Once again, Iraq is in complete turmoil. This time, it all centers on a Militant Jihadist
group called ISIS. But you'd have to be a scholar on Iraqi and Syria to fully understand
this conflict. I'm not that, so I can't tell you everything. But I will tell you enough
to contextualize all these news stories, so that the next time someone says ISIS. You
can say, oh yeah. I know those guys. They're bad news.
So, who are they and what do they want to do?
They are a Jihadist Militant group with strong holds in both Iraq and Syria. They already
have control over a large chunk of both places, as you can see on this map. AND.
They want control over more land. In fact, they want to create their own nation.
These are the borders of their dream country which the west would call The Islamic State
In Iraq And Syria or ISIS. What they want is cleverly hidden in the name of their own
group.
Cool. So, who is fighting for them?
Well, that gets a touch more complicated. Iraq breaks down into three major groups;
Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs, and Kurds. ISIS are Sunni Arabs, so was Saddam Huessien.
His was a Sunni backed regime.
So, is this just the old guard taking back power?
No. Saddam Huessien was also a secularist.
ISIS are Militant Jihadists. They want strict Sharia law, just like other terrorist groups,
and that's
not necessarily a desire of your run of the mill Sunni Arab. But I will say this. As far
as militant Jihadists go,
ISIS would be considered the Sunni Arab's home team.
In Syria it gets a little messier. ISIS are still Sunni Arabs, but Bashar and his war-crime
committing government are currently fighting a civil war against
various Rebel groups.
ISIS are not these rebel groups, but they are in some degree of conflict in Syria, with
both the Bashar Government and the Rebels. It is chaos.
In short, ISIS is very bad news. They have been committing acts of violence, and terrorism
in both Syria and Iraq for a while. They are only now making it into our lexicon for one
simple reason.
They are winning. ISIS is the most successful Jihadist group militarily speaking that the
world has ever seen.
And the only thing scarier than their tactics are their organizational skills. They are
collecting taxes from businesses, setting up infrastructures, and releasing quarterly
reports.
They're gaining strength. They could be around for a long time. And they may be a bigger
threat to the surrounding areas in the long run than Al Queda.
They are bad news. And hopefully, you can now speak intelligently about them.
If you'd like to learn more about the current state of Islam check out our video on what
the true meaning of the word "Jihad" is. The answer is much more positive than you might
think. Or click on the other box to get up to date information on the current lethal
injection debacle. New episodes every day. Please, please, please subscribe now. We're
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