Monica Irwin

People and Culture

Crisis Assignment
Syrias Civil War and the Rise of ISIS
ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. They are extremists that believe in one specific
version of Islam. It started back in 2004 as al Qaeda in Iraq before it became ISIS two years later. ISIS is
replacing government structures with people of their own to rule the territories after they invade the
territory (ISIS..). The group's striking military advances in Iraq and Syria have, together, built the most
important safe haven for Islamic extremists since Taliban-held Afghanistan, and possibly ever (How..).
There is not one person or group that can be blamed for the rise of ISIS. The Iraqi and Syrian
governments played a major role, but so did the United States, Iran, and Gulf monarchies like Saudi
Arabia.
However, one of the main culprits of ISIS is the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki. He uses
Iraqs counterterrorism laws to imprison Sunni dissenters. He exploits laws that prohibit Saddam-era
officials from holding office (a number of those officials had been Sunni) to boot Sunnis out of the upper
echelons of the government and military. He uses deadly force to break up peaceful Sunni
demonstrations against his government. He aligns himself with non-governmental Shia militias that had
slaughtered Sunnis during the post-invasion civil war. (How..) These are just a few examples of the
terrible things Maliki has done since ISIS has started.
ISIS cannot survive without popular support. Some of the popular support comes from the Iraqi
Sunnis. Shireen Hunter from Georgetown University writes "The most significant factor behind Iraq's
problems, has been the inability of Iraq's Sunni Arabs and its Sunni neighbors to come to terms with a
government in which the Shias, by virtue of their considerable majority in Iraq's population, hold the
leading role." Basically, the Sunni minority ran the government when Saddam was in charge, and they
believe they still ought to be the leading power today.
One of the main ways the United States is involved is from the 2003 invasion in Iraq. We
accidently initiated a civil war and that is when al-Qaeda came about in Iraq. If we never would have
invaded, al-Qaeda would not have been so powerful and ISIS never would have come about. The United
States tries to help by dropping food down to people using helicopters but they are not as much help as
they could be if they were on ground helping people.
In conclusion, ISIS is trying to take over the world one territory at a time. They want everyone to
convert to their Islamic ways and if you dont you either have to pay a large fine, leave your home with

nothing but the clothes on your back, or they kill you; most likely they will kill you. The civil war in Syria
is getting bigger and bigger and people are acting out in ways that are unheard of. There was talk in one
article about people setting themselves on fire in a form of rebellion against the government. An effect
of this is destabilization of regions. United States cant help much and we do not broadcast it as much as
it should be on the news because we dont like knowing about the bad things going on in different
countries. We want to believe that everything is okay, that way we dont have to worry about anything.
This is a serious problem and it should be looked at more closely.

Bibliography
How the US, its allies, and its enemies all made ISIS possible.
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/25/6065529/isis-rise, last accessed: 11/18/14
ISIS: Everything you need to know about the rise of the militant group.
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/09/world/isis-explained/, last accessed: 11/18/14