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War Against ISIS

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The War Against ISIS
Ahmed Sheikhahmed
Southern New Hampshire University

Background Description of how the War against ISIS Began
ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) is a terrorist group that has the objective of forming a caliphate (Islamic State) in territories stretching from Syria to Turkey, to Lebanon, to Egypt, and to Jordan, if not beyond (Blaise & Jessica, 2014). The group started in 2004 as al-Qaeda in Iraq after which it rebranded itself to ISIS two years later. The group was an ally of Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda and had similar ideologies. The war against ISIS began after the group started radicalization and terrorist activities, by capturing swathes of lands in Syria and Iraq. The group was formed out …show more content…
Consequently, the alienated Sunnis became angry and disillusioned with Maliki’s government and unwilling to fight against the militants. Worse than that, many of them had even begun supporting Islamic State in combating against the Shia-dominated central government. However, unlike al-Qaeda, which turns against the group in 2014, ISIS has demonstrated to be brutal and efficient at controlling and governing the territories it has conquered. The Islamic State’s scheme for revenue includes taxes, ransom from kidnapping, smuggling and oil production, extortion, selling stolen artifacts, and controlling of …show more content…
The dominance of the extremist group has theoretical implications for the stability and security of the region. It highlighted how unsettled and fractured the Middle East is and threatens to trigger a wider sectarian conflict.

Threats of US/EU fighters

Government officials worry so much that some Europeans or Americans fighting for the jihadist group might one day return to the U.S to carry out attacks, though this is yet to happen, and might not happen. While the United State government considers the threat from the jihadist group as serious, they are not precisely sure of the credible threat from the Islamic State to their homeland.

Conclusion

During the research, I intend to gather information using both primary and secondary sources. For my primary sources, I will rely on historical books such as “Isis: The State of Terror” by Stern and Berger. This historical book has information regarding the sources of revenue for ISIS, and the penalties for the group’s criminal engagements. For the secondary sources, magazines such as the New York Times will provide rich information. For instance, the contents of the work, “Books of The Times” by Michiko Kakutani have useful information regarding the threats, and the principal motive of the group and as well, how to counter Islamic State

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