Meaning of ISIS

The name ISIS is an acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and SUNNI. The group has succeeded in attacking and establishing its territories in Iraq and Saudi Arabia (Haykel 2016, 71). Due to its destructive nature in the Islamic states the UN, has labeled it as a terrorist group. The leader of the group is a Sunni named Ibrahim Al. He had been held prisoner by the US for four years up to 2009. ISIS has managed to seize weapons that belonged to the US army. They have attacked military bases where they stolen equipments. They have acquired grenades and missiles. They captured 30 T-55 tanks from the 93rd brigade camp and other ammunitions that they used to attack different countries (Kumar 2015, 345). They have taken over the Iraq army and forced some soldiers to fight in their camp. The army travels by foot and only emergency attacks are made on public roads means. They have captured aircrafts from Syria that they have used to launch attacks. The ammunition is hidden in three countries depending on proximity of the planned attack. The number of fighters has been estimated to over 30,000 (Brendan 2018, 3). They have conducted thefts including banks robbing that have been used to make the organization self sufficient.

Organization History

  Saddam Hussein ran Iraq as an independent country. The country operated normally with a leadership system (Rosenfeld 2012, 13). The only difference was the open operations of the Al-Qaeda group. The US operations in Iraq in the search of Hussein caused a leadership crisis. There was political unrest as Iraq had no leader. ISIS was formed in 2006 as a group with few individual that caused trouble for the US military (Zakary 2016, 81). The group gained power and money in 2013 after it acquired the weapons sent to help the Syrian opposition overthrow the government. In mid 2014, ISIS took over the northern part of Iraq. By this time the group had expanded since they had weapons at their disposal. The founders of ISIS are said to have defected from Al-Qaeda group (Rosenfeld 2012, 14). The group has conquered many towns in Iraq and Syria that are now ruled and controlled by them. 

ISIS started as a broke group but they have since made a lot of money and they are able to purchase expensive weapons. The groups funding is from different channels including levying taxes, oil and extortion (Wiegel 2013, 180). They now control the best oil mines in Syria and Iraq. The group has police who govern every town that they take over. They insist that all Islamic laws are followed in their areas. Strict laws and curfews are imposed on the residents. Currently, the group is said to be recruiting fighters from all over the world (Brendan 2018, 21). They have managed to capture weapons meant for other groups. The group has taken over some equipment from US and Syria. The group has managed to attract a large following in Iraq and Syria. ISIS aims at transforming the Middle East in to one nation. They have enforced their ideologies in all their caliphates (Haykel 2016, 73). ISIS uses untrained suicide bombers who are brain washed in to believing that bombing is for a good cause.  

Primary opponents to the organization

The organization faces different opponents. They have opponents from fellow organizations. The Al-Qaeda has openly disowned them stating that their activities are extreme (Brendan 2018, 16). They differ with their methods of conquering areas and the burden that they impose on citizens. According to the Islamic law, one should not oppress their neighbor. The taxes levied on individuals are a form of direct oppression. Small organizations that dare steal equipment of the organization are also a major threat (Kumar 2015, 349). Although ISIS has managed to absorb these rebellious groups, some perform attacks in their names thus triggering their enemies. 

The major opponent is the US military. ISIS has not directly attacked the US but it has continuously threatened them (Kumar 2015, 350). The US has invested many resources and weapons in the fight against ISIS. They have referred to them as a global enemy. They have launched attacks on the training centers. In collaboration with other countries including the UK they have launched equipments like brimstone that are set to fight any attacks from the ISIS. India has considered membership to ISIS as illegal and punishable by the law. They blocked ISIS website that acted as recruiting points for youths. The US aims at returning political sanity to Iraq since there has been unrest since the passing on of Saddam Hussein (Haykel 2016). The unrest and robberies have raised international concern. 

Another opponent is the Iraq and Syria leadership. Some leaders from these countries are working with the US to get rid of ISIS (Haykel 2016, 76). They have set up global campaigns and declared the groups illegal and inhuman. Initially Syria is said to have supported ISIS and even offered them military help. The rise of bombings and attacks has since changed their stand. The intervention of US which is considered a super power has threatened them. The US is working with to form a government in Iraq that will help defeat the organization (Kumar 2015, 351). The goal of the ISIS is to establish an empire like the Ottoman Empire; the countries are opposed to this move as it will serve as a backlash to their long enjoyed political freedom.

The rise of digital forums against the ISIS has served them a blow. The group exposes thee countries that have supported the activities of the organization. Although they have their own cyber group they risk attack from the opponent digital forums. The groups have launched a campaign against the ISIS digital platform (Rosenfeld 2012, 24). They have used twitter as a platform to launch and announce their operations; hash tags against them have been fast spread. The digital opponents have read encrypted messages to member groups and have translated them to help in the fight against the group (Wiegel 2013, 184). The continued sensitization of the group’s activities on social media has reduced recruiting. The most recent study was a study that was conducted to establish the amount of support that ISIS has in the world. The ratio was 2:9 which translates to 2 supporters out of 11 people who participated in the survey. 

Another opponent of the group is the Syrian and Iraq airstrikes which was at removing the ISIS militias from Irbil. The campaign was coordinated by the US Air Force with the assistance of Iraq and Syrian governments (Wiegel 2013, 183). The first air strike was launched on August 2014. Since then US has conducted more than two hundred air strikes. These airstrikes are aimed at protecting the US army and citizens living in Irbil. Further, these airstrikes were aimed at facilitating evacuation of Mouth Sinjar victims. The US participation in these airstrikes was successful because Iraq and Kurdish forces were willing to participate in fighting the ISIS (Haykel 2016, 78). The forces also participated in the counter attacks of protecting the Mosul dam which was an ISIS territory. US and ally countries have continued to launch intelligence and surveillance missions to counter attacks from the militias.

According to Brendan, the main aim of the airstrikes is to destroy ISIS through an effective counterterrorism plan (Brendan 2018, 43). The researcher continues to note that airstrikes in Iraq and Syria is an essential strategy since it will help the forces at the ground and boarders. However the US president insisted that the country was not ready to engage it military on ground combat. The president noted that the US would not hesitate in attacking the militia.

Deception efforts of ISIS

ISIS has organized its activities in such a way that its activities are military based. Kumar notes that ISIS has stopped carrying out terrorist’s attacks and developed military strategies (Brendan 2018, 45). The military activities are organized in battalions which have been placed in different places. This strategy is different from the strategies used by other terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida. The terrorist group has attacked Iraq and Syrian military forces in battalions aimed at taking over towns and then building their territories. ISIS adapted this strategy from the American force. In 2006, US military had used the clear and hold strategy in fighting the Sunni insurgency (Kumar 2015, 346). The ISIS uses this strategy by making surprise attacks and causing many victims. The strategy is also effective because it spreads fear among the residents of the target zones. Once the militia have attacked the zones in combat groups and cause fear, the residents free from the zones. This strategy is effective because it has a limited number of casualties. Therefore, the use of military combat is the most effective deception effort that creates an unstable environment.

Secondly, ISIS has effective machinery and fire skills that make their attack effective (Brendan 2018, 43).The militia group can make a land and air attack against Iraq airbases. It can also attack other cities such as Baghdad by use of medium range weapons. ISIS recent activities have been aimed at attacking green zones that have maximum protection. In mid 2014, ISIS and Al-Qaida launched an attack against the Iraq forces. The growth of this group is a result of its appealing nature that attracts young converts. 

Further, ISIS has become successful because of its tactical capabilities. The group is led by individuals with military experience. According to (Zakary 2016, 88), ISIS thrives because it is expertly led by leaders who have previously held military positions.  The group’s military attacks in Syria is always successful because it uses more sophisticated strategy that the government militaries. These planned attacks have extended to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan countries. Recent reports have indicated that ISIS has started operations in Gulf countries (Kumar 2015, 351). The Saudi Arabian government has thus vowed to participate in counterterrorism attacks against ISIS.

In conclusion, ISIS has successful military and political strategies, which enables it to succeed in its attacks. The group has proved to be a threat to the US. It has succeeded in doing away with many boundaries in the Middle East. The group has been marked as a global jihadist. Its ideologies are aimed at destroying the modern governments. ISIS has also escalated the civil wars in Middle East. It has also threatened to attack gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and Israel. The threats against the US are also real. The US has developed intelligence with Middle East countries in order to counter the threats. Military officials have noted that this relationship is effective in rebuilding stability caused by ISIS. 

                                                            References

Brendan, January. ISIS: The Global Face of Terrorrism. USA: Twenty First Century Books, 2018.

Haykel, Bernard. “ISIS and Al-Qaeda-What Are They Thinking? Understanding the Adversary.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2016: 71-81.

Kumar, Chanchal. “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) a Global Threat: International Stratergy to Counter the Threat.” Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2015: 345-353.

Rosenfeld, J E. Terrorism, Identity and Legitimacy: The Four Wave Theory and Political Violence. London: Routledge, 2012.

Wiegel, Clauset A. “A Generalized Aggregation-disintegration Model for the Frequency of Severe Terrorist Attacks.” Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2013: 179-197.

Zakary, Robert Watson. “A Model for Terror: The Islamic State.” Journal of Homeland and National Security Perspectives , 2016: 80- 102.