By now, especially with the recent attacks on Paris, we’ve all at least heard of “ISIS”. But many of us, including myself until recently, weren’t really sure what these bad guys were all about and how they started up. So here is a quick guide to the problem in Syria, which will hopefully start you on the path to educating yourself on what exactly is going on and what we as Americans should be concerned about.
The Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, or IS): a militant Islamist group. Well known for their disturbing beheadings of Western hostages, these extremists have taken over most of Northern Iraq and have moved into Syria. They gained attention when going into Syria to fight the Assad regime.
When we went into Iraq after 9/11, we overthrew their horrible leader, Saddam Hussein, while leaving behind a power vacuum. Many people don’t realize that when we were there, the otherwise functioning Iraqi society was pretty much destroyed by war. The conditions created allowed ISIS to start, with no real government system and much chaos going on.
In 2006, ISIS began as a small group in Iraq with very little money and no real ability to recruit members. In 2009, they decided to focus on the civil war in Syria, having not gained much success in Iraq. There, the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, was being fought against by two groups: the Free Syrian Army and Al-Qaeda, who we know is an extremist group founded by Osama bin Laden and was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. In June 2013, a general for the Syrian army put out a statement asking for help from international forces, saying that they would lose their war if help wasn’t provided. Within weeks, The United States, along with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan and Israel began providing training, money, and weapons to the Free Syrian Army to help them overthrow President Assad.
Less than one year later, the majority of these weapons, intended for Syrian Army fighters, would end up in the hands of ISIS. Many of the weaponry and equipment that our US forces left behind while fighting there also ended up in the hands of ISIS. Whether through selling weapons, recruiting members, or sending fighters to join, many Syrian Army fighters became part this new group, The Islamic State. In June of 2014, ISIS emerged heavily armed and well trained, moving back into Iraq and taking over most of the Northern part of the country.
Currently, ISIS is the best funded and most equipped terrorist group in the world, owning and selling much of the oil in the Middle East. Their main aim is to take over Syria and Iraq, and become the leading Islamic terrorist group in the world. Also, their aim is to start an Islamic caliphate, a form of government led by a caliph, a political and religious successor to Muhammad who would basically rule the entire Muslim community. What they want is to instill fear in all of us, especially in citizens of Iraq and Syria, hoping to gain members by making Muslims feel that they have nowhere else to turn but to ISIS. That’s why there’s been such a push not to make Syrians feel singled out and to help them, other than of course humanitarian reasons.
Here is another very informative video on the Syrian refugee crisis, another big issue in our US politics right now: Check it out here
Hopefully now you’re a bit more educated on the situation after watching these videos and learning about the origin of ISIS. Obviously this a very complicated and complex situation that is constantly changing, so I encourage you to stay updated and keep learning more about it so that you’re more knowledgeable about these important world issues.