ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)

Isis is basically a militant group which has strongholds in both Syria and Iraq. It was formed
after the 2006 US Invasion of Iraq. In Syria this group took advantage of the ongoing civil war to
grab land for themselves while fighting both the government and rebel factions. In Iraq theyre
fighting to overthrow the current Iraqi government. Over the years it has gained a lot of attention
for its brutal tactics and seemingly having no regards for human rights, but it has recently
dominated the global media spotlight and made headlines when it attacked and seized control of
Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, and drove out an Iraqi army force that was more than five
times its size in June 2014. In the light of these gains the group proclaimed the establishment of a
caliphate led by the leader of ISIS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Below are some of the facts about
ISIS:
ISIS is the richest terrorist organization in history with assets over 2 billion$, they raise
money by collecting taxes (with proper infrastructure) from occupied people, looting
banks and businesses and smuggling of oil.
Their regime is so severe even Al-Qaeda cut its ties with ISIS claiming them to have no
regard for civilian life.
The group has taken on and at times successfully battled U.S. and Coalition forces, the
Iraqi army, and other rival Iraqi and Syrian militant groups.

For a lot of people the knowledge about ISIS is quite limited to just being about televised beheadings. The
story of this ever growing militant group takes us back to the final departure of American troops from Iraq
in 2011. All this has happened because of the Shiite-led Iraqi government to share power with the Sunni
minority and also because of the inaction of United States while Sunni militants exploited the situation for
their own gain. In the face of these failures the Iraqs Shia majority is taking comfort from the belief that
the present situation of the country isnt dangerous as it looks and also they believe that ISIS is weak and
can be easily discarded. For United States, Britain and the western powers the rise of ISIS and the
caliphate is an ultimate disaster because they never wanted to see the creation of a Jihadi state spanning
northern Iraq and Syria run by a movement a hundred times bigger and better organized than the Al-
Qaida.
In my opinion the blame is directly to be placed on the former Iraqi Prime Minister and on United States
President Barrack Obama as the war on terror has terribly failed. Also, many people think the only sure
solution to this conflict is a confronting military action. They are not supporting violence but they are
supporting appropriate action required to ensure that this threat to humanity is silenced.