...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...
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...East is facing one of the worst terror crises the world has ever seen. The large terrorist organization called ISIS has grown very powerful and has the potential to be unstoppable. ISIS is not only trying to control large territories, it is also the biggest terrorist group of all time. Moreover, the chaos they have created has startled Russia and has made Vladimir Putin concerned. Russia has inclined itself to help these western nations with the fight against ISIS. Western nations cannot defeat ISIS without Russia’s help because Russia is the only committed nation with the capability of taking on ISIS, a large part of western nations are unassertive about declaring war on ISIS, and ISIS has taken over a large majority of territory....
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...A long time ago there was this legend and it was about this war hero that was at war. His name was Matt who had a sid man named Willy. There were shots everywhere, Isis had no clue I was there. I had people below me and I was trying to make their rout safer. I had about 140 kills which is more kill than all 12 snipers had. I was 3 weeks away from going home and I had to stay there and keep watch. My men keep getting shot from a sniper and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I finally had people watch and see where it was coming from. I got told it wa coming from the North. He shot and it was from the totally different direction. I turned around and I was looking around for him but couldn't find him. It got dark and we had to call...
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...Why the U.S. Must Declare War on ISIS By now, we have all heard of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, better known as ISIS. ISIS has established itself as a lethal threat to America and all of its allies. It is my belief, along with many other Americans, that our government must declare war on the rising jihadist terror group. They control much of the Middle East’s land resources, hold countless Christian and other Western hostages, and are using sly manipulation to draw in recruits from America, the United Kingdom, and other such countries. ISIS must be quickly exterminated. To begin with, ISIS has seized control of the majority of Iraq and Syria. ISIS began as an offspring of al Qaeda, but was disowned by the group for being too brutal; they went over the limits of the best known terror group to date! According to CNN, ISIS’ government is similar to those of Western countries they oppose “if you take away the democracy and add in a council to consider who should be beheaded.” They have now overthrown Iraq’s second-largest city and control over half of Syria’s oil because of the city of Raqqa. From there, they sell oil on the black market and make an expected three million dollars per day. Raqqa is also ISIS’ capitol. This city is key to...
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...American blood in the hands of ISIS, should the United States invade Iraq to stop them? Many people say we definitely should, while others are thinking of the bigger picture. The United States invaded Iraq once already; are we ready to do it again? I believe we shouldn’t get caught up in the situation and do things we aren’t prepared for. I do believe however that the United States should maintain military pressure on ISIS in order to discourage further expansion rather than a full scale invasion of the Middle East. A full scale invasion would put the U.S. in a similar position as 10 years ago. The United States should not intervene with the ISIS Crisis in the Middle East because of the extreme cost and to preserve American...
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...War is a tricky subject, and in this case after the attacks from ISIS on our embassy’s, after the attacks on American civilians, we still cannot go to war according to Just War Theory and our moral values, as badly as the American people may want to go to war, we cannot and must not engage ISIS militarily with a full standing army, we have to punish them in other ways. Just War Theory is conducted in three parts, the initiation of war, known as jus ad bellum, the conducting of the war itself, jus in bello, and finally the aftermath of war, known as, jus post bellum (Moser and McDonald, 2016a). Jus ad bellum is the initiation of war and it states that war must have a just cause and that war must be taken by a legitimate authority, and in this situation, both of the characteristics mentioned previously are present. Yes, we have a just cause, and yes, the United States is a legitimate authority. However, we need to look at everything about jus ad bellum, “armed conflict is taken as a ‘“last resort’” and all other means have been exhausted.” Let us not forget that “a just war requires a “‘right intention”’ and to not be motivated by aggression” (Moser and McDonald, 2016a). In this situation, the American...
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...keep fighting the militant group known as ISIS, but shouldn't do more than air power. While troops are on the ground there is a greater chance that ISIS can get hold of more U.S. troops and kill them. There have been over 10,000 ISIS fighters killed, but still that has barely made a dent in the amount of fighters they have. It is too much of a risk to send U.S. troops on the ground, so that should be left as a last resort. The normative principle I am arguing is the just war theory. The idea that violence can be justified under certain criteria. The seven pieces of criteria are just cause, last resort, announcement of intention, reasonable hope of success, proportionality, right intention and just conduct. Each of these will be described in deeper meaning throughout this paper. Also in this paper, I will be explaining how the different criteria help in deciding what is considered just. The first criteria is the Just Cause, stating the war must be justified by the right reason. The right reason in this case being the defense of one’s self and others. The war against ISIS meets this criteria because ISIS...
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...Why the United States is losing the Information War Matt Apel CMR 592 Howard Kleinberg Introduction Cyber Warfare and cyber security have been on the rise for several years now. However, when these topics are discussed amongst government officials, business owners, and civilians the focus has been assaults on personal privacy, hacking into government computers systems, and denial of services. Rarely, is the focus on how armed groups and terrorist organizations are using Information Operations (social media and propaganda) to affect political, economic, and social systems all over the world. Information Operations is defined as, The integrated employment of the core capabilities of electronic warfare, computer network operations, psychological operations, military deception and operations security, in concert with specified supporting and related capabilities, to influence, disrupt, corrupt or usurp adversarial human and automated decision making while protecting our own. Also called IO (Air University 2006). Former Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) member Rand Waltzman states, “I recently concluded a $50 million program, Social Media in Strategic Communication, which led to the release of more than 200 publications and to the creation of a science of social media. What we learned is that “bullsh..t” is a weapon that is being used worldwide to fundamentally attack the medium of the press, and that the issue of freedom of the press is, in fact, a diversion....
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...com/news/world-middle-east-24179084 Showing how ISIS came to be through Al-Qaeda and who the leader is. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the leader of ISIS but much is not known about his life before joining. Claims of ISIS members stretching to Western Europe and the US. Showing how much success ISIS had early on and the first time ISIS got widespread coverage after an attack in June of 2013. Comments on the threat to Iraq second largest city and the region as a whole. Goes on to list how ISIS is being funded in the surrounding area. Then goes on to list the fighting between various rebel groups in the region and the path ISIS has taken and the cities conquered. BBC is well known, well trusted source in reading and following stories from around the world. ISIS Fast Facts — CNN.com. (2015, February 27). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/isis-fast-facts/ Starts with various pictures of ISIS and the bad things they do. The article focuses on the facts behind ISIS. In the past decade leading up to where we are today. A good source for finding a quick comprehensive list for catching up on the story. CNN is well known also and the statistics and facts can be checked. Unfortunately a good, majority of the facts can be found elsewhere. Vartanian, H. (2014, July 9). ISIS Destroys Historic Sites in Iraq and Syria. Retrieved March 16, 2015, from http://hyperallergic.com/136800/isis-destroys-historic-sites-in-iraq-and-syria/ The video of ISIS destroying artifacts of antiquity...
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...the Muslim faith. The battles that have lasting since the 1980’s as well as the involvement of external factors has shaped the socio-political structure of the Middle-East and has granted rise to various militant groups. The main focus of this paper will be spent on the Rise of the Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution. The paper will provide an analysis on the events based off the depictions provided by Cockburn, a war reporter from the inside of Iraq and Syria. Providing this point of view inside Iraq and Syria illustrates the corruption of governments, abuses of power and media deception. Cockburn starts off the first chapter with talking about the fall of Fallujah in January of 2014. This being a big victory for ISIS as Fallujah is located only forty miles from Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. He explains that the “war on terror” is failing since 9/11 and gives a prime example of President Obama asking for five-hundred million dollars to train the Syrian opposition and arm them with the proper equipment. This equipment however would end up in the hands of ISIS and be a key component to their victories. US allies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar also provided weapons for the war that ended up in the hands of the enemy. Another major point the author talks about in chapter one is that the United States is potentially fighting the wrong enemy over the events on September 11th, 2001. Cockburn states that funding for 9/11 came from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Monarchies...
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...missions oversees. Instead of focusing on domestic issues the government is still giving most of its attention internationally. While the country is having its own problems and terrorist attacks. The Defense Department on the other hand cannot be ready for future engagements. They have too many missions already to handle and anymore with the limited funds they have will run them down. The armed forces are already advanced, but with the constraints on them soon with the budget. The Armed Forces may lose any advantage they once had. The Defense Department will have too much on their plates if they have anymore missions added to the already full agenda. ISIS will be the biggest engagement if the country decides to declare war. The government will need to either increase the budget for war or keep the budget and slowly build into war without using full force. However, it is possible for them to take on the new responsibility if given time, but there will be a lot of pressure against the time needed to adjust. The country and people will expect them to be ready even if they’re...
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...Should the US put boots on the grounds in their attempts at defeating the Islamic state? The humanitarian catastrophe created by Sunni jihadist rebels; publicised as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has necessitated a military intervention by the US. The extremist group aims to create a worldwide caliphate where Muslims will unite under Sharia Law and ‘’challenge, and ultimately conquer, the West’’ (Brandon, 2006). There has been much debate as to whether the US should authorize the use of military ground forces due to the atrocities against civilians and barbaric killings against soldiers and journalists. However this essay contends, that despite the actions perpetrated by this terrorist group, a war will not put an end to the caliphate, therefore the US should not seek to put boots on the ground in attempts at defeating the Islamic extremists. It is right to say that the actions of jihadists cannot go unpunished, but the US putting boots on the ground will not defeat the Islamic state. If one understands the reason as to why the terrorists are obligated to what they do, then it is clear to acknowledge that a war will not stop them. As globalization spreads and societies become increasingly interconnected, Muslims have a choice; accept western beliefs to better integrate or preserve their spiritual purity by rebelling (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2011, p. 371) And this is why for many years, Muslims have fought...
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...ISIS Introduction: ISIS is a terrorist group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. It began as the Iraqi chapter of Al Qaeda. But the two groups always had disagreements, and ISIS broke away in 2014. Now ISIS and Al Qaeda compete for influence and recruits. In 2011, a civil war broke out in Syria in response to efforts to overthrow dictator Bashar al-Assad. ISIS quickly took advantage of the chaos. The group now controls a vast territory in Syria and Iraq. They’ve become one of the largest, most successful, and most violent groups operating in Syria and Iraq. They execute prisoners of war, enslave minorities. ISIS funds itself by selling oil, extracting taxes, and extortion. Until recently, ISIS has focused on consolidating and expanding its territory. But it seems to be shifting its focus to attacks outside Iraq and Syria. ISIS is good for Global Economy: Overview of Turkey(1): Reports that Turkey has almost doubled its exports to Syria after ISIS stepped up its control of border crossings has focused attention once more on the relationship between Turkey and ISIS gangs. ‘Co-operation’ between ISIS and Turkey led to a 99% increase in Turkish exports to Syria in the month of August, with the country jumping 10 places to 33rd most important export market. While in the first 8 months of last year(2014)Turkish exports to Syria totalled $574 million, this year that figure rose to $903 million. Since the town of Azaz near the Kilis border passed under the control...
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...Norwich University FIRST DRAFT SOCI 401A Culture and Anthropology February 16, 2016 Tracey Poirier Source: The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP).), Jan, 2016. “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles“ –– Sun Tzu, Chinese philosopher and military strategist, around 500 BC. “Our terrorism against America is blessed terrorism.” –– Osama bin Laden (on video) “The acme of this religion is jihad.” — Osama bin Laden (Bergen, 2001, p. 41) Many have asked, “what can we do to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)? ” There have been a variety of suggestions from airstrikes, isolation , establishing a national unity government in Iraq to the feasibility of a counter-offensive using 'local' militia's and only as a last resort U.S. Boots on the ground. These are all worthy ideas; however, it is imperative to get a fundamental understanding of what has caused this problem because ISIS is growing and becoming stronger (even though current air strikes and counter-offensives have been successful). Before a decision can be made a rigorous analysis is necessary, a sociological analysis, so that the United States and the rest of the world can determine what must be done regarding ISIS and why. (Thesis): This paper will argue that the challenge of removing IS lies in our ability to understand and realize that the terror group’s appeal is not its alleged...
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...Dominic DeBona Professor Giordano POL 105 15 March 2016 National Security National security has been an extensive ongoing issue, but it has only increased since the brutal attacks of September 11th, 2001. The war on terrorism has been dealt with since then but not as efficient as people want. Immigration has a big role in the war on terrorism as the country is unaware of certain people entering this country with the intent of performing acts of terror. With that being seen in this country too often now, the idea of closing the borders may not be the worst idea this government has ever had. Of course an extreme idea like that can lead to further issues but can also provide the country with the time to sit down and reflect on what can be done better in the future to avoid these circumstances. The people of this country might not have the best course of action to solve this issue but the government needs to work hard to fix this issue we are having on a daily basis. Nearly 3,000 people were killed instantly for the attacks of 9/11. On the day of these attacks, 19 al Qaeda members hijacked planes and performed the most lethal act of terrorism in American history. This attack raised the awareness of Islam and its teachings tremendously. There have been reports of increased sales of the Qur’an and literature on Islam, for example, and some mosques prominent Muslim community leaders have reported a surge in converts to Islam since 9/11 (Coskun 2012). The general public...
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