Category: ISIS

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is more commonly known as ISIS. ISIS is an extremist militant group that strictly follows the Salafi writings of Sunni Islam. The group is also commonly known today, as ISIL. ISIL stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. in 2014 ISIS declaired itself as a worldwide caliphate, which has been rejected by the rest of the world. ISIS has a long history of how it came to be the organization it is today. The group has tremendous affects on global politics, security and civillians. Civillians overseas all over the world are affected by the group, and some even attempt to join the terrorist organization. I will be discussing the history, influence and spread of ISIS and the spread terrorist organizations in the future, and in conclusion after, how ISIS can be stopped. After numerous devestating terror attacks throughout the world, its important to understand the history of how this group came about. How did such a group, gain so much control and prominance throughout the world? Why wasn’t the intentions realized earlier by other nations and potentinoally stop the spread?

History

ISIS was first founded in 1999 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi from Jordan. Radical ideas started to come from al-Zarqawi in 2004, where he published a letter saying that jihadis should utlize bombings to start a deviding war from Sunnis, against assassinations by Shia. The group began gaining attention worldwide from suicide attacks on Shia governemental buildings, mosques and civillians. After, al-Zarqawi made his loyalty to Osama bin Laden, along with Al-Queda known. At this point the group was called AQI after “al-Qaeda in Iraq”. The group then merged with other insurgent groups, in order to distance themselves from Al-Queda after more bombings. In 2007, an airstrike from the United States killed al-Zarqawi. And an Egyptiant militant namd Abu Ayyub al-Masri took over. The group in 2006 pledged to “Rid Sunnis from the oppression of the rejectionists and restore rights even at the price of our own lives to make Allah’s word supreme and restore the glory of Islam”. This quote is implying the Shi’ite muslems are seen as untrue muslims to the group. The group, then declared their name is Islamic State of Iraq, ISI. At the time in 2007, ISI’s mission was to take control over central and western Iraq and turn it into a Sunni caliphate. In 2010, the top leaders of ISI were al-Masri and Omar al Baghdadi who were killed in a raid by the United States. In 2013 the group was murging with another group called al-Nursa and were now going by the name of Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIL). In 2014 ISIL declared itself to be a world wide caliphate. Meaning a single Islamic nation. Al-Baghdad’s followers named himself as the Caliph. Between gaining and losing terroritory ISIL in the next following years kept growing and expanding. in 2015-2017 ISIL claimed responsibility for a massive amount of terrorist attacks that took place throughout the whole world. Examples are: November 2015 Paris attacks, Brussels Bombings in 2016, 2016 Nice attack, Instanbul nightclub shooting, Saint Petersburg metro bombing, 2017 Manchester Arrena bombing. Mass killing were also found in areas that had been freed from ISIL control. The graves contain about 15,000 bodies killed by ISIL. The United Nations came out saying over 200 mass graves of victims were found, with up to 12,000 bodies in each.

Civillans

People all across the world are affected by ISIS. The attacks done by ISIS have been done all over the world in a vast amount of countries. ISIS has targeted the following countries; Belgium, France, United States, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Russia among many more. The intense following and reach to other nations have led to other foriegn people attempting to join ISIS, and some people suceeded. ISIS usually targets forign people, then kidnaps them. People taken hostage by ISIS are featured in the gorup’s infamous beheading videos that are posted online to send messages and gain popularity. Other horrific acts are done to those who are captured such as a Jordanian pilot who was burned alive in a cage. The male captives are typically killed or used to fight.

A girl from Alabama, United States left her home to go join ISIS after finding a recruiter online. Her name is Hoda Muthana, and she left her home at 19 to join ISIS. She traveled to Syria. She wants to come back home after facing loss of her husband and having children. She tweeted messages such as ‘Go on drive-bys and spill all of their blood, or rent a big truck and drive all over them.” encouraging attacks on the United States. She as of Feburary of 2019 she says she is ashamed of what she has said and done. This shows the danger and influence ISIS has over people world wide.

Women

The role of women in ISIS is a very brutal topic. Women in the group are treated with no respect and total disregard for their wellbeaing. Women and young girls who are not muslim are abused and enslaved to work for the militant group. They either become sex-slaves to the ISIS militants and sold to marry ISIS militants. Girls as young as under ten years old can be married off to an ISIS soldier. For ISIS, they believe women are supposed to be raped. ISIS follows the quote from Ibn (Muhammad’s cousin) saying “approaching any married woman is fornication, except for a woman who has been enslaved.” ISIS interpreted this quote to mean that their men do not need to gain consent prior to being with the women and children.

The United Nations has recognized this as inhumane intreatment and are crimes against women and children. These acts violate basic human rights. The women and children have no autonomy over themselves. They have no freedoms in their life. Everying for them revolves around pleasing and serving their militant owners. Women are chained, and led to a market to be sold off to other militants. Foreign women and girls are drawn to ISIS by the promise of marriage. Some women are hired by ISIS to go recruit women online to join their group by false promises of being free. Nearly all women who join, regret the decision and want to come back to their orginating country, but are being denied access or facing legal action back in their country An example of this is Hoda Muthana, who was pleading to return to the United States after she fled ISIS and is now in a refugee camp.

ISIS in Islam

Globally, Islamic leaders from all over have criticized ISIS’s teaching and their behavior. Leaders have said that true Islam does not condone the cruelty and abuse ISIS practices. Leaders of prominient Islamic countries have condemened ISIS’s actions. The members of ISIS believe what they are doing, is directly to please Allah and are to better the world. Their precedence comes from their twisted intrepretation of the Quraan. This is where their extremist views come from. For example, ISIS’s inhumane treatment of women is from the imbalance of power in the Quran. ISIS has manipulated. Because ISIS has such a distorted view of Islam, this affects the way the rest of the non-extremist islamic population is viewed. Because ISIS paints a bad image for the Islamic people, the entire religion is something viewed by as extremist with ISIS ideaology. As as a drastic effect of this, other people around the world view the true Islamic belief as all extremists relating to ISIS. This leads to uneducated views and discriminating against middle eastern citizens along with the population of followers of Islam. ISIS wants the Islamic beliefs to go back to its orginal structure where life is centered around prayer and worship. Though, they have manipulated the doctrines to fit their own ideaologies. This is not a fair portrayal of Islam.

The World’s View On ISIS

Over 40 countries have declared their opposition to ISIS from all over the earth. The United Nations has designated ISIS as a terrorist organisation. Because ISIS has such a global reach, through media and their supporters, the whole world is suceptable being influeced and targeted. For this reason, recruiters are easily able to manipulate young people to join ISIS or follow their beliefs. The United Nation has declared and hold ISIS responsible for crimes against human rights and for committing war crimes along with ethnic cleansing from northern Iraq. The United Nations rejects ISIS for being a legitamite organization state. The Council of the United Nations created 2249 Resolution during November of 2015. This resolution was voted in favor by all members. 2249 Resolution is to strengthen their efforts against ISIS and Al-Nursa. The United Nations states saying ‘unequivocally condemns in the strongest terms the horrifying terrorist attacks perpetrated by ISIL, also known as Da’esh”. This means that the United Nations and their members fully are alla gainst ISIS and their ideaologies and that the United Nations’s main concerns is to putting an end to terrorism, along with ISIS.

Prominent Attacks by ISIS

ISIS has committed the worst terrorist attacks in recent history and current events. ISIS targets large audiances of people. ISIS’s main target in their attacks, and what attacks share incommon are done in nations of the west. An example of this is the attack in Manchester, United Kingdom. This attack was done at a crowded concert for the American singer Ariana Grande. The concert was likely chosen as a target because Ariana Grande is known for being a feminist, an American singer whose audiance is made up of predominantly young girls. A suicide bomber detonated humself. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, though it is unknown wether the male, Salman Abedi, was directly a member of ISIS, but it is known he was a fan of ISIS from his search history and viewing propaganda of ISIS’s ideaology online. This proves how far of a influential reach ISIS has abroad. After the Manchester attack, the city of Manchester’s city has changed. Civillians following the attack, have been on edge with loud noises and the sight of people running causes fear. Following the attack Manchester has an increase in security precense such as more gaurds, and having patrolling police precense in public areas. Many people have the mindset that going to a concert should be a lighthearted nightout, but after the attack the world saw based on Manchester, people have fear and hesitations that there may be a posibility there would be another attack.

Another target that ISIS attacks are religious monuments. Antique religious monuments are part of a nation’s culture and some have been around for hundrends or thousands of years. Not only is this a place of worship for civillans these are historical sites for the world. An example of this type of incident is the Temple of Bel in Palymra, Syria. This temple was founded in 32 AD. The history of this temple goes from being a temple for the Mesopetanian God Bel. Then, it was converted a catholic church. Finally in 1132 the Arabs converted into a mosque. Standing as a mosque since 1132, after being created in 32 AD, in 2015 ISIS destroyed the temple by using explosives. By targetting historical artifiacts ISIS inhibits anyone from appreciating them in the future. History will be erased and we cannot benefit from it any longer. By targetting artifacts affects the whole world, not only the region of the attack. Future generations will miss being able to witness historical landmarks.

Funding

ISIS is predominently funded by their wealthy supporters. Because the Middle East is wealthy from the region’s abundance of oil, many people are wealthy. Some of the wealthy people who support ISIS help fund the organization’s costs. Another resource ISIS has to support them is thei revenue from their kidnapping and robberies along with smuggling and extorsion. When ISIS kidnapps someone they demand a large ransom and the money recieved goes back into the group. Because ISIS has strong financial support and funding, this makes it more difficult to stop their advancements from spreading. If ISIS did not have a lot of funding, countries like the United States would be able to better aid in stopping terrorism from the group. ISIS has its strength from the money it has to be able to support their weapons, militants and power.

Proposed Solution

I believe that in order to stop ISIS, the whole world needs to act together collectivly. I feel that all counntries need to come together and put together all efforts and resources to stop ISIS and the spread of extremism. I would propose a system similar to the structure of the United Nations where represetitives of countries who are against ISIS will come together. This would be specifically a group whose sole dedication is to put an end to ISIS. One of the things that all countries should work on would be to use social media to block and filter all messages and posts from suspected ISIS recruiters. I feel a large portion of the population withen ISIS are recruited overseas. By limitting the reach of ISIS propaganda globally, the audiance, gain and attention they recieve will deminish. By having a decrease in supporters this will give the proposed anti-ISIS group an oppertunity to control the group while the population of ISIS supporters lessens. By cutting ISIS off from spreading their ideas they will not gain new members so easily. Without the manpower and militant soilders the group could only get smaller, not larger. By doing this, their numbers will shrink and will make ISIS easier to contain. This is also a non-violent approach where foreign people do not need to fight in combat against ISIS. While taking care of ISIS seems to be almost impossible without combat, this is my propsed approach to start the demise of ISIS and extremist groups. In today’s society everyone has access to everything, which includes the internet and communication globally. I find in my research this is something ISIS has profitted on by attracting young people to join them. The youth are susceptible to be influence, and the realities of ISIS and terrorist extremism is a real world horror. All countries should come together for this common good to stop ISIS and their influence to make the world a safer place.

ISIS is an organization that used various means to establish a new state in the region that we know today, as Iraq and Syria. This organization wants to expand its power to the rest of the world, bringing shariah law by the way of Jihad. Before, this organization consisted of the state of Iraq only, however when Syria was undergoing a ‘war’, it eventually joined the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). After that, its name become Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. ISIS was formerly an Iraqi ALQAEDA organization, which later changed its name to ISIS. Initially, ALQAEDA was just a small group that formed by Osama Bin Laden, to protect Afghanistan from the Soviet Union.

The Jihad of ISIS militant is clearly against with the teaching of Islam. Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the levant (ISIL) are a series of Salafi Jihadi movements in Iraq which initially consisted of three jihadist organization, namely the Ansar al-Islam which consists of the Salafi Jihadi group of Iraq who formed their own filed of ‘Islamic rules’ and practice of orthodox and radical Islam. Second, the Mujahideen group that originated in Jordan to declare Iraq themselves as ‘Jamaah al-Tawhid wa-Jihad’ under the leadership of Abu Mus’ab al Zarqawi who migrated to Iraw to launch jihad against US military occupation of Iraq. Third, ALQAEDA who migrated from Afghanistan as a result of US attack on Afghan soil after the 9/11 events. Therefore, most of the Ulama’ of Sunni wal Jamaah of the world have warned the Muslim not to be influenced by those group because of their violent ideology and attitude and disbelieving people who do no agree with them and legalizing their blood. ISIS especially, is a Salafi takfiri group that is a group that tends to disbelieve other who does not share the same ideology as them. In fact, they are more extreme because they are willing to kill Muslims who are not in line with the Salafi ideology that followed by them. Moreover, they are killing innocent people and expelling Christians and Yazidi in full tyranny. Thus, the Sunni scholars around the world label this ISIS or ISIL as Khawarij in this modern era and the majority of Ulama’ of Sunni agree on heresy and the misconduct of this group and warn Muslims not to be deceived by all the propaganda of ISIS or ISIL or ALQAEDA.

Jihad, or jihada derived from the word of Arabic are often misinterpreted as the Sabil war (holy war). Moreover, Jihad emphasizes that Jihad is the struggle to do good and to reject injustice, oppression and wickedness from someone or in society. This struggle is a spiritual, social, economic and also political fight. In the perspective of Islam, jihad on the battlefield is the last option and it is subjected to certain conditions. Thus, it can only be implemented by an Islamic state led by the Islamic leaders which is not individual nor groups to defend freedom which include religious freedom. As stated in the Quran, surah al-haj verse 39, “permission (to fight) has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory”. as well as in the surah an-Nisa’:75, “how should ye not fight for the cause of Allah and of the feeble among men and the women and the children who are crying; our Lord! Bring us forth from out of this town of which the people are oppressors! Oh, give us from the presence some protecting friend! Oh give us from Thy presence some defender!” from that, it should be realized that war in Islam does not mean al-harb which is the scorched earth and completely without paying attention to the ethics of humanity, the rules of conduct and manners of war are detailed so that the terns of war in Islamic law are different from terminology in the west.

These are among the rules set by Islam before engaging to the war, do not storm suddenly as it happens in the era of ignorance, thus the Prophet set these rules on the point that attacking the enemy is not allowed to performed before entering the morning. Next, it is forbidden to torture or kill with burn, or to kill with violence (qarl al-sabr) and also forbidden to plunder or rob after the existence of peace. It is forbidden to damage, demolish and make the earth scorched in the arena of war, forbidden to kill prisoners of war and kill the enemy narrowly, forbidden to kill enemy ambassadors and envoys, and forbidden to do mass damage. Such discipline becomes the ethics of self-regulation Islamic fighter based on the example of the Prophet in his activities of Jihad, so that it can be understood that Islam upholds high moral values in war. In Islam, it is not allowed to fight except on people who are hostile to Muslims and commit atrocities. As stated in Quran, Allah said, “fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors.” (Al-Baqarah, (2):190). From the description the rules of war, it can be understood that, war is not the goal in Islam but it is more of a form of defense for protect the Muslim community.

Next, the International Humanitarian Law is a rule that on a humanitarian basis, sets limits for restriction the effects of armed conflict. It protects those who are not involved, or no longer participating in war, and limiting the means and methods of war. This International Humanitarian law is traced based on the rules of ancient civilization and religion. War since time to time, it has been limited to the practice of accepted principles and customs widely. Therefore, the universal coding of International humanitarian la began in the 19th century. Since then, the countries of the world have agreed to accept a series practical rules, based on bitter experience at war. This rule aim to achieve a balance between humanitarian concerns and military needs of a country. Therefore, the international humanitarian law includes the protection against them who is not involved or not actively involved in the battlefield such as the public, medical staff and the religion of the military. It also protects those who no longer take part in the battlefield like wounded soldiers, sunk in the sea during war, sick soldiers and prisoners of war. Therefore, life, dignity as well as physical integrity and the mentality of the protected group must be respected. These people must be legally guaranteed and protected with humanity in all circumstances without distinction and partiality. To be precise, it is forbidden to kill or injure an enemy that has surrendered or unable to resist, those who are sick and injured should be collected and taken care of by the authorities who found them and members as well as medical supplies, hospitals and ambulances must be protected at all times.

And the other one is limiting the means of war especially the type of weapon and war methods such as military tactics. Therefore, international humanitarian law has restricted or banned the use of many types of weapons including explosives, chemical and biological weapons, such as laser weapon that can blind and landmines. Its purpose is to prevent an extreme injury or excruciating misery as well as causing excessive destruction or long-term effects on environment. Therefore, it is to protect society, individuals and public property.

To conclude, Islamic law and international humanitarian law actually have the same purpose with regard to the war where both of them very concerned and defend the human rights. However, due to some irresponsible organization that deviating from the true meaning of jihad and being influenced by extreme thinking which has resulted the Muslims and Islamic law being looked down and thought that Islam is a violent religion by the society.

The Global War on Terror (GWOT) is the closest thing to an official name for the variety of small to large scale conflicts around the world that involve various terrorist groups. Though many of these groups and issues have been around before 2000, the GWOT officially started on September, 11, 2001 with the attacks on the world trade center in New York. Since then the middle east , Africa, and a few small pockets scattered around other areas have become huge war zones with heavy N.A.T.O involvement. This ongoing conflict is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths across the world. It also has a direct effect on the U.S. economy as well as lives of service members and their families. The GWOT started in 2001, though events that led up to this now 18 year long war can be traced back to the mid 1980’s.

Global terrorism spawned out of a combination of religious fundamentalism, political beliefs, and western hatred. The start of the GWOT can be traced back to the significant acts of one man, Osama Bin Laden. In the 1980’s the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The Mujahideen were the primary combatants fighting the Soviets. The Mujahideen had a support group known as the Afghan Arabs who supported in combat and financial roles. The CIA was also had a huge financial impact as they had launched “Operation Cyclone”. An operation that funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Mujahideen through Pakistan. One of the most significant members of the Afghan Arabs was a wealthy Saudi man who provided financial support with his own money and gained financial support from other wealthy Gulf Arabs. This man went by the name of Osama Bin Laden. The CIA assisted Bin Laden in building a training camp for the Mujahideen. This training camp was named Al Qaeda, which directly translates to “the foundation” in English. The organization Al Qaeda officially started on August, 11, 1988 between Bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam, and several Egyptian Jihadist leaders. Al Qaeda started as an Islamist faction supporting the Mujahideen fight the Soviets. Nearing the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, members of the would be Al Qaeda wanted to expand their operations out of Afghanistan. To support other Islamist struggles throughout the world (History.com).

Bin Laden often spoke out against the Saudi Government for taking so much support from the U.S. In 1992 Bin Laden and Al Qaeda based themselves in Sudan, during this time Bin Laden was disowned by his family and had his Saudi citizenship revoked for speaking out against them. After the fall of the Afghan Communist Regime, the country was ungoverned for 4 years until the establishment of the Taliban. The Taliban was composed of educated leaders and mostly former Mujahideen members. The Taliban established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, though it was only acknowledged as an official government by a few other countries. During this time Al Qaeda were organizing themselves with protection from the taliban, though they were not officially affiliated. In 1998, Bin Laden issued a Fatwa authorizing the killing of Americans and their allies, leading up to September, 11. On September, 11, 2001 Osama Bin Laden orchestrated a direct attack on the U.S. 19 Saudi Arabian men hijacked four planes and flew them into the world trade center in New York, the Pentagon, and the last one crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. This resulted in over 3,000 casualties at the time and many later deaths from side effects that took on survivors of the attack.

In December, 2001 the United States Invaded Afghanistan with the goal of dismantling Al Qaeda and finding Bin Laden. The battle of Tora Bora took place in an operation conducted by members of U.S. Special Forces Operations Detachment – Delta (SFOD-D). As well as members of the British Special Boat Service (SBS). They were moving with and assisted by U.S. funded Afghans who were hired to fight the Taliban. The operation went from December 6 – 17. For about 11 days U.S. and British Special Operations members hiked through the mountains of Afghanistan, getting in constant engagements with the Taliban with the goal of capturing or killing Bin Laden. The SFOD-D members found themselves roughly 300 yards away from Bin Laden’s Location, when they were ordered to return home because George Bush wanted an excuse to stay in Afghanistan.

In March 2002, Operation Anaconda was launched. This was the largest on the ground battle in the GWOT that involved U.S. Forces. Navy SEAL’s, SFOD-D, and Army Infantry members fought a force of about 1,300 Taliban and Al Qaeda members between March 2-16. The U.S. suffered 7 casualties while about 800 Taliban were killed. Since then the Taliban government was dismantled and the U.S. established its own official Afghan Government. Though the Taliban still remain an active terrorist group to this day (Army University Press.mil).

In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, claiming the goal was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD’s). The invasion quickly turned the Iraq military into an insurgency. During this time Al Qaeda moved into Iraq to fight the U.S. (as was there long term mission). This is what caused the flooding of Al Qaeda in Iraq. After this the U.S. occupied Iraq in mass until the withdraw in 2011. In early 2014 a group by the name of The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS) launched a large scale attack on the city of Mosul in Northern Iraq. They established a Caliphate and controlled Mosul until the city was taken back by the Iraq military along with the needed help of U.S. Special Operations and Air Support. Iraq is still in conflict with ISIS to this day.

ISIS sprang out from Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Many or most members of ISIS are former Al Qaeda members and affiliates. They came on the rise when they became active in Syria in 2011 were they fought the Syrian government. Though they made a big name for themselves with the invasion of Mosul. Thousands of ISIS members assaulted the city, running out all government forces and remained in control until October 2017. Around the time of the Mosul attack many Islamic fundamentalist organizations around the world pledged to ISIS. These groups spanned from Africa, to the middle east, all the way to the Philippines. These groups set out with similar goals as ISIS, to establish a caliphate. A caliphate is an Islamic state that follows old Islamic law. A government based purely off of Islamic fundamentals. Even after they were taken out of power in Iraq and lost their main Caliphate, they still held a large territory in Syria. It was not until early 2019 wen ISIS lost most if not all their territory in Syria.

On the night of May 1, 2011 two helicopters full of Navy SEAL’s flew over the Pakistani border. Possibly the most high profile operation of the past 10 years conducted by the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG) to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden. As expected, for the past 10 years Bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan. What was unexpected was that he was living in the middle of a city, down the street from a military base. Bin Laden Never left his house. He was living in a large compound with multiple houses with 4 men, at least 10 women, and at least 10 children. He lived his last 10 years very strategically. He never directly exposed himself to the sky in fear of drones, he only paced in his backyard with a grape vine canopy to distort his image. The CIA located him through one of his messengers who was followed back to his house. Once the CIA had enough reason to believe Bin Laden was a resident of this compound, an operation was planned. One NSWDG platoon was tasked with getting him. On the night of May 1, 2011 the team flew over his house via helicopter. The first helicopter crashed in a large courtyard when the propellers failed because the tall surrounding buildings prevented the helicopter from picking up enough wind to stay in flight. The second one landed just outside the compound. The team exited the helicopter and continued to move in on the main 3 story house. The team began taking fire as they approached the front door. They moved in and got in multiple gun fights on there way up to the 3rd floor. On the second floor stairwell the team stopped when they heard the loading of a rifle. They knew Bin Laden’s son Khalid was living on the 2nd floor. They silently whispered his name, he then peeked his head around the corner, and was shot. They then continued to advance to the 3rd floor. While in the 3rd flood stairwell a man was seen peeking around a corner, and was shot in the face. Upon close examination of the body and questioning the other residents, the 3rd floor man turned out to be Osama Bin Laden (No Easy Day written by “Mark Owen”).

In 2010 Obama increased the budget for foreign military funding spending specifically for Africa. By more than 300 percent. The Islamic State of West Africa, commonly known as Boko Haram is currently an Islamic fundamentalist group and ISIS affiliate in Nigeria. The group had been around since 2002, but until 2009 there actions were non violent. April 2014 is when the group made a name for themselves when they kidnapped 276 children from school in Chibok, Nigeria. The groups primary goal is to establish a Caliphate in Nigeria. Though there home base is Nigeria, they have a heavy presence in neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Niger, and Mali. Since 2009 the group has been conducting bombings, kidnappings, mass shooting, and launching organized assaults on their local military. Since they started there violent campaing, over 2.3 million people have been displaced and thousands killed. On January, 3, 2015 Boko Haram launched an attack on a town named Baga and also ran out the local military. The attack resulted in 150 civilian deaths as well as the loss of a military base.

One of there most known Boko Haram incidents was an engagement with 35 members of the Niger military, as well as 8 members of the U.S. SFOD-A, 2 U.S. support personel and 1 intelligence contractor. The U.S. Special Forces unit was conducting an operation in Northern Niger, when they arrived at there target there were no hostiles in the area as expected. The next morning as they were driving away from the village, the team came under fire from the Boko Haram militants they were looking for the night before. The convoy of U.S. and Niger soldiers stopped to engage the militants. After a brief engagement the Boko Haram force grew significantly in numbers as more of them emerged from close by neighborhoods. At some point, there was a major mistake in communication because when the unit decided to move to a better position to the south, 3 U.S. soldiers were left behind. The 3 soldiers eventually died as they were left to fight a force of possibly hundreds of Boko Haram fighters. As the rest of the team moved south, they were confronted by an even larger group of militants. There was a standoff for an unknown amount of time before they realized they had left the 3 men behind. The team got in there vehicles and started heading back for them. Except for Staff Sergeant Ladavid Johnson and 2 Niger soldiers. These 3 men were unable to get in there vehicle and fled on foot. They were chased about 400 meters before both Niger soldiers were killed. SSGT Ladavid Johnson was killed after running another 500 yards when he took his final stand behind a small tree. He was overwhelmed with enemy small arms fire and died eventually. Though U.S. Special operations have been in the front lines in Africa for decades now, this is one of the only known events in recent years. Most of their work goes unknown, the only time there work gets media attention is on the occasional U.S. hostage rescue, or if an American gets killed. Overall 4 Americans were killed, 3+ Niger soldiers, and over 21 Boko Haram members. U.S. activity in Africa is on a rise and will likely continue for at least another decade (militarytimes.com).

This war has a direct effect on the U.S. and world economy in multiple ways. It has increased the U.S. defense budget as needed to fight the war. Which means we do not have enough money to fund other important things. It has also increased the demand for military hardware and is responsible for all the new advancements in weapons and tactical gear. Over the past 18 years the U.S. military has been in a constant engagement with various terrorist groups around the world. The U.S. is still to this day losing people to this war and spending millions of dollars on it. The fight against Islamic and Christian extremism is a complex war that is difficult to fight because most terrorist groups use insurgent tactics. This is an everlasting war that will probably not end any time soon.

Recently there has been the terror in several regions. These terrorists frightened the citizens with various actions, such as murder, robbery, bombings, hostages and so on. Usually, the suspects are Moslems. If the culprit is an Islamic person, they usually reason jihad against unbelievers. Then is it true that Islam supports terrorism?

Terrorism is coordinated attacks aimed at arousing feelings of terror against a group of people. In contrast to war, acts of terrorism are not subject to the rules of war such as the time of execution which is always abrupt and targets of casualties are random and often civilians. Even these terrorists justify any means to achieve their goals. (Wikipedia)

Jihad according to Islamic law is to struggle in earnest. Jihad is carried out to carry out the main mission of man, namely to uphold religion or keep religion upright, in ways according to the lines of the struggle of the Apostles and the Koran. The Jihad carried out by the Apostle is preaching so that people leave idolatry and return to the rule of God, sanctify the heart, give teachings to the ummah and educate humans to be in accordance with the purpose of their creation that is to become the caliph of Allah on earth peacefully and love one another But in jihad, Islam forbids coercion and violence, including killing civilians who do not participate in war, such as women, children, and elderly people.

In a hadith mentioned, from Abu Hurairah he said: The Prophet Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said: ‘The faith is seventy or sixty branches. The most important branch is the saying of Laa ilaaha illaAllah (there is no worship other than Allah), while the lowest branch is to get rid of interference from the road. And shame is one branch of faith. ‘(Narrated by al-Bukhari & Muslim)

In the above hadith, it is stated that the lowest branch of faith is to get rid of interference from the road. If getting rid of the interference from the road alone is highly recommended in Islam, even including the branch of faith how could Islam teach the ummah an act of terror or violence? How can terrorists on behalf of Islam commit acts of terror if they claim that in their hearts there is still faith?

Islam is a religion of love, which teaches gentleness to people. Adab to neighbors is taught, adab to people other than Islam is also taught, adab to nature and the surrounding environment is also taught. If there are people who claim to be Islamic but still like to commit acts of violence or terror then that person deserves to be questioned in Islam.

After withdrawing American forces from Iraq and significantly reducing, the number of troops in Afghanistan President Obama claimed the U.S. was on a new path to safety and security in the Middle East. However, this would not be the case. As President Obama took his eyes off Iraq and Afghanistan, the Taliban and the newly formed ISIS would begin to roll back U.S. advancements in both countries and embroil both young governments in another counter-insurgency fight. As President Obama worked to reduce U.S. forces in Iraq, an “Arab Awakening” would begin to unravel historic power bases in the Middle East. Egypt, Syria, Libya and others would see uprisings against their governments sending the Middle East into a firestorm of unrest. Soon the Iraqi military would be on the run and ISIS would expand to become ISIS and claim themselves to be an Islamic State or Caliphate in the Middle East.. President Obama was now in the uncomfortable position of having enabled the rise of terrorism in the Middle East while at the same time missing opportunities to expand democratic influence across the Middle East.

According to Eitzen et al. (2014) , “The war on terrorism has not been won. Actually, United States involvement in the Middle East has caused resentment among local populations. In effect, U.S violence and occupation increased the threat of terrorism” (481). President Obama would have to act fast. Historic powerbases in the Middle East were crumbling before his eyes. The Muslim populist in the Middle East was inspired and ready for change to their governments and perceived abuses of power. ISIS was now cemented into the very fabric of Iraq and Syria and they were expanding quickly. Time was of the essence and it seemed the U.S. was either blind to the true threat of ISIS or negligently distracted by other worldly matters. President Obama had to regroup quickly in order to keep the Middle East from burning to the ground. Unfortunately, opportunities to regain momentum were missed causing further chaos., “Unexpectedly”, ,

President Obama after many delays and missteps finally began targeting ISIS and its affiliates around the world. However, ISIS was severely engrained in all of its new territories and had become significantly capable of utilizing social media to spread its extremism worldwide. The U.S. and its allies would find themselves behind in these efforts and would have to change tactics quickly to regain the edge within the cyber domain. As Levinger states,. The U.S. and its allies had to adapt quickly to blunt the continued expansion of ISIS before the entire world became the new battlefield for their global operations. ISIS was adaptive and unlike any other terrorist organization, the world had seen before. ISIS operatives were highly motivated, educated and technologically savvy. Their ability to utilize the existing environment to supply their operations surprised the U.S. and its allies. As Smith states ( The rise of ISIS transcript), “Part of the Islamic State’s resilience is its diversity in revenue sources. These include the net 3-8 million USD/day potential oil reserves, which due to crippled infrastructure, cheapened underground markets, and heavy foreign air strikes, is only partially realized. Ransoms, citizen taxes (2.5% annual income), state fees such as traffic tickets and fines, agriculture, trade, misappropriation of cultural artifacts, human trafficking, escape bribes, and private donations also contribute” (Smith, 2015). In order to combat this ever-changing and unique threat new tactics and strategies would have to be employed. The U.S. had to change and now before it saw the complete collapse of the Middle East and terrorism back in the U.S. on an unimaginable scale.

Writer Garikai Chengu in his write-up ‘America Created Al-Qaeda and the ISIS Terror Group’ states, “The fact that the United States has a long and torrid history of backing terrorist groups will surprise only those who watch the news and ignore history” (Chengu, 2014). This article by writer Garikai Chengu not only focuses on the recent event as to why one can blame the United States but also does a rundown through history; explaining America’s relationship with Al-Qaeda and Muslim extremists as far down the line as the cold war. It goes on to show the various means and measures that backfired in the case of Al-Qaeda and The Islamic States. The invasion of Iraq by the States caused confusion and led to the fall of government that in turn led to hundreds of Sunni’s being unemployed seems to be a huge factor in the growing depression and aggression of the people of Iraq towards the States. Continued loss of jobs and loss of market opportunities led to the economy falling apart. The extremists according to this article took advantage of the situation and tried turning as many people as they could against the State claiming that it was because of America that their lives were falling apart and they must be punished. Chengu goes as far as to claim that America is utilizing ISIS in three major ways, “to attack its enemies in the Middle East, to serve as a pretext for U.S. military intervention abroad, and at home to foment a manufactured domestic threat, used to justify the unprecedented expansion of invasive domestic surveillance” (Chengu, 2014). The writer concludes her article by stating that the only way America will ever be able to win what they call ‘War on Terror’ is by first stopping themselves from aggravating and poking at them and giving them all the more reasons and motivation.

Introduction

Two big pillars that enable a Terrorist Organisation to fight are Finance and Human capital. The Islamic State’s (IS) speed and scale of recruiting foreign fighters in modern times has caught the world off guard (Hegghammer, 2013; Lang & Al Wari, 2016). Based on an estimate by European Commission’s Radicalisation Awareness Network (2017), as many as 40,000 fighters from around the world have since joined IS even before they declared their caliphate in June 2014. But with their impending elimination in Syria, the Global Strategy Network and the Soufan Center estimates that close to 5,600 fighters have since left and returned home (Barrett, 2017). Within that group, 20 percent of the fighters were from Southeast Asia, and some of them have already been joined their local terror groups, or have conducted their own attacks. The recent spate of terrorist attacks in Indonesia, Jakarta in 2016 (), Surabaya in 2018 (), is testament that their potential threat. To fund these efforts, groups have turned to crimes and maritime terrorism ().These attacks illustrate how returning fighters strengthen the incumbent groups, and leverage on these pockets of support to complicate the security landscapes. And with every success, it aids the recruitment of new members such as the two Singaporeans wanting to join ISIS in June 2019. Against this backdrop, it is imperative to examine the nature of their financing and recruitment to develop robust plan to stifle their operations.

Since 9/11, the SAF took significant steps to enhance its ability to respond to against these peacetime threats (). Task forces were stood up to respond immediately to threats affecting our Homeland security, Maritime security and the Airspace (). The Island Defence Task Force, is tasked to safeguard our homeland security with other government agencies such as the Singapore Police Force. At sea, the Maritime Security Task Force is tasked to secure the water ways to ensure smooth passage for movement along the straits around us. The Air Defence Task Force keeps a close watch over the skies. However, these task forces are reactionary in nature, and they can only respond when terror strikes, giving them first mover advantage. Within the short time that the forces are activated to the point that arrive on scene, the perpetrators would have already laid to waste the scene of terror, and the chaos and attention craved by the terrorists would have been achieved.

As more foreign fighters return to South East Asia, the threat potential increases. Together with groups like Abu Sayyaaf of the Philippines and Jemaah Islamiah of Indonesia, operating on behalf of IS, their threat cannot be underestimated. While the success of the SAF is determined by the lack of incidents, she must never rest on her laurels. Terror groups continue to improve their tactics, from singular attacks to coordinated attacks between cities across the country such as the Sri Lanka Easter Attacks earlier this year. SAF’s greatest challenge is to ensure that terrorist never succeed. To achieve this, beyond direct action on the Terror groups, is to work beyond her shores to cut off financing and recruitment in South East Asia and also Singapore while building on the deterrent efforts and strengthening our response mechanisms.

To discuss means of cutting off financing and recruitment for terrorists in South East Asia, this dissertation will first discuss the recent actions so as to better understand their current scale of operations as well as the SAF’s plans to strengthen her counter terrorism capabilities. Following that, the dissertation will explore the terror finance mechanisms and the success of SAF’s response to their efforts. Lastly, the IS’s propaganda machine played a big part in attracting recruits, a discussion on the systems of their social media and how the SAF can respond to curb this propaganda machine. The dissertation will eventually lead to the conclusion that the greatest challenge faced by the SAF is that from the terrorists groups based around Singapore, and to reduce the strengths of these terror groups, is to cut off the supply of finance and recruits. The author believes that without sufficient financing and manpower, operations become more difficult to organise and conduct, eventually dissuading them from further actions and to force IS to look elsewhere.

Terrorism in South East Asia

To understand the severity of the matter, it is important to first understand how massive their scale of operations are and how they developed. Since 2015, ISIS has declared that they would establish a wilayat, a ‘caliphate’ in South East Asia. Katibah Nusantara, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is leading this charge. The concept of a ‘caliphate’ in Southeast Asia has brought likeminded terror groups together to set up training camps in Sulawesi, Aceh and in the Southern Philippines (). In November 2015, Malaysian police confirmed reports that the Abu Sayyaf Group had hosted a summit to band the ISIS, Abu Sayyaf Group, and the Moro National Liberation Front so as to consolidate and begin a resistance against the Malaysian state. The police also stated that the summit had made concrete plans to recruit more recruits and to train suicide bombers (). It was revealed that suicide bombers had been stationed near Kuala Lumpur and in Sabah (Straits Times 2015). United, and equipped with an understanding of the local and regional context, ISIS has embedded itself within Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia with the regional militant groups to set up a nest to train, plot and launch their operations onto the wider Southeast Asian region.

The link between Abu Sayyaf Group and ISIS has grown stronger as Abu Sayyaf Group has proven itself capable of recruiting, training, and initiating operations in Malaysia and the Philippines. In February 2016, ISIS’ al-Furat media released a video acknowledging Abu Sayyaf Group’s pledge of allegiance (Manila Standard 2016). With ISIS’ endorsement, the increasing frequency of hostage-taking for financing, and the April 2016 conflict in Basilan, an insular province in the southern Philippines, which claimed the lives of 18 Filipino soldiers, Abu Sayyaf Group has continued to escalate its criminal and terrorist operations. As ties between ISIS and Abu Sayyaf Group grow tighter, Abu Sayyaf Group poses an even greater threat, one that will intensify if Abu Sayyaf Group allies with and spreads ISIS’ support to currently non-ISISaffiliated terrorist networks in Southeast Asia. (abu Sayyaf axis)

From 2002 to 2008, Terror operations in South East Asia accounted for 575 deaths (CNA). In 2017 alone, groups that forged ties with IS committed 348 terror acts, resulting in 292 deaths (CNA). A clear indication that the groups are growing in ability and also audacity. ISIS’ first claimed attack on Jakarta, which occurred in January 2016, underscore the magnitude of the threat posed by ISIS to Southeast Asian countries. The perpetrators revealed that Malaysian extremists received money and weapons from Bahrun Naim, the leader of Katibah Nusantara, and plans to attack Kuala Lumpur were underway (Sin Chew 2016). Kidnapping attempts by ASG intensified even more after the Jakarta attacks. Three major incidents took place within a three-week period. In March 2016, ASG captured 10 Indonesian crew members; in April 2016, the group took four men from Sarawak hostage and created a Facebook page to announce their capture; a week later, there was a third kidnapping on the high seas (The Star 2016). These incidents prompted officials to close the Sabah-Philippines border and introduce strict maritime measures (Sabahanews 2016). ASG’s recent actions in Sabah emphasise the extent of ISIS’ traction there.

SAF’s Response: Stepping up Counter-Terrorism

We have assessed, as we said, the rising threat of terrorism, and in the next few months, the SAF will re-double our efforts to gear up for counter-terrorism.

First, studying what happened in Paris, Jakarta and Brussels, the SAF will enhanced its incident response. In this, working with the Home Team closely and seamlessly is crucial if we are to bring to bear the full strength of our security capabilities. The SAF is working closely to share intelligence and develop joint operational command systems. We are conducting more joint exercises together. Last year, Exercise High Crest was conducted to validate our Whole-of-Government response to simultaneous maritime security threats. And in that exercise, various agencies, including the SAF, SPF, SCDF, ICA, MPA, worked together to intercept a terrorist speedboat, storm a hijacked merchant vessel, and deal with the aftermath.

Second, more SAF units will be trained to take on a wider range of security tasks. We do not assume, that attacks will only be carried out by lone-wolves or wolf packs – smaller groups, like those which occurred in Jakarta. We must be able to deal with orchestrated attacks, like those which occurred in Paris and Brussels, where airports, MRT stations, shopping malls and town centres are targeted simultaneously. And to deal with these scenarios, more SAF units will be trained to conduct deterrence patrols, even in populous areas. These units will be better equipped to perform their tasks. So for example, we commissioned last year, the Peacekeeper Protected Response Vehicle, which will give our responders greater mobility, protection, and more precise firepower to deal decisively with threats.

However, such exercises and actions shows that at best, the SAF can only respond to the overt threats and those that have already occurred. By the time they are activated, the crisis would be largely over and the desired effects by the Trror groups would have already been in place.

Financing Terrorism

ISIS controls territories and oil fields in Iraq and Syria from which they can draw resources to fund tens of thousands of fighters and further its goals. ISIS even uses drones for its operations, like a military. They can orchestrate and coordinate attacks far away, as they did in Paris, Brussels or even near us, Jakarta. Their tentacles can reach far. Just this week, the Malaysian Police revealed that ISIS had allocated around S$100,000 to Katibah Nusantara. It is a Malay Archipelago Combat Unit, and ISIS had given them S$100,000 to finance terrorist attacks and bombings in Southeast Asia

In the Southeast Asia region, there are three modalities of terrorist financing: criminal activities, use of charities and partaking in legal commercial activities. The first activity is the focus of this study.6 Increasingly too, terrorist groups have justified the use of crime as being part of a legitimate act as long as it hurts the ‘enemy’. The Islamic State (IS), which used former criminals as jihadists, has described their criminal acts as part of jihad.8 In the same vein, Indonesian jihadists and members belonging to both the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the IS have been involved in bank robberies as part of fa’i [acquisition of an enemy’s wealth]. For example, seven billion Indonesian Rupiah was lost through cybercrime.9

The crime-terror nexus is the strongest and most explicit in Southern Philippines, with ASG being heavily involved in related activities. For ASG, criminal activities are a major source of funding that permit the group to advance its organisational, ideological and political position, especially its overall goal of establishing an Islamic state in Southern Philippines. This partly explains its long history of being involved in the crime-terror nexus. The ASG, in collusion with various organised crime groups, has frequently resorted to KFR even though it is also involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling, extortion and assassinations. In the first six months of 2016, the group reportedly received US$7.3 million in ransom from kidnapping.10 This led one observer to note that ‘cash, not caliphate’ was ASG’s key motif force.11 Westerners and foreigners were targeted heavily due to the perceived financial gains and publicity. As such, the ASG has fused both terrorism and crime in order to optimise its organisational relevance, longevity and importance in the Mindanao region.

SAF’s response to Maritime Terrorism and Trafficking

While the number of piracy and armed robbery incidents along the Strait of Malacca fell from 20 in 2007 to eight so far this year, “more work needs to be done” on terrorism threats.

“Collectively, we need to step up our intelligence efforts as the centre of gravity of global terrorism shifts away from the Middle East and moves to other regions of the world, including this region, which have been susceptible to radical ideologies,” Dr Ng added.

One solution is the Republic of Singapore Navy’s Information Fusion Centre, which hosts liaison officers from all over the world and strengthens maritime security through information sharing. Last year, the centre tracked a fishing boat in the region for three months and worked with the Indonesian Navy to facilitate its capture in the waters off Batam. The boat was found to contain one tonne of crystal methamphetamine hidden in rice sacks (CNA).

Terrorist Recruitment

Threat levels for Singapore from ISIS are higher than those posed by Al-Qaeda (AQ) and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) when they were active. The number of what Al-Qaeda was able to attract – both sympathisers and operatives – in the last 10 years, ISIS has already exceeded the number in the last three years. ISIS operatives and sympathisers, especially what we call ‘clean skins’ – those with no prior criminal record – can travel and smuggle components of arms and explosives.

That’s why important to go after recruitment.

ISIS’s Amaq news agency has not only launched video and audio news but guides and training, as well. These are disseminated across a broad range of sites making suppression and remediation complicated. As of 2016, ISIS has been leveraging a complex content development and dissemination system coupled with online recruitment. The model below illustrates that Amaq and Al-Hayat – the most reported on ISIS news agencies, in the west, are only a small part of a vast network of online propaganda and influencing and recruitment efforts. As these networks are well entrenched across many conflict regions in EMEA (Europe-Middle East-Africa), while battlefronts change, the online presence persists.

ISIS operatives and sympathisers have already formed networks in our region. In the past year, close to a thousand people from Southeast Asia have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join the fight, including Singaporeans. And more have been radicalised without even travelling to the Middle East. Most recently, four Singaporeans were prevented from joining the armed conflicts in the Middle East. Returning fighters will bring back their extremist ideology, share their experience in weapons, explosives and actual fighting. In addition, we know that they have linked up with existing cells, like the JI offshoot, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, and Abu Sayyaf. (Tackling Misinformation)

Preventing radicalisation, recruitment and recidivism

In light of the extensive use of modern communication technologies by terrorists, individuals vulnerable to extremist discourse tend to radicalise or self-radicalise online.35 Any strategy aimed at disrupting radicalisation, recruitment and recidivism by former offenders must therefore include an online aspect. But states have so far experienced difficulty in dealing with online propaganda.36

The Internet knows no boundaries and because IS has treated Southeast Asian Muslims as a homogenous target-demographic, ASEAN should occupy a substantial position in regional efforts to counter extremist ideology online. According to Greer and Watson, ASEAN should encourage, subsidise and implement, “local, data-driven restorative approaches to prevent and rehabilitate radicalisation.”

ASEAN has an advantage when it comes to countering extremism as its member states have considerable expertise especially with regards to rehabilitation and counterpropaganda. Some of ASEAN’s member states have been hailed globally for pioneering many of the most successful initiatives in the world especially with regard to rehabilitation and counter-propaganda. In particular, two examples of such innovative approaches should be mentioned.

Singapore’s Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG), which actively counters radicals’ misperceptions and instrumentalisation of Islam through a grassroots approach. This includes a counselling centre, a smartphone app, publications by religious scholars, conferences and community outreach events.38 Important to note that despite such efforts, The gov continue to catch people who are self radicalized. Can share the materials and how they do it to saf so that they can identify potential people with such tendencies. Also to each and spread the learning so everyone knows how to move away from it.

With the SAF dealing with 18-20 year NSFs is in a position where it is extremely dangerous as singaproea male are educated to fight. But the 2 years conscription also has advantages. The two years spent can also be leveraged to educate the people on the effects of terrorism. While not necessary to be done overtly for fear of having counter effects, the syllabus fo education through NE programs can help to dissuade people from turngin to terrorism. (ASEAN Terror weaknesses)

More can be done to deal with this.

Conclusion

To discuss means of cutting off financing and recruitment for terrorists in South East Asia, this dissertation will first discuss the recent actions so as to better understand their current scale of operations as well as the SAF’s plans to strengthen her counter terrorism capabilities. Following that, the dissertation will explore the terror finance mechanisms and the success of SAF’s response to their efforts. Lastly, the IS’s propaganda machine played a big part in attracting recruits, a discussion on the systems of their social media and how the SAF can respond to curb this propaganda machine. The dissertation will eventually lead to the conclusion that the greatest challenge faced by the SAF is that from the terrorists groups based around Singapore, and to reduce the strengths of these terror groups, is to cut off the supply of finance and recruits. The author believes that without sufficient financing and manpower, operations become more difficult to organise and conduct, eventually dissuading them from further actions and to force IS to look elsewhere.

ISIS is the largest terrorist group in today’s world trying to use fear to spread their radical and backward ideologies and beliefs. ISIS brainwashes a few young vulnerable people into thinking what they are doing is a just fight and over the years has driven a handful number of young people to leave their country to go to Syria to join them. A Canadian, Mohammed Ali from Mississauga, left Canada and became a member of ISIS a few years ago. Ali wants to come home to be repatriated and to live a normal life again.

People seem to be divided on this issue on what to do with Canadian members of the ISIS group. Many believe they should be dealt with in Canada and others believe they should just stay in Syria and be dealt with over there. I believe the Canadian government should just leave this man and others like him in Syria and let them face the consequences of their actions. However, as there might be some legal issues and the constitutional act, he would most likely have to return to Canada to be dealt with. If and when Mohammed Ali returns to Canada he should be put on trial and be charged with treason. Justin Trudeau the prime minister of Canada who’s probably has the most lenient views towards this group of people stated ‘These are people who’ve come from various places around the world — in the case of North America, abandoning the comfortable confines of free and open democracies to go halfway around the world to engage with terrorist, and repatriating them is not a priority”. Justin Trudeau agrees that Ali betrayed his country and that he should not have the right to be repatriated since he knew the consequences. In the Canadian Criminal Code states anyone who commits treason and participates in activity of a terrorist group can be charged with life in prison. Ali admits joining ISIS and acting as a fighter. There’s a record of him using Twitter to incite others to commit violent attacks against civilians and recruiting others to join the group. Goodale the minister of safety stated ‘While every Canadian citizen — no matter how reprehensible — has the legal right to ‘re-enter’ Canada, the Government of Canada has no legal obligation to facilitate their return”. Allowing Ali to come back sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the democracy and livelihood of our nation. I can just imagine how every teenager whose life get a bit challenging having to follow rules and have some sort of discipline might decide to just take off and go where there are no laws and they would welcome them at least for a short while until they become a liability to them. Instead of reacting to their emotions, they need to stop and think over their decisions and how they might have to live with it for the rest of their lives instead of just bailing out once the going gets hard and then expect to run back to their safety zone as they please. They should know that people are not going to welcome them with open arms and as cliché as it might sound; ‘they made their bed and should lie in it’. If somehow they manage to survive and make a better person out of themselves, that’s great and they still have a place they can live in but it shouldn’t automatically be the country that they betrayed and left behind. They need to know how law and order compel us to respect laws and then we are entitled to the rights that are afforded to us, including enjoying the privileges that we have as Canadian citizens. If Canada truly stands for multiculturalism, then we must be firm and take a principled stand to prosecute those have fought with ISIS, including our own citizens. Based on reading articles we can’t even know whether they’re lying and playing the regret card just to get back to Canada and perhaps intend on continuing with their backward radical ideologies. Therefore, I believe Mohammed Ali shouldn’t have the right to be repatriated since we never know that they won’t go on to become even a bigger threat.

In Australia they have to have prior permission from the government to travel to places like Syria before they can go and I think Canadian government could benefit from imposing the same rule. This could then help Canada be aware that if anything will come their way, they should already know what to do far in advance of and not having to deal with so much controversy around this subject.

The Syrian conflict began in 2011 as an internal uprising. It is now a proxy war between major global powers. The war has killed more than 300,000 Syrians and torn 11 million people from their homes. Forces allied to President Bashar al-Assad have fought against moderate rebels and more radical groups opposed to his rule. This conflict has led to the rise of ISIS, drawn in some of the world’s largest militaries, and changed the region forever.

Bashar al-Assad has managed to hold on to power throughout the conflict. The Assad family have led the ruling Arab Socialist Baath party since 1971. While most Syrians are Sunni Muslims, the Assads are Alawites, a sect of the Shia Muslim minority. Assad graduated from medical school in 1988 before moving to London. When his brother Bassel died in a car accident in 1994, Assad’s father, Hafez the then President called him home. Bashar al-Assad joined the Syrian military academy, rising through its ranks as he prepared for the presidency. After his father died of a heart attack, in July 2000, Bashar inherited power unchallenged. Bashar was less popular than his younger brother and father and many Syrians viewed him as weak and inept.

Once he took office, he promised political and economic reform. He suppressed the ‘Damascus Spring’, a short lived period of social debate and political activism that followed the death of his father. Over the next decade, people grew disillusioned as Assad increasingly turned Syria into an ever-more draconian police state that cracked down on dissent.

At the beginning of 2011, pro-democracy protests swept across Tunisia and Egypt, in what became known as the Arab Spring. By March the wave of protests reached Syria, sparked by the arrest of young Syrians accused of painting anti-Assad graffiti. Peaceful, anti-government protests spread to other Syrian cities, like Homs, which became known as the “capital of the revolution.” Assad blamed the protests on foreign conspirators whom he said wanted to disrupt the country’s stability. He tried to address the unrest in April by releasing political prisoners and ending 48 years of emergency rule-closing state security courts and allowing peaceful protest.

However, soon Assad turned violent. Soldiers began detaining and firing on protesters, killing thousands of people, according to the UN. The Syrian opposition began to group together and fight back, as internal leaders put pressure on Assad to step down. In January 2012, he vowed to stamp out terrorism and foreign-backed rebels with an iron fist. As civil war dragged on, UN envoy Kofi Annan devised a peace plan. It ultimately failed and he resigned in August 2012. The same month US president Barack Obama warned Assad not to cross the red line of using chemical weapons. The regime was not just carrying at barrel bomb attacks on Syrian rebels. Soon, reports of chemical warfare began to emerge. A UN commission reported three likely chemical weapons attacks by the regime in 2013, the deadliest in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta in August.

Regime forced dropped sarin gas on opposition-held territory; estimates suggested more than 1000 people were killed. The attack pushed the international community to act. In September 2013 Russia and the US struck a deal to ensure Syria would destroy its chemical weapon. The UN announced the program’s completion in June 2014 but later reported that regime chemical attacks had continued. In 2016, a UN investigative team blamed Syria for at least three chemical weapons attacks in 2014 and 2015. Allegations of armed rebel groups carrying out chemical attacks have also surfaced, with right groups accusing both sides of committing war crimes.

Syria had given people reason to worry about chemical weapons for the first time in many years, it had also given rise to a threat potentially far more serious. Assad released known extremists from prison and looked the other way as those jihadis grew more influential. Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front, formed at the beginning of 2012. It gained strong support in Syria and jihadis from Iraq crossed into the country to help. In 2013, some of the Nusra Front joined with Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State in Iraq to form the militant group known as ISIS. From January 2014, ISIS captured cities across Iraq and Syria and announced the establishment of what they called a caliphate, a purported state for the world’s Muslims with its capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Baghdadi declared himself leader of the caliphate. Thousands of foreign citizens flocked to join ISIS. Driven by a kind of medieval theology, ISIS became known for carrying out beheadings and lashings against citizens living in the caliphate, and for its slick propaganda videos showing execution of hostages. The rise of the militant group helped Assad to portray his regime as the lesser of two evils. Syria had seemingly reached the point of no return. The war had contributed to the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Almost 5 million people have fled Syria, around half of them entering Turkey and more than a million entering Lebanon. Another 6.6 million Syrians are internally displaced.

Aid agencies and neighboring countries are still struggling to cope with the fallout. Smugglers receive large sums of money in return for taking desperate Syrians to Europe’s shores. Thousands of refugees have died en route. German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened her country’s borders in summer of 2015, ultimately taking in more than a million asylum seekers that year. After a three-year old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up lifeless on a Turkish beach in September 2015, his photograph was shared around the world. It pushed other European leaders to address the crisis.

Events in Syria soon dragged international powers into the conflict. In early August 2015, Obama authorized airstrikes in Iran to help the Yazidis, a minority Kurdish groups stranded on a mountain after ISIS overran the region. Later that month, ISIS militants murdered American journalist James Foley. Soon after, US led coalition launched airstrikes in Syria. Washington, who had been supporting moderate rebels, now backed the Kurds in northern Syria. They were seen as the most effective fighting force against ISIS. At the same time, the Sunni states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey provided support to Syrian rebels battling Assad. After four years of war, Assad’s military was weakened, but the turning point came in September 2015 when Russia entered the conflict. The regime in Damascus was now supported by Moscow, as well as by Iran giving Assad the upper hand. Moscow began conducting air raids against the opponents of the regime, particularly in the northern city of Aleppo. The US criticized Russia for strikes that killed hundreds of civilians, accusing Moscow of undermining hopes of a ceasefire. The regime soon managed to recapture parts of Aleppo from rebels.

In July 2016, 250,000 people remain trapped under siege in the rebel held eastern districts of the city. Russian jets continued to pound Aleppo, claiming that they were targeting terrorists. In September 2016, Syrian troops along with Shia launched a ground offensive on Aleppo. reports surfaced of regime soldiers carrying out on the spot execution of civilian men, women and children in the city. In December, both sides agreed an evacuation deal, facilitated by Turkey and Russia, and the city fell back under the government control. The recapture of Aleppo was Assad’s most significant victory.

When Donald Trump became president in January 2017, he inherited a problem that had tormented his predecessor. Trump has described Assad as “bad” but has condemned the Obama administration for backing rebels who he says, could be ISIS. Trump has also said he is open to partnering with Moscow to fight the militants.

Abstract

Terrorist groups throughout the world began to form and exercise their religious, political, or ideological goal to commit violent acts. Throughout this assignment, it will note the greatest threat to the United States national security, stability, and development attributed to a terrorist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). ISIS terrorist group have adopted their concept of philosophy and ideology that threatens the whole world through fear that result in bombings, shootings, hijackings, and kidnappings by causing massive casualties, a large-scale of the destruction of property, displacement of a large population of people, and devastating economic loss.

Leadership

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is a terrorist group that derived from Al-Qaida. Islamic leader Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi had personal ties with Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan at the end of the war with the Soviet Union Army. After the result of the war, Al-Zarqawi founded a group named Jamaat al-Tawhid W-l-Jihad (JTWJ) that later became Al-Qaida in Iraq (The Canadian Press, 2015). The J.T.W.J. Organization parted ways from Al-Qaida due to the conflict in strategies and tactics regarding Osama bin Laden. Within one year, Zarqawi established a jihadist training camp in Afghanistan.

The Islamic State is currently an active militant Sunni jihadist group. The J.T.W.J. organization had increased around 2000 to 3000 militants and adopted the lessons of Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi (Leksing, 2016). The reason why the organization changed its name to the ISIS because it had one goal in mind, and that is to take control of territory. The goal was to force a population of people to believe and witness the rise of a unified expansion of Islamic civilization caliphate across the nation. Which means that ISIS enclosed its slogan ‘The Islamic State Remains, The Islamic Expands’ (Jeenah, 2015).

The Islamic State also experienced different leadership within its organization. The following will list the names of ISIS leadership and order of term served, within the militant organization: “Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi served from 2002 until his assassination on June 7, 2006,

Ayub-al Masri served from October 2006 to April 18, 2010, Abu Umar al Baghdadi served fromB 2010 until the present” (Stand ford University, 2018). Leader Baghdadi adopted a new name for the organization and called it the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and al-Sham.

Ideology, Goals & Objectives

ISIS presents the greatest threat to the western world, the United States of America national infrastructure, and non-Muslims. Members of ISIS demand that other jihadist groups accept their supreme authority all over the world. This terrorist organization is more than a network of cells or a militia. It can almost be called an independent Islamic nation because they have their own philosophy and ideology. The ISIS organization have developed a readiness towards an act of violence at any place and at any time. The ISIS organization do not rely on theology to justify its actions but adheres to war with no constraints. The members feel invincible and have no remorse by savagely killing, abducting, beheading and other atrocities to Western captives.

In the eyes of a terrorist, it is acceptable to bring forth violence to the enemy outside the organization. The motivations for joining the Islamic State can vary, and different ethnicity of people who can become radicalized. Individuals may seek an adventure, join to have a sense of belonging, and attracted to the radical ideology (Hong, 2015). The recruits usually come from poverty and reside in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and other parts of the world. Recruits are isolated from their family and friends and sworn to secrecy. In punishment, the only way to leave the group is by a gruesome death.

Isis famous ideology is coming up from “Salafi Jihadist,” meaning the old generation of Islam (Fernando, 2014). According to ISIS, Salafi jihadist is a transnational religious-political ideology based on a belief in violent jihadism. The belief is that ISIS will destroy and harm all things. Here are some highlights of the paraphrased and direct translations:

• It is an obligation to follow Allah’s rule.
• If Muslims prayed daily, but committing acts of adultery, consumed alcohol, or smoke cigarettes they were considered apostate.
• Anyone trying to defend a non-Islamic leader will be called an apostate and killed.
• Ahli al-Kitab (people of the book) and others must bow down to ISIS, and make an agreement to follow ISIS, and then accept every condition from ISIS.
• Believe each abomination is illegal, and taking others broadcast.
• Seventy lashes are given for whoever says the word “Daesh.” (Svirsky, 2015)

Collection and Analysis on ISIS

The role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation domestic counterterrorism and Joint Terrorism Task Force is to investigate terrorist activity. The task force manages law enforcement on all levels to assist with investigating criminal activities by collecting leads, gathering evidence, sharing intelligence, and respond to threats immediately. The federal government is most successful in collecting information on ISIS would be through HUMINT and SIGINT databases.

Many civilians were informants or spies for the United States and Iraqi government who could provide intelligence about ISIS. To collect and analyze on ISIS, the government must rely on leads and monitor various charities who are protecting them. The methods used to obtain information on ISIS militants were to maintain a discrete profile, review photographic and video materials published online, to identify members. In some instances, the government can monitor global daily transactions to search for evidence of terrorist activity.

Terrorist Funding & Capabilities

The ISIS organization rely on funding from local sources and external donations. It is considered the wealthiest terrorist organization in the world. Members have the authority to levy businesses and individuals’ taxes and took over the oilfields under the region it controls. The profit from the oilfields make an estimated million dollars a day generating revenue. Their operational aspect of funding their criminal activities come from extortion, kidnapping, stealing, smuggling, and trafficking offenses to obtain money (Shatz, 2019).

Social media channels, media propaganda, and the military is another way ISIS terrorist organization wheel in its supporters and contributors. The terrorist group ISIS portray themselves to become more actively violent and suggest they are a better investment (in terms of value) than other jihadist groups.

The Vision of ISIS

The United States is continuously under attack by ISIS terrorist organization. The face of terrorism is changing, along with terrorist tactics. Members of ISIS are no longer utilizing their old tactics to apply any future attacks. Besides, members are mastering their tactical patterns with creativity to use in the homeland. Their attacks are more planned (because terrorist lives for the future) will be carried out with more CBRNE and weapons of mass destruction.

The Superbowl 54 is a major impending “hypothetical” location of a future terrorist attack. The event will be held in South Florida in 2020, and the stadium is receiving a significant upgrade in their pitches to the sports league. Americans who currently reside within the United States are aware of this massive event that involves musicians, famous football players, first responders, and the event is expected to fill the stadium with over 500,000 visitors. The event is covered live by entire sports league stations, the media, radio stations, and all social media channels.

As an ISIS leader, I am using social media to recruit people who possess a unique talent and coerce them to visit Syria and Iraq on their own expense. According to Smith (2008), Terrorist organizations such as ISIS prepare for their attacks with surveillance and intelligence gathering relatively near their relative’s homes” (Journal No. 260). For several months, ISIS leader had current militants who were former Americans plan and attack with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) which are called drones. Throughout the day, ISIS members would maneuver the drones by attaching barbells to determine the weight capacity and how long it can maintain at higher distances within the vicinity of the stadium.

The plan is to attack highly sensitive missiles to the drones that contain potent, sulfur-based mustard gas. The missiles and chemicals will weigh nearly the size of a barbell, and up to ten drones can be operated on one remote controller. Terrorist monitored traffic congestion and how the main roads merge with the local expressways to conduct traffic management. There is always a mastermind who orchestrates a “dry run” before the attack is carried out. The Federal Bureau of Investigation received intelligence regarding Americans who became ISIS militants, but they failed to disseminate the information to other agencies within homeland security.

The dry run consists of attending a regular football game to monitor security entrance and exit checkpoints. Monitor how well the security team searches spectators who enter the stadium. The number of beat officers directing traffic in the street, standing stationary on corners, and inside of the stadium. ISIS terrorist group discretely encountered every civilian who appeared to be relaxed, and very inattentive during their daily commute. As a terrorist, they seek vulnerability, easy targets, and those who will get the most publicity.

On Superbowl Sunday, the crowd continuously grew in large numbers throughout the day, enjoying the festivities in the area. The event starts promptly at 2000 hours in military time, but the plan is to deploy the attack at half-time at 2200 hours. ISIS militants stood approximately one to two blocks away and stored over one-hundred drones inside of several rented U-Haul trucks. The group sent a signal via use of hand-held prep radios and ordered the deployment of the drones. The drones flew over the open stadium and fell into the immense crowd of spectators. The spectators thought the drones were a part of the half-time performance. The chemical agent immediately made contact with the spectators causing painful skin blisters on their skin, extreme eye irritation, and swelling, and experienced shortness of breath (Centers for Disease Control, 2018).

First responders were on scene, but unfortunately there were unable to administer any CPR because they too were affected from the chemical attack. Shortly after the drones were released the ISIS militant vanished in the area while innocent bystanders, spectators and first responders ran for their lives. A male witness saw the second deployment of drones falling down on the large crowd of people and ran into the restroom to dial the police. Outside law enforcement agencies received information of a massive terrorist attack and recalled additional personnel, specialized units, and additional resources.

Prior to or during an event, law enforcement should employ more undercover agents and explosive canine dogs who are trained to identify certain threats and suspicious activity. Law enforcement must also think like a terrorist to beat them in their own techniques. Sharp shooters should be used as a disguise on tall buildings to scan and watch, use them as decoy spectators and provide a strong officers presence.

The Department of Homeland Security noted that “local law enforcement plays an important role in preventing and responding to current and future incidents of terrorism within the United States” (Docobo, 2005). There is always a need to provide front line of defense with working updated equipment to locate and apprehend members of the ISIS organization.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the objectives and goals of this assignment has been achieving, which identified how ISIS have a different concept of philosophies and ideologies from other terrorist groups. ISIS philosophy is to build the Islamic State by financially funding their activities, savagely murdering Western Captives, enemies, and outsiders who fail to accept their supreme authority over the world. ISIS militants are very unpredictable, creative, challenging to locate, and have no remorse for their violent behaviors. A future terrorist attack by ISIS shows that the United States intelligence community need to cooperate and share vital information that could have saved lives.

References

1. Centers for Disease Control. (2018). Emergency Preparedness and Response. Facts about Sulfur Mustard Gas. Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from website https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/sulfurmustard/basics/facts.asp
2. Docobo, J. (2005). Homeland Security Affairs. The Journal of the NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security. Vol. XIV. Community Policing as the Primary Prevention Strategy for Homeland Security at the Local Law Enforcement Level. Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from website https://www.hsaj.org/articles/183
3. Fernando PM Tambunan. 2014. “Sejarah dan Ideologi ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Sham)”. Jakarta, Indonesia: Kajian Ketahanan Nasonal, Kekhususan Kajian Stratejik Intelijen, Program Pascasarjana, Universiti Indonesia, Jakarta.
4. Hong, N. (2015). America’s Terror Recruits—lack of common profile for those drawn to join Islamic state poses a challenge for authorities. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from APUS Learning website https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/1660875701?accountid=8289
5. Jeenah, N. (2015). Book Review. The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution, South African Journal International Affairs. Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from Academia learning website http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10220461.2015.1066708
6. Leksing, T. (2016). The Concept of Islamic State According to Islamic Perspective and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Ideology: A Comparative Study. Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, 1(2). Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from website https://www.academia.edu/19997038/
7. The Canadian Press. (2015). ISIS, ISIL, Daesh: A primer on why the terrorist group’s name keeps changing. Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from APUS learning website https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/1734905708?accountid=8289
8. Shatz, H. (2019). Follow the Money. How the United States Can Counteract the Islamic State’s Plans for a Comeback. Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from website https://www.rand.org/news/press/2019/08/08.html
9. Smith, B. (2008). National Institute of Justice. A Look at Terrorist Behavior: How They Prepare, Where They Strike? Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from website https://nij.gov/journals/260/Pages/terrorist-behavior.aspx
10. Standford University. (2018). Mapping Militant Organizations. “The Islamic State” Retrieved on August 21, 2019, from website https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/islamic-state
11. Svirsky, M. (2015). 12 Rules for Living Under ISIS: Follow or Be Killed. Clarion Project. Islamic State, News. Retrieved on August 24, 2019, from website https://clarionproject.org/rules-living-under-isis-follow-or-be-killed-25/

Brief History

ISIS started as a group with allegiance to Al-qaeda following the 2003 Iraq invasion led by the USA, being referred to as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad by its Salafi Jihadist leader Abu Musab al-zurqawi upon its birth in 1999.

When al-zarqawi swore allegiance to Bin Laden’s al Qaeda, it became widely known as Al Qaeda in Iraq all though this was never its official name , attacks on government forces, foreign soldiers and diplomats and also civilians continued throughout the Iraq war until its merging with the Mujahideen Shura Council, in an apparent attempt to distance AQI from a string of tactical errors on the part of al-Zarqawi.

In 2006 the MSC united with a number of other tribes in order to make the Mitayibeen Coalition with the aim of helping Sunnis escape oppression from Shi’ites and crusader occupiers (presumably western forces), now becoming ISI, the Islamic state of Iraq.

By 2008 ISI described itself as in a period of “extraordinary crisis” most likely due to a large surge in US troops in Iraq in 2007.

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was named the new leader of ISI in 2010 and recruited a number of intelligence officers who served under Saddam Hussein, and in August 2011 following escalation in violence and the outbreak of the civil war, experienced Iraqi members were being sent over the border into Syria to establish a presence for the caliphate under the name of “al nusra front”.

On April 8th 2013 al-baghdadi announced that ISI and Al-qaeda were merging into ISIL,also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and The Levant, however this was met with dispute by Ayman al-Zawahiri the then leader of Al Qaeda. Proclaiming itself a caliphate in 2014, this demanded its political, miltary and religious to be respected internationally by all of Islam. Despite the idea of its existence as a territorial caliphate and its naming of Islamic state, states and mainstream muslim groups worldwide have violently rejected its existence as a state, including the UN.

ISIS continued in the struggle for sunni strongholds in Syria and Iraq whilst holding Raqqa as its capital up until 2017, when it lost cities of significant including Palmyra, Raqqa, Fallujah and Mosul. After ISIL’s significant losses in 2017 politicians including Britain Chief of General Staff Mark Carleton Smith acknowledged the destruction of the “geography of the so called caliphate”. Donald Trump’s declaration of ISIL’s defeat, and his subsequent withdrawal from the region was answered with disagreement by other western leaders, alongside claims his withdrawal may in fact go on to “jeopardize successes already achieved.

Isis continues to recruit foreign fighters, many from the Western World, however in early 2019 Abu Bakr al Baghdadi boasted of new oaths of allegiance made by groups in territories around Africa and Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, illustrating ISIL’s future intentions in regard to expansion, whilst simultaneously refuting rumours surrounding his death.

In late October 2019, The United States Special Forces branch commonly known as Delta Force led a raid in the Idlib province of Syria, after cornering Al-Baghdadi in a tunnel with the help of military canines, he killed himself by way of an explosive suicide vest. He is said to have killed two of his own children along with himself.

Days after Abubakr al-Baghdadi’s death the propaganda department of ISIS announced that Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi would be succeeding him as leader of the caliphate, he is described by Western media as someone who has been described as being religiously educated and experienced commander of war.

Structure/Leadership

Almost all of ISIL’s military, and intelligence leaders, and most of its council members and emirs, are former members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath regime which was toppled, leaving them without jobs or pensions.

ISIL is headed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is the self proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State, he is advised by a cabinet of senior leaders whilst provincial matters in Syria and Iraq are controlled by local Emirs, who head autonomous groups referred to as provinces.

Beneath all of these are councils on a range of matters, from Intelligence, security and the media, to military matters, justice (including executions) and helping foreign fighters.

Aside from these councils is a consultation, or ‘shura’ that has the job of making sure that the decisions made by all of the above comply with ISIL’s interpretation of sharia law. Despite asking in sermons for his followers to advise him if he hesitates, al-Baghdadi makes sure that “any threat, opposition or even contradiction is instantly eradicated”. (Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium via CNN).

Despite complaints of foreign fighters being treated more favourably than native Syrians, it has been reported that Iraqis and Syrians are given greater precedence over foreigners within ISIL’s ranks as the group requires the loyalty of local sunni populations in order for the group to survive.

In recent years there have also been reports that the group contains a multi-level secret service known as “Emni”, that is made up of a domestic/external operations directorate and also an internal police force.

Ideology

ISIL is a theocracy, this is a system of government in which its agents rule in the name of God, The Islamic state is also neither fully institutionalized or autonomous, making it a quasi, or proto-state. Western media reports state that all 12 of the judges who run the court system in Raqqa are Saudis, furthermore Saudi practices such as the enforced attendance at Salat prayers by religious Police, the destruction of any non-sunni religious buildings and also the wide use of capital punishments are all followed within the so called Islamic state.

The group promotes the use of violence in the name of Islam, however it regards any Muslims who disagree with its religious standings as apostates or non believers (infidels), this includes the Gaza based Sunni group Hamas, who they see as having no legitimate claim to lead Jihad, ISIL followers also see defeating Hamas as their first step toward confronting and eventually defeating the state of Israel.

Religiously it is a Wahhabi group, wahhabism is typically described as a radically conservative, puritanical form of Islam that aims to restore monotheistic worship by followers. Although the terms Salafi and Wahhabi have recently started to become used interchangeably, it Wahhabism has also been described as an ultra-conservative, Saudi Brand of Salafism (Teti).

The Black flag of ISIS is seen to represent their philosophy, as this version of Muhammed’s battle flag in a white circle, reading above it “There is no god but Allah” has been said to present the Group’s intention to restore the caliphate of early Islam, with all the implied religious and political ramifications, whilst condeming the later ones, and the Ottoman Empire in for deviating from what it considers “pure” Islam.

Strategy

Documents obtained after the death of a former Iraqi intelligence service officials who were regularly described as masterminding ISIL’s strategy showed plans to takeover the North of Syria which would later make possible the groups movements into Iraq. These documents detailed how the infiltration of towns and villages would be carried out using spies who would determine who lived in them, the religious details of all families, more importantly the Imams as well. It is said that in Raqqa following the defeat of Syrian Government forces “first dozens and then hundreds of people disappeared.

Jason Burke, whilst writing on Salafism, wrote that the group’s goal is to “terrorize, mobilize and polarize”. It also tries to mobilise support by gaining favour through large attacks deep in Western territory such as the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015, and to polarise Muslims, especially in the West away from their governments, Increasing the caliphate’s appeal, eliminating neutral parties by eliminating them or absorbing them.

The book named “A management of savagery” written by Abu Bakr Naji which describes the key three stages of Jihad (vexation, administration of savagery and lastly empowerment) is said to to have been followed by The Islamic State of Syria and The Levant ( Jamestown Foundation), be it in their online propaganda magazine, or in East Africa in states such as Somalia and Yemen.

Success/Prospects Evaluation

Following the death of Al-Baghdadi, the worldwide danger of ISIS still remains due to the fact that the succession of a leader was already arranged, ISIS will continue to exist across the world as a guerilla fighting organisation, albeit decentralized due to the death of its leader. It is important to note that hundreds of thousands of foreign fighters travelled to live in the Islamic state and pledged their lives to Baghdadi, as to many he symbolised the long awaited return of Islam, however now due to it’s decentralized nature and lack of a widespread, expansive territory, the dream of a caliphate governing an expansive territory is no more.