrons. It now terrorizes large swaths of Syria and Iraq, has become the target of the largest U.S. military operation in Iraq in years and, with the public, cold-blooded execution of multiple Westerners, dominates headlines the world over.” (Ferran and Momtaz)

ISIS’ Goals

• "Since at least 2004, a significant goal of the group has been the foundation of a Sunni Islamic state. Specifically, ISIS has sought to establish itself as a caliphate, an Islamic state led by a group of religious authorities under a supreme leader—the caliph—who is believed to be the successor to Prophet Muhammad.[166] In June 2014, ISIL published a document in which it claimed to have traced the lineage of its leader al-Baghdadi back to Muhammad,[166] and upon proclaiming a new caliphate on 29 June, the group appointed al-Baghdadi as its caliph. As caliph, he demands the allegiance of all devout Muslims worldwide, according to Islamic jurisprudence"

ISIS Information

• Western officials only have rough estimates on ISIS’s total fighting force, but in late 2014, the CIA said the group was believed to be up to 30,000 fighters strong including local supporters, and growing. Most disturbing to Western security officials, they say, is the huge portion of foreign fighters who left their homes and at times traveled halfway around the world to join the terror group.
• “Social media accounts associated with ISIS have published disturbing videos purportedly showing ISIS fighters taunting, torturing and executing scores of unarmed prisoners."  (Ferran and Momtaz)

 

All these facts came from reliable websites. Here are their URLs.

• http://abcnews.go.com/WN/fullpage/isis-trail-terror-isis-threat-us-25053190
• http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/
• http://abcnews.go.com/WN/fullpage/isis-trail-terror-isis-threat-us-25053190

P.S- this is not my work, I got all these stats from these websites, so I made sure to cite them.