Poli 360

Lately, media has been sensationalizing the group ISIS for its horrendous crimes against civilians. Although the US thought it had put to rest al Qaeda in 2006, its war on terror is far from over in the middle east, as former members of al-Qaeda that now call themselves ISIS, is unstoppable. Driven by sectarianism, ISIS is ultimately on the path to destroying those that don’t support them in Syria and Iraq.

Although the history of this group is so complex, a brief overview of what ISIS exactly is, and how it came to be, is essential to understand the context of what is currently happening overseas in the middle east. Up until February of this year, the extremist group al-Qaeda was mostly confined to bounds in Iraq. They played a key role in the insurgency after America’s invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. The great divide between the Shia’s and the Sunni’s created a great disposition within Iraq, with the Sunni’s vying for power. Al Qaeda (made up of mostly Sunni’s) ultimately wanted to set up an Islamic state within Iraq, and took extremist ideologies to unprecedented levels as they banned smoking, music, and the showing of skin on women within the country. Iraq was greatly divided between those of the Shia’s and the Sunni’s in the early 2000’s, and because of the corruption within the government, the extremist group al Qaeda was ultimately enabled to rise through the support of the Sunni’s within the country whom felt that their interests were being neglected by the Shia led government. Although the Sunni’s, made up of formal tribal leaders and insurgents, originally supported Al Qaeda, they sided with the US as al Qaeda’s tactics became more brutal as the decade progressed. However, the birth of ISIS (formally known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) didn’t really become apparent until 2013, when the group of militants threatened the Iraqi forces and ultimately took control of the cities Falluja and Ramadi within Iraq. It was here, that al Qaeda cut ties and the group now known as ISIS and broke free, after they refused to comply with al Qaeda directives and vied for independent decisions.

Backtracking to late 2012, Syria began experiencing a civil war between the corrupt government and Syrian rebels who wanted to topple it. It was this event that allowed ISIS (made up of foreign fighters) to emerge as a huge power in Syria and take up stake within broken cities.

Since February of 2014, ISIS has been on an unstoppable mission to expand its realm of control over everything within reach. It has seized towns and cities near major supply routes, and has caused the Syrian government to ultimately buy back electricity that the group has taken control of. In July, the group took over one of Syria’s largest oil fields, Omar. Along with many other sources of income such as this oil field, these ports ultimately facilitate the group to be one of the wealthiest terror groups in history.

The governing style of ISIS is what needs to be feared. After seizing a city, ISIS allows for select services to stay open, but uses force to impose it’s ultimate goals of a fundamentalist state. ISIS maintains that its own police force regulate shops being closed during Muslim prayer and that women cover their faces and hair. It is when people disobey these basic rules, that they are punished with public execution or amputation. It is also worrying to note that most of ISIS’s weapons are stolen. And as the US government continues to aid the Iraqi government and the Syrian rebels to fight against this group, it is those exact people that ISIS continues to seek weapons from. By intercepting supplies en route to rebel groups sent from foreign governments such as the US, to intercepting M79 antitank rockets from Saudi Arabia heading towards Syria, it is worrying to think that our own Canadian allies are evidently supplying the enemy whether they intend to or not.

On August 7^th of 2014, Obama announced America’s plan to airstrike against the militants as they moved forth to the Kurdish capital of Erbil within Iraq, and even more concerning, as they headed towards a large group of civilians trapped within the mountains in northern Iraq. As the airstrikes began, it was on September 10^th of 2014 that Obama then again announced that America was planning on destroying ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. America’s plan includes supplying weapons to the Syrian rebels because of fears that without troops on the ground it will be difficult to push them out with airstrikes alone. And since the US doesn’t want to ally with ISIS’s other enemies, and America’s own previous enemies such al Qaeda or Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, it is difficult to know where to place trust. With the goal of driving ISIS back away from Baghdad, as well as other places the group has yet had a chance to take, the US has a list of goals it is aiming to achieve through it’s airstrikes. Similar to all war strategies the US has ever taken up, it’s goals are to destroy energy infrastructures that are funding the extremist group, as well as to destroy weaponry that the group holds in cities such as Raqqa. With the group having such a strong presence in both Syria and Iraq the airstrikes could continue for quite some time.

It is difficult to say what might evidently happen, because the current situation between the US airstrikes, and ISIS’s response to them is still ongoing. But what we do know, is that ISIS is driven to make itself known, and does not fear repercussions from it’s actions. After releasing threatening videos that can be interpreted as direct attacks on America, as well as it’s surrounding countries of Britain and France, the jihadist group is attempting to send a strong message that they will not tolerate the airstrikes from the Americans.The terrorists relish in the horror that beheading civilians and POW’s evokes on westernized countries, as well as the fear it creates for its neighbouring Kurds. It is hard to say how long the psychological warfare will continue on. The US also needs to realize that it is ultimately aiding an extremist group that it was at war with only a few years ago, al Qaeda. As America bombs al Qaeda’s enemy ISIS, al Qaeda may be strengthened in the process of those that do not want to be on ISIS’s side. Although America has been precedented to come out on top in the past, the groups it has fought have always taken extreme lengths to not go down without a fight (9/11, the Madrid bombings). It is worrying to look at this situation between America and extremist groups, as it looks like America’s options are limited for success.