"The Islamic State,[1] previously Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (or ISIL), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (or ISIS), and, before that the Islamic State in Iraq (they really like changing their name[2] is a Jihadist terrorist group operating in Iraq and Syria claiming to be a Caliphate. Founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, it grew out of al-Qaeda in Iraq[3] (formerly the "Group for Monotheism and Jihad") after its split and rebuke by al-Qaeda commanders in April 2013[4] for excess brutality. The group continues to hold its designation as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States Department of State.[5] Its current leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,[6] said to be a former member of the Fedayeen Saddam,[wp] was broken out of Abu Ghraib prison in July 2013 by ISIL along with several hundred experienced jihadists.[7] On June 30, 2014 they declared a Sunni caliphate with Baghdadi as the
“Commander of the Faithful,” a term essentially declaring him leader of all Muslims.
They truly rose as a powerful clique during the ongoing Syrian civil war. They carved out an enormous swathe of territory between Syria and Iraq, including weapons abandoned by fleeing soldiers, banks, money - everything that makes them, effectively, Al Qaeda on steroids. It is responsible for ethnic cleansing of all sects they disagree with, as well as consistent civilian causalities in their quest for power. They give all civilians the option of forced conversion to their particular interpretation of Islam, to be extorted, or death. Sometimes they execute converts as a way to keep them pure. The brutality is such that an entire group of people absolutely no one heard of before August of 2014 (well, kinda), the Yazidis, are at risk of genocide.
This page will be updated as the situation unfolds. In the meantime, rest assured that they are bad news. Unlike most terrorist organizations, ISIS has been documented to be well-funded and it's fanatical soldiers are said to be surprisingly competent fighters who are "very professional, well trained, motivated and equipped. They operate like a state with a military."[8] So bad, in fact, that the US, Russia, Syria, Iran, the Kurdish nationalists of Iraq and Syria, and the Kurdish Communists of the PKK are all cooperating against them. Indeed, their own members have left, disaffected by the degree of extremism; even al-Nusra Front, which uses child soldiers, split with them and began fighting them (they still want to kill you too, though). When they do eventually fall apart, the cause will be clear." -ISIS/Islamic State via Rational Wiki
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/ISIS
No comments:
Post a Comment