What is ISIS?




  • In Archive
  • 2014-09-30 18:47:39
  • By
  • 648 Views
ISIS. It is probably one of the most commonly mentioned names on the daily news. Yet, how much do we really know about it? ISIS is also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, and it used to be known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). It was established in 2004 under the latter name. In February 2014, ISIS split from the al-Qaeda Central.  Even though U.S. troops defeated al-Qaeda in Iraq and killed the AQI founder and first leader, Al-Zarqawi, in 2006, they never destroyed the organization itself. Since it was founded, the group's goal has been to create a Sunni Islamic state on the territories of Iraq and Syria. Perhaps the main reason for that is the tension between Iraqi Shias and Iraqi Sunnis. According to statistics, the majority of Iraqis are Shias, but Saddam Hussein, Sunni himself, spread a false, but persistent belief, that Sunnis were the real majority in Iraq. The Shia majority was established after a civil war, not without help from the U.S. Since then, the two groups are in constant tension; they do not trust each other, and Sunnis demand more representation in government. Like any conflict to an outside observer, this one looks easy to solve - allow some space for Sunni candidates in the government and there will be no food for ISIS. In reality, things get more complicated. Iraq's former prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, who was in office until mid- August, used anti-terrorism laws to mass-arrest Sunni civilians. Police killed peaceful Sunni protesters. This was enough to increase recruitment for ISIS. However, Iraq and its policies are not the only sparks in the fire. The conflict in Syria gave ISIS a lot of access to weapons and funding (through oil and local businesses) on the territories the group was present on. Given the fact that today ISIS controls a fair amount of territories in both Iraq and Syria, the group can safely retreat to one of the states' territories under its control, when fighting the other state's troops. Thus, the campaign the U.S. has recently launched against ISIS is aimed at fighting the group simultaneously in both Iraq and Syria, leaving it no place to retreat to. The latest events are on the daily news - the U.S. bombing ISIS in Syria, ISIS beheading a U.S. journalists and an U.K. aid worker. For six weeks the U.S. and its allies have been bombing ISIS positions, mainly in northern Iraq. Just in the past week, the U.S. and the Arab country jets bombed ISIS oil reserves for two nights in a row, after U.S. President Obama opened the front in Syria last Tuesday. While arguing why ISIS became a threat to the peace in the Middle East, some blame the U.S. for invading Iraq in 2003, others blame Obama for not withdrawing the troops by the end of 2011, as it was promised by Bush.  No matter what served as the reason for the empowerment of ISIS, the fighting continues and it seems like it is not likely to stop anytime soon. This analysis was prepared by Anna Golub, member of the Political Science Club at AUBG.