Wednesday, February 18, 2015

ISIS a.k.a ISIL


In late 2011, the US occupation of Iraq came to an end. The US military had decimated Al Qaeda in Iraq. However, by March, 2013, Al Qaeda in Iraq had rebounded and increased its manpower exponentially. At that time, they began calling themselves ISIS. By August 2014, ISIS had captured large parts of Syria and Iraq triggering the US bombings of ISIS strongholds. Jordan was the first Arab nation to join the bombing of ISIS targets.

ISIS thrives in countries where the political structure has broken down. For example, when a few members of Al Qaeda in Iraq were sent to war-torn Syria in the summer of 2011, their numbers grew by leaps and bounds.

Libya has been in chaos since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Rival governments are operating in separate parliaments and a plethora of armed Islamic groups are competing for control, including ISIS. Following the recent beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians by ISIS, Egypt retaliated by bombing ISIS targets in Libya.

The following terms may be helpful to those trying to understand the complexities at hand:

ISIS: Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

ISIL: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant

Levant: Greater Syria or more specifically Syria-Palestine which includes Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, part of southern Turkey, and Cyprus.

Shiites (a.k.a. Shias) & Sunnis: the two main Islamic groups. Their division was based on a dispute over a successor to Muhammad.

Al Qaeda: the radical Sunni organization founded by Osama bin Laden in 1988.

Baath Party: an Arab political party dominated by Sunnis. Baathism calls for the unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its members, which included Saddam Hussein, are called Baathists.

Jihadist: an Islamic radical 

Caliphate: a borderless Islamic state. In the short term, radical Islam is calling for the unification of Arab nations into a single Islamic state. If successful, there is little doubt that Jihadists will threaten both Europe & the USA in their quest for a world-wide, borderless Islamic state.

Main Jihadi organizations: ISIS, Al Qaeda, & the Taliban. There is a malicious rivalry between the leadership of the three organizations.

Shari'a: the Muslim law derived from the Quran and teachings of Muhammad. If a person is an infidel (Christian), Shari'a demands that he or she be made an offer to convert to Islam. If the offer is refused, he or she may be killed or enslaved.

4 comments:

  1. Related article: Type Islam & Jihadists into my search bar.

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  2. This year Nigerian Jihadists called Boko Haram became ISIL's West African franchise. If this group of Islamic radicals determines that a mosque espouses a form of Islam which is too moderate, they defile the mosque and murder its members.

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  3. Turkey has joined the US led coalition against ISIL. Turkey shares a 500 mile border with Syria. Part of southern Turkey is included in the region known as the Levant. The US Air Force will be able to bomb ISIS targets in Syria at a much faster rate using Turkish airfields.

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  4. The Levant is defined as Syria-Palestine. In that context, Palestine refers to the land east and west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Today, Palestine is a considerably smaller area. It is the name given to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2012, the United Nations recognized that area as the state of Palestine. That same area along with Golan Heights was captured by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967 when they defeated Jordan, Egypt, and Syria.

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