I.

INTRODUCTION
A. Historical narrative of the recent situation in Iraq and Syria that you believe may have
led to the current military conflict and the reason that may have led to the
establishment of the group called ISIS/ISIL:

Religious situation
The Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, is continuing its month-old rampage across northern
Iraqs large, multi-cultural Nineveh province, intensifying religious cleansing and further
consolidating its power. Ninevehs Assyrian Christians report that Sunnis from throughout Iraq
including some from Kurdistan have joined the some 10,000 jihadists to fight under the black
banner of the Islamic State.
While much attention is being given to the destruction of Ninevehs ancient monuments, the
suffering of the provinces religious minorities at the hands of the jihadists is being given short shrift by
both the media and our political leaders. Individual lives and entire civilizations are being destroyed,
not in conflict there hasnt been much but through the deliberate convert-or-die policies of the
Islamist extremists.

B. Who is ISIS/ISIL?
History
The history of the Islamic State traces back to the early days of the Iraq War, when it was
founded under another name by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Jordanian Salafi Jihadist Abu Musab alZarqawi and his militant group Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, founded in 1999, achieved notoriety in the
early stages of the Iraq insurgency, by not only carrying out attacks on coalition forces but conducting
suicide attacks on civilian targets and beheading hostages.
Al-Zarqawis group grew in strength and attracted more fighters, and in October 2004 it
officially pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, changing its name to Tanzim

Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (Organization of Jihad's Base in Mesopotamia), also known as AlQaeda in Iraq (AQI). Attacks by the group on civilians, the Iraqi Government and security forces
continued to increase over the next two years. In a letter to al-Zarqawi in July 2005, al-Qaeda's deputy
leader Ayman al-Zawahiri outlined a four-stage plan to expand the Iraq War, which included expelling
US forces from Iraq, establishing an Islamic authoritya caliphatespreading the conflict to Iraq's
secular neighbors, and engaging in the ArabIsraeli conflict.
ISIS and al-Qaeda divorced in February 2014. "Over the years, there have been many signs that
the relationship between al Qaeda Central (AQC) and the group's strongest, most unruly franchise was
strained," Barack Mendelsohn, a political scientist at Haverford College, writes. Their relationship "had
always been more a matter of mutual interests than of shared ideology."
According to Mendelsohn, Syria pushed that relationship to the breaking point. ISIS claimed
that it controlled Jabhat al-Nusra, the official al-Qaeda splinter in Syria, and defied orders from alQaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to back off. "This was the first time a leader of an al-Qaeda
franchise had publicly disobeyed" a movement leader, he says. ISIS also defied repeated orders to kill
fewer civilians in Syria, and the tensions led to al-Qaeda disavowing any connection with ISIS in a
February communiqu.
Today, ISIS and al-Qaeda compete for influence over Islamist extremist groups around the
world. Some experts believe ISIS may overtake Al-Qaeda as the most influential group in this area
globally. ISIS was once considered an affiliate of Al-Qaida, but the two groups have broken over ISIS
role in Syria. Al Qaida has criticized ISIS for being too brutal and has complained that ISIS zeal to
establish an Islamic state has distracted from the current push to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Last year, al Qaida chief Ayman al Zawahiri ordered ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, to withdraw
his forces from Syria. Baghdadi ignored the order.
Ideology and its Mission/Vision
ISIS is a Sunni extremist group. It follows an extreme anti-Western interpretation of Islam,
promotes religious violence and regards those who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels or
apostates. Concurrently, ISIS aims to establish a Salafist-oriented Islamist state in Iraq, Syria and other
parts of the Levant.

ISIS have emerged as the most recent form of radical jihadism and most people in the west feel
bewildered by their ferocity and brutality, especially towards minorities. First, the Iraqi Christians, then
the Yazidis, a minority group hundreds of them being forced to either convert or be killed.
The recent beheading of the American journalist James Foley is only one act of defiance
towards US airstrikes, with threats of more reprisals. With Al-Qaida, Boko Haram and now ISIS
never has it been easier to instil fear, it seems, into the most powerful nations in the world. In the UK,
the fear that ISIS have attracted hundreds of British men to fight in the region has reignited the question
of integration and radicalisation among younger British Muslims. But perhaps what is more chilling
this time is the way many of these men, who have gone over to fight, have unflinchingly assumed the
role of thug and tyrant given the first opportunity.
Their narrative may well be wrapped up in the familiar language of jihad and "fighting in the
cause of Allah", but it amounts to little more than destruction of anything and anyone who doesn't agree
with them.
The ideology originates in the branch of modern Islam that aims to return to the early days of
Islam, rejecting later "innovations" in the religion which it believes corrupt its original spirit. It
condemns later caliphates and the Ottoman Empire for deviating from what it calls pure Islam and
hence has been attempting to establish its own caliphate. The use of violence to purify the community
of unbelievers comes from the Wahhabi tradition. While ISIL is widely denounced by a broad range of
Islamic clerics, it took political pressure to persuade Saudi clerics to issue a formal condemnation. AlQaeda-oriented clerics were much quicker to condemn the group.
ISIS's philosophy is well represented in the symbolism of its black flag, which first appeared as
the flag of its former parent organization, al-Qaeda. The flag shows the seal of the Prophet Muhammad
within a white circle, with the battle phrase above it, "There is no God but Allah", depicted on a black
flag, the legendary battle flag of the Prophet Muhammad. Clearly such symbolism points to ISIL's
belief that it represents no less than the restoration of the Caliphate of early Islam, with all of the
political, religious and eschatological ramifications that this would necessarily imply.
According to some observers, ISIL emerged from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, the

first post-Ottoman Islamist group dating back to the late 1920s in Egypt. It adheres to global jihadist
principles and follows the hard-line ideology of al-Qaeda and many other modern-day jihadist groups.
Philosophy
Over recent months, there has been a constant background noise suggesting that Islamic State
and its ideology are some sort of throwback to a distant past. Even the extreme violence of ISIS
fighters and the frequent images of decapitated bodies, it is understandable that people attempt to make
sense of these acts as somehow radically other. In particular, it tends to accept one of the core
assertions of contemporary jihadism, namely that it reaches back to the origins of Islam.

Goals
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is moving according to strategies and perspectives of
a state lying amid violent hotbeds and safe havens. It creeps into structures of unsuccessful regimes
while flourishing during their periods of turmoil.
This is why ISIS believes it is capable of leading global jihad, unlike Al-Qaeda which focuses
on the distant enemy rather than the enemy that is near. Al-Qaedas central leadership has weakened
and is incapable of supporting its affiliates. This is what qualifies ISIS, with its constant expansion and
successes in chaotic contexts on the national, regional and international levels, to take over Al-Qaeda
and the leadership of global jihad.

Present Leader(s)
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has emerged from the shadows of the Middle East to run ISIS, the
Islamic State of Syria and Iraq. He is the Caliph of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, located in western
Iraq and north-eastern Syria.Yet this elusive 43-year-old man, the most wanted man in the Middle
East as The Guardian calls him remains an evanescent figure behind the Islamic insurrection

sweeping the Syrian and Iraqi interior.

Military Contigent and Force
The most common weapons used against US and other Coalition forces during the Iraq
insurgency were those taken from Saddam Hussein's weapon stockpiles around the country, these
included AKM variant assault rifles, PK machine guns and RPG-7s. ISIS has been able to strengthen
its military capability by capturing large quantities and varieties of weaponry during the Syrian Civil
War and Post-US Iraq insurgency. These weapons seizures have improved the group's capacity to carry
out successful subsequent operations and obtain more equipment.
It is believed that there is regular contact between Syrian regime forces and groups linked to alQaeda, but is not sure to what degree. Analysts further stated: "We have no doubt that there are links ...
But ISIS' direct assistance to the regime through oil sales, and the regimes implicit acceptance of ISIS
presence in some areas, may just be a tactical alliance that allows both entities to pursue the same short
term goals."
Analysts have noted that ISIS bases have remained untouched by the Syrian Army's artillery
and the Syrian Air Force. A spokesperson for the United Kingdom's Foreign Office also noted that the
lack of ISIL bases being bombed lends credibility to the suspicion of collusion. The Guardian wrote a
column agreeing that there is significant evidence pointing to the regime colluding with the Islamic
State.

II. FACTS
A. Current events surrounding the present conflict involving the war against the
ISIS/ISIL in:
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which on Tuesday, June 10, 2014, seized control of the Iraqi
city of Mosul, and has become one of the most powerful terrorist groups in the world.
Syria
The crisis in Syria is one of the most important reasons why ISIS grew to be so strong which
is why the US is bombing ISIS positions there. The chaos in Syria allowed ISIS to hold this territory
pretty securely. This is a big deal in terms of weaponry and money. "The war gave them a lot of access
to heavy weaponry," Michael Knights said. ISIS also "has a funding stream available to them because
of local businesses and the oil and gas sector."
It's also hugely important as a safe zone. When fighting Syrian troops, ISIS can safely retreat to
Iraq; when fighting Iraqis it can go to Syria. Statistical evidence says these safe "rear areas" help
insurgents win: "one of the best predictors of insurgent success that we have to date is the presence of a
rear area," Jason Lyall, a political scientist at Yale University who studies insurgencies, said. Unlike
some other Islamist groups fighting in Syria, ISIS doesn't depend on foreign aid to survive. In Syria,
they've built up something like a mini-state: collecting the equivalent of taxes, selling electricity, and
exporting oil to fund its militant activities.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant used to have a different name: al Qaeda in Iraq. US
troops and allied Sunni militias defeated al Qaeda in Iraq during the post-2006 "surge" but it didn't
destroy them. The US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, described the group in 2010 as down
but "fundamentally the same." In 2011, the group rebooted. ISIS successfully freed a number of
prisoners held by the Iraqi government and, slowly but surely, began rebuilding their strength.
A majority of Iraqis are Shias, but Sunnis ran the show when Saddam Hussein, himself Sunni,
ruled Iraq. Saddam spread a false belief, still surprisingly persistent today, that Sunnis were the real
majority in Iraq. Thus, Sunnis felt, and still feel, entitled to larger shares of political power than might
perhaps be warranted by their size.

The civil war after the American invasion had a brutally sectarian cast to it, and the pseudodemocracy that emerged afterwards empowered the Shia majority. Today, the two groups don't trust
each other, and so far have competed in a zero-sum game for control over Iraqi political institutions.
For instance, Shia used to control over the police force to arbitrarily detain Sunni protestors demanding
more representation in government last year.
So long as Shias control the government, and Sunnis don't feel like they're fairly represented,
ISIS has an audience for its radical Sunni message. This is why ISIS is strong in the heavily Sunni
northwest.
References and Related News:
1. "Iraqi City in Hands of Al-Qaida-Linked Militants". Voice of America. 4 January 2014.
Retrieved 16 January 2014.
2. Uppsala Data Conflict Programme: Conflict Encyclopaedia (Iraq). (See One-sided violence
ISIS-civilians Actor information-ISIS.) Retrieved 5 August 2014.
3. "Al-Qaeda chief disbands main jihadist faction in Syria: Al-Jazeera". Hrriyet Daily News. 8
November 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
4. Vick, Karl; Baker, Aryn (11 June 2014). "Extremists in Iraq Continue March Toward Baghdad".
Time. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
5. "Here's What We Know About the 'Caliph' of the New Islamic State". Business Insider. Agence
France-Presse. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
6. Hassan, Hassan (11 June 2014). "Political reform in Iraq will stem the rise of Islamists". The
National. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
7. "ISIS on offense in Iraq". Al-Monitor. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
8. Kelley, Michael B. (20 August 2014). "One Big Question Surrounds The Murder Of US
Journalist James Foley By ISIS". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 August 2014. "...the de facto
ISIS capital of Raqqa, Syria..."
9. http://www.theguardian.com
10. http://www.vox.com/cards/things-about-isis-you-need-to-know
11. https://theconversation.com
12. "The terrorists fighting us now? We just finished training them.". Washington Post. Retrieved 2
October 2014.
13. Lister, Tim (13 June 2014). "ISIS: The first terror group to build an Islamic state?". CNN.
Retrieved 14 June 2014.
14. Tran, Mark (11 June 2014). "Who are Isis? A terror group too extreme even for al-Qaida". The
Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2014.