The Emergence of ISIS in Iraq and Syria

Ayoub Laissouf

Research Methods

11 September 2014

Abstract
Unpleasant incidents are happening in Iraq on those days: mass
killing, genocide, and displacement of thousands of Iraqis from their
homes by a terrorist group calls itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham or
ISIS. The latter emerged as the most radical group that shows no mercy to
anyone who stands in its way. The strong impact of its crimes has pushed
people from around the globe to search from more information about this
group and not rely only on what the media is portraying. This paper will
help people who are interested in enriching their knowledge about ISIS to
know more about it. It will shed the light on the origin and the root of ISIS;
besides, it will incorporate the main causes that helped ISIS to rise and
triumph in a very short time. Moreover, it will discuss the ideology and the
goals of this group, and if they are distinct from the other Jihadist
movements, and finally, it will demonstrate the elements of its power and
the impact of its emergence on minorities in Iraq.
Keywords: ISIS, Genocide, Propaganda, caliphate, Yazidis, infidles,
Peshmorga.

Introduction
In the recent months, all the media around the globe has
concentrated its reports on the emergence of a radical Islamic group that
has gone rampage in Syria and currently in Iraq. The latter group which is
called ISIS has recently established a caliphate and becomes known as the
Islamic State. Peoples worldwide are increasingly terrorized by the
brutalities and the vicious atrocities that ISIS perpetrated, and many of
them are urgently calling the International Community to act swiftly in
order to rein in and put an end to that radical Sunni group. This group is
known by different names; the President Obama has referred to it by the
name ISIL in all his speeches; that abbreviation stands for the Islamic State
in Iraq and Levant. According to CNN, Al-Sham is reference to a region
that stretches from Turkey through Syria to Egypt and includes the
Palestinian territories, Jordan and Lebanon (ISIS, ISIL or the Islamic
State?). Besides, English correspondents, most the time, use the acronym
ISIS, while Arab ones use the name DAIISH which both stand for al-Dawla
al-Islamiya fil-Iraq wa al-Sham. However, ISIS Jihadists prefer to call their
organization the Islamic State because it displays and reflects their groups
inspiration of founding a caliphate that stretch across national borders.
Research Question: What are the major causes behind the rise of ISIS?
Hypothesis: the retreat of the US forces from Iraq and the civil war in
Syria facilitated the emergence of ISIS.
Method
In this research, I will use statistics, maps, and strong evidence to support
my claims.

I. The Islamic State

1. The Roots
The roots of ISIS could be traced back to 2003 when Abu Mosab
Zarqawi went from Afghanistan to Iraq and founded a group called Tawhid
and Jihad to confront the US forces in Iraq. Acun states that, in 2004,
Mosab Zarqawi pledged allegiance to Osama ban Laden and changed the
name of his group to Al Qaeda in Iraq or AQI. This group was at its peak
during this time, for it launched several successful attacks on the coalition
forces and pushed the US forces and Iraqs to retreat from Anbar province,
a Sunni region. However, in 2006, Zarqawi was killed by an airstrike. He
was succeeded by Hamza al Muhajir who merged his forces with Jaish al
Fatiheen, Jaich a taifa mansura, and Jund a sahaba to form the
Mujahideen Shura Council which was led by Abu Omar al Baghdadi.
Then, in late 2006, the Islamic State in Iraq or ISI was declared. Besides, as
the attacks on the US forces, and the sectarian fights started to escalated,
The US followed a new strategy to halt the insurgency. The US swayed the
leaders of the Sunni tribes to lay down their weapons and join the
Councils for the Awakening which was created to stop ISI. Because ISI was
very strict with the locals and demanded utter obedience, and because
Sunni leaders were promised to receive payments for their services
against ISI, those leaders succumbed to the US offer, The Awaking Council
and the US forces fought together against ISI and almost brought it to its
knees between 2007 and 2009 (1-2).
After that ISI rebuilt itself through bringing new fighters to the group;
many soldiers from the former regime, Baath Army, who werent allowed
to join the new Iraqi army were admitted into ISI. A former general of
Baath army, Haji Bakr, was one of those who were admitted; he became a
member of the Mujahedeen Shura Council after the assassination of its
two leaders, Abu Omar al Baghdadi and Muhajir in 2010 by the hand of the
Iraqi and the US forces. After that, the name of Abu Bakr al Bagdadi was
presented to the Shura council by Bakr to be chosen the new leader. AL
Baghdadi was accepted by the Shura council and by Al Qaida Center which
has become under the leadership of Ayman al Zawahiri who succeeded bin
Laden after the latter was assassinated by the US Special Forces (Acun 3).
Two significant events took place in 2011 affected ISI: the Arab
Spring in Syria that sparked the civil war in 2012 and the withdrawal of the
US forces from Iraq. ISI began to retaliate against Iraqi security forces and
the Awaking Councils members through assassinations and booming

governmental buildings. Moreover, al Baghdadi promoted Syria fighters in

Iraq to go to Syria and form a new branch to fight Bashar al Assad; that
branch is called today Nusra Front and led by Al Jawlani (Barrett 12).
Nevertheless, ACUN states that ISI was disturbed by the flock of foreign
fighters to Syria, voluminous financial support, weapons and munitions
confiscated from the Assad regime as well as countrywide and worldwide
fame of the Nusra Front (3). As a result, Al Baghdadi tried to take over
the Nusra Front, but because AL Jawlani refused to relinquish his power as
the leader of the strongest fighting group in Syria, and because he stated
that his loyalty is to AL Qaeda and Zawahiri not to ISI or al Baghdadi. Then,
the latter went to Syria and announced the establishment of the Islamic
State of Iraq and Sham or ISIS. Al Qaeda wasnt happy about this
development because from the start, it stressed that ISIS would stay in
Iraq and Nusra Front in Syria, but ISIS turned a blind eye to the orders of
Zawahri. Then, ISIS took over all Nusra Fronts financial and military
sources, and asked the other fighting groups in Syria to join it and pledge
allegiance to its leader; several fighting groups responded positively to
that request such as Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar which was led by
Omar al Shishani (Barrett 13).
Between 2013 and early 2014, ISIS strengthened and consolidated
its power in Syria, constructing its stronghold and headquarter in Raqqa
which it seized it after defeating opposing groups. After securing its power
in Syria, ISIS came back to Iraq; According to Friedland, In January 2014,
they took parts of Fallujah and Ramadi in Anbar province. In early June,
ISIS shocked the world, storming across northern Iraq and capturing Mosul,
Iraq's second largest city, with the help of an uneasy alliance of exBaathists, tribesmen and other Sunni rebel forces (Friedland 8).
Furthermore, on June 29, 2014, ISIS declared itself a caliphate and Al
Bagdadi a caliph and called all Muslims around the world to pledge their
allegiance to their caliph.
2) The Causes of the Rise
Many powers, individuals, and governments attributed even partly to
the quick rise of ISIS. The responsibility of its emergence could be blamed
on the former Prime Minster of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki, the US invasion of Iraq
in 2003, the Gulf States, and Al Assad.
First cause is al Maliks wrong policy towards the Sunni minority.
After the withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq, al Maliki started to resort
to more authoritarian leadership than before. He excluded Sunnis from
power and favored Shias. He began to get rid of any opposing voices,
particularly Sunnis, in the government, starting by arresting his Sunni vice
president Hashimi. According to Khedery, Maliki's forces closed in on
Hashimi, only to see him flee to Kurdistan. Dozens of his guards were
imprisoned on terrorism charges. At least one of them died under
interrogation (How ISIS Came to Be). Moreover, he also purged his
government from another Sunni rival, al-Essawi who was the finance
minister. Khedery states that at this tense time, the Iraqis Sunni Council
called for an autonomous rule as the Kurds, but that demand was

rejected. Then, thousands of Sunni demonstrators went to the streets and

built several camps at Sunni provinces protesting against al Maliks policy
of persecution; however, instead of responding to the protesters
demands, his army crushed the camps on the pretext of that members of
al Qaeda infiltrated the camps, and killed several dozen of Sunnis (How
ISIS Came to Be). All that helped ISIS to capture easily several cities in
Iraq such Fallujah and Mosul because the locals, Sunnis, didnt fight them,
but instead teamed up with them and fought the Malikis army.
Second Cause is the US invasion of Iraq. It is prominently linked to
the rise of ISIS in the region. According to Beauchamp, The United States
invaded Iraq, accidentally sparked a sectarian civil war, and generally
created the conditions for what was then al-Qaeda in Iraq to flourish.
Without the American invasion, al-Qaeda in Iraq never would have been so
strong, and ISIS never would have grown out of it (How the US Made
ISIS). Some people also hold the US responsible because it didnt
intervene earlier when ISIS was still weak and on its way of development.
Third cause is the Gulf States funding which came precisely from
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar; it helped ISIS to stand on its feet and
consolidate its power in Syria. That donation from those countries wasnt
because those states encourage extremism, but because they hate Assad
and they wish his downfall. Beauchamp says that, funding the opposing
groups of Assad from the Gulf countries is a similar case to what the US
did in the Cold War when it supported financially and militarily the militias
that opposed the Soviet Union (How the US made ISIS). According to
Rogin, Gulf donors support ISIS, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda called the
al Nusrah Front, and other Islamic groups fighting on the ground in Syria
because they feel an obligation to protect Sunnis suffering under the
atrocities of the Assad regime (Allies Are Funding ISIS).
Fourth cause that is attributed to the strong rise of ISIS is the
President Assad policy towards it. He deliberately let ISIS to grow and
thrive without fighting it or colliding with it. He has followed that plan so
that ISIS will fight the Free Army, which is supported by the US and other
countries, and weaken it. Hassan writes that, When Islamic radicals took
over Raqqah, the first province to fall under rebels control in its entirety, it
was remarkable that the regime did not follow the same policy it had
consistently employed elsewhere, which is to shower liberated territories
with bombs, day and night (Assad Has Never Fought ISIS Before).
Surprisingly, Raqqah wasnt approached; it was saved from bombardments
that engulfed Homs, Deir Ezzor, Deraa, and Aleppo even though ISIS
painted its administrative buildings in black and become an easy target for
the Syrian Air Forces. Hassan says that, For about a year and a half,
Assad allowed ISIS to grow and fester. The regime has been buying oil
from it and other extremist groups after it lost control of most of the
countrys oilfields and gas plants (Assad Has Never Fought ISIS Before).
The explanation that could be given to what Assad has done is that he
wants the US and the world to choose between him and ISIS.
3) The Ideology

ISISs ideology is the same as the ideology of the Salafi jihadism. For
ISIS, there is no difference between state and religion because all its
decisions are based on an extreme understanding and interpretation of the
sharia which is forcibly implemented on the areas that are under its
control. Al-Tamimi states that ISIS and other Jihadist movements such as
AL Qaeda and Taliban share a common ideology that aims to reestablish a
Caliphate. The latter could be described as an Islamic government that
was founded firstly by Abu Bark after the death of the prophet
Muhammad. The last manifestation of that caliphate was the Ottomans
Empire which was disintegrated in 1924 (19). However, even though
those groups share the same ideology, their approaches regarding the
proper timing of the establishment of the caliphate is different. For
instance, Al Qaeda and Nusra Front see the necessary conditions and the
proper timing for the establishment of a caliphate havent appeared yet.
ISIS ideology is fundamentally based on the Salafis premise of
returning to the pure era of Islam, and following the practices of the
ancestors. Salafis consider any additional practice as bidha or innovation;
they regard anyone who deviate from their understanding and
interpretation of religious texts as heretic whose penalty is death.
Moreover, Salafism flourished and developed in Egypt with the Muslim
Brotherhood. According to Hussain Al-Qaida and ISIS emerged from the
ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. Many Islamist and jihadist groups that
emerged as offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood since the late-1920s have
all been engaged in a struggle to overthrow Muslim-majority governments
in order to establish the caliphate, ruled by a single divinely appointed
leader (Iraq Crisis). Friedland articulates that, the Brotherhoods
ideology is inspired by the writings of Islamic jurist Ibn Taymiya and the
writings of Sayyid Qutb, a member of Muslim Brotherhood, who was
executed by the Egyptian President Nasser. Syyid Qutbs ideas have an
influence on all Jihadist groups, including ISIS. He wrote that Arabs used to
live in ignorance before the arrival of Islam; he regarded living under the
governance of the contemporary regimes as living in jahiliyya. For that, he
advocated people to revolt against those regimes and found an Islamic
State (10).
II. The Elements of Its Power:
1) Funding
ISIS funds itself from various sources. Islamic States economy
counts on its funding on the production and selling of energy assets seized
in Iraq and Syria, the extortion of money and taxation from the people who
are living in its captured territories, private donors, ransoms from
kidnappings, seizing banks money from the occupied lands, and selling
antiquities.
ISIS used to receive money from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
Ragin states that, they were funding the Jihadist groups which are fighting
the Assad regime, including ISIS. The given money is esteemed to be more
than $40 million over the past two years. However, after being criticized
by the US and several other countries, Saudi Arabia enacted a legislation

that criminalizes financial donations to terrorist groups such ISIS, Nusra

Front, and AL Qaeda (How the US made ISIS). Besides, ISIS has seized
the money of several banks. Giovanni wrote that, Along with cash kept in
bank vaults in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, an estimated total of $1.5 billion has
been seized from banks by ISIS (Reign of Terror?). Moreover, in Raqqah,
ISIS takes taxes on exported and imported goods. In addition, ISIS sells
antiquities which are extracted from ancient sites such as palaces, shrines,
churches, and tombs. Giovanni states that, More than a third of Iraqs
12,000 important archaeological sites are now under ISIS control and it has
hastily begun excavating and selling artifacts dating from 9,000 B.C. to
A.D. 1,000 through intermediaries to collectors and dealers (Reign of
Terror?). Furthermore, as a result of occupying some parts of northern
Iraq, ISIS has controlled a large space of fields and farms which produce a
large amount of grain and silos. According to Newsweek, ISIS now
controls nine grain silos in Nineveh, which spans the Tigris, and seven
more elsewhere. It owns hundreds of thousands of tons of wheat
representing 40 percent of Iraqs annual wheat production, according to
U.N. estimates (Reign of Terror?). Another source of money is the
selling of oil which yields a huge sum of money for ISIS. According to Lock,
The price of Islamic State smuggled oil is discounted $25 to $60 for a
barrel of oil that normally sells for more than $100.But its total profits from
oil are exceeding $3 million a day (the wealthiest terror group). Finally,
the last source of income is the exploiting of peoples lives. ISIS kidnaps
foreigners and ask their relatives to pay ransoms if they wish their beloved
ones to be released. According to Giovanni, Ransoms from kidnappings
make up about 20 percent of ISISs revenue. The U.S. Treasury estimates
ISIS has received $20 million in ransoms so far this year (Reign of
Terror?).
2) Propaganda
Through watching several videos of ISIS, I came to a conclusion that
ISISs goals for sharing those videos is to terrorize their enemies and
attract more recruits, particularly youths who are still young and long to
live such an adventure of getting rid of democracy, breaking boundaries,
and bringing all Muslims under one caliphate. According to ADL, ISIS is not
only using social media to instill fear or to recruit new fighters, but it also
uses it to support and empower its fighters to carry on their mentions
(Hashtag Terror). ISIS propaganda has drawn hundreds of westerners
from their homelands to Syria. According to Breslow, More than 12,000
foreign fighters from at least 81 countries stationed in Syria alone. Of that
number, approximately 2,500 are from Western nations, including the
United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany and Great
Britain (Many Westerners).
It seems that ISISs effort of downloading videos and posting photos
in the internet has successfully paid off. Besides, ISIS has shared videos on
YouTube of beheading, crucifixion, and whipping. Still, some videos portray
Iraqi soldiers digging their own graves or heads on spikes; the aim for
those terrifying videos is to shaken the belief of the opposing forces and
weaken their courage; It is like there are sending a message that states, if

you defy us, your destiny will be the same as those in the video. Those
videos have surprisingly yielded results. For instance, When ISIS went to
capture Mosul city, 60,000 of Iraqi soldiers who were supposed to force
ISIS to retreat, fled and left all their military equipment. That demonstrates
the effectiveness of ISIS use of social media, and displays it as an effective
offensive tool

Figure 1: on December, 15, 2013, ISIS controlled Raqqah and Al Bab in

Syria.
Spatial Destination of ISIS

Source:http://www.polgeonow.com/search?updated-min=2013-0101T00:00:00%2B08:00&updated-max=2014-0101T00:00:00%2B08:00&max-results=48

Figure 2: on January, 12, 2014, ISIS controlled Fallujah and part of Ramadi
in Iraq.

Source: http://www.polgeonow.com/2014/01/iraq-map-of-al-qaedacontrol.html

Figure 3: on June, 22, 2014. ISIS has completely controlled the city of
Ramadi, Tikrit, and Mosul in Iraq.

Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10906350/Ira
q-crisis-map-how-the-Isis-front-line-has-shifted.html

III. The Impact of the Emergence of ISIS

1) On Shia
ISIS has committed crimes against Humanity. It has executed anyone
who stands in its way, whether they are Sunnis, Shiites, or Christians.
ISISs reputation of brutality has been confirmed through its mass killing,
torture, beadings, and other inhuman actions. According to Salahoden,
Militants from the Islamic State carried out a mass killing of hundreds of
Iraqi prison inmates when they seized the city of Mosul in June. Some 600
male Shiite inmates from Badoosh prison outside Mosul were shot with
automatic weapons (Survivors). In addition, RT states that, ISIS claimed
that it has executed 1700 Iraqi Shiites air force cadets, but it is believed
that the authentic number is 175 which was announced by the human
rights minister in Iraq. (Mass Murder). However, I think even if that claim
isnt true, its impact on the Iraqi forces on the battlefield is very strong.
On Christians and Yazidis
Friedland states that, when ISIS captured the Mosul city, 200, 00 of
Christians who have inhibited Iraq for 3,000 years fled their homes. The
ones who stayed, their homes were marked with the Arabic word
Nazarene; ISIS fighters drove their cars on the Mosuls streets and used
loudspeakers to announce that Christians have three choices, either pay
jizya, convert to Islam, or die (19). Furthermore, when ISIS closed in the
city of Sinjar, thousands of Yazidis, they believe in an ancient religion prior
to Islam, fled their homes and took refuge at a mountain. Dozens of

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children, elders, and women died from dehydration and hunger. According
to Zahriyah, At least 500 Yazidi men were reportedly killed by IS and
dozens of women taken into captivity. Tens of thousands of Yazidis, fled
Sinjar to the mountain areas without access to food and water (Yazidi
Community). That demonstrates clearly the vicious crimes that ISIS is
committing against all ethnic groups in Iraq, and shows how brutal it is.
Conclusion
To sum up, the major causes that helped in the rise of ISIS are the
Maliks discriminatory policy towards the Sunnis, the financial donations
from the Gulf States, the civil war in Syria, and the US invasion to Iraq.
Besides, the ideology of ISIS is identical to the other Jihadist groups which
is based on the idea of returning to the pure era of Islam and which aims
to the reestablishment of a caliphate that resembles the one that was in
the heydays of Islam. In addition, the power of ISIS could be attributed to
two elements: the unlimited sources of money that it control which fund its
army and operations and its propaganda system that works for the
purpose of terrorizing its enemy and strengthening its army with new
recruits.
Even though ISIS claims to represent Islam, it isnt for its crimes
have nothing to do with Islam which is a religion of peace. What ISIS is
doing now is only tarnishing the picture of Islam and Muslims and
providing concrete evidence to the enemies of the Islam who argue that
the latter is a religion of violence. ISISs goal may seem more religious
than political one because I dont think someone will wear a bomb vest
and blow himself up for a mere reason such a political one. Its fighters
believe their deeds are right and for the sake of Muslims. Besides, ISIS
believes that Muslims become weak nowadays because they deviated
from the straight path of Islam and their place on the top has been taken
by the west. It believes what it is doing now is restoring Muslims to their
appropriate place. However, I dont think the ways that it chooses to attain
that is the right ones, compulsion and violence, for you cannot coerce
people to either convert to Islam or die. I believe its interpretation of the
sacred texts are extreme and wrong, and that could be proved by the large
number of Islamic scholars who condemn the groups terrorist actions and
urge them to stop.
To stop ISIS advance in Iraq, the coalition forces have supplied the
Kurdish fighters or the Peshmorga with advanced weapons to fight ISIS on
the ground, whereas the US and its allies conduct airstrikes to clear the
way for them to advance. The Kurdish forces has retained some part of the
city of Kirkuk and Ramadi. However, the results havent yet been
significant. My opinion about this is that, the US has not yet taken the
threat of ISIS seriously because if it is really willing to stop ISIS, it should
send its well-trained troops on the ground. Relying solely on the Kurds on
the ground and airstrikes may push ISIS to withdraw from some places, but
that will not stop it from coming again. I think that if ISIS isnt dealt with
quickly, it may control Iraq and Syria utterly because ISIS is a wellorganized Jihadist group that the world hasnt seen such before, its army is

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getting stronger day after day through receiving new recruits and
weapons. ISIS is like a killing disease that if you let it grows, it will spread
and kill you. Therefore, the world should approach this threat now when it
is still in its first stage. Otherwise, it may go out of control.

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