How did the Islamic State become so powerful so fast?

I think a good way to put this is this has been a FUBAR beyond anyone's imagination a few years ago.

First of all, around 2009 Al-Baghdadi (the name of the leader and self appointed Caliph) of the Islamic State and the Levant was being released from a prison in Baghdad where he was being held for his terrorist acts. As he left he said to one of his American Jailors, "See you in New York!". However, since the soldier was from New York he didn't think this was unusual at the time. However, now it is different.

Al-Baghdadi has a doctorate in ISLAM from a Baghdad University so he is no dunce which likely is also why this ISIL, ISIS, Islamic State thing has taken off like this.

But, then you get to funding.

Who has funded the ISlamic State?

First, let's think about who has not funded the Islamic State. They are Russia, and Iran and Syria. However, Syria is a two edged sword because without Assad buying off ISIS with financial deals both he and they would likely not exist now. He realized he couldn't survive ISIS(ISIL) and so gave them lands and oil wells to leave him alone in the north of Syria. They left him alone and started fighting the same rebels that were fighting Assad which made Assad's job easier to survive.

However, then something happened that Assad hadn't counted on. The Sunnis of western Iraq who were fed up with the anti- sunni behavior of Maliki the leader of Iraq and his alignment with Iran finally so incensed the average sunni in Iraq and Syria that ISIL's usefulness to them as an Assassin of everyone Shia overcame temporarily their distaste for ISIL beheading everyone not Sunni in Iraq and Syria. So, even though now some Sunnis in Iraq and Syria fight ISIL it is sort of too late because when the Iraq army fled northern Iraq and left all their heavy weaponry they gave billions in armaments to ISIL(ISIS) the Islamic state.

So, now both Assad's survival, Iraq's survival, Kurdish Survival, Local Christian survival, local Shia Survival and local Yazidi and other minority survival is threatened and many many are dying because of this directly at ISIS hands or dying of thirst without water or food while on the run.

So, it could be said easily that thousands are now dying almost every day without water or food as they try to escape from the Islamic state soldiers in Northern IRaq and Northern Syria.

But now it is even worse because they have captured two dams that could be blown up and flood IRaq and kill potentially millions of mostly Shia people downstream. Bob Baer (ex-CIA operative) has said that they likely would use these dams to blow up and kill millions potentially if the Islamic state felt threatened enough.

This is sort of a succinct way of bringing you up to date with one exception.

None of this would have happened if Iran and Russia hadn't forced Assad to stay in power with weapons and soldiers and money. So, this whole circumstance was an unnatural proxy war foisted on Syria and Iraq by working against the local will of the majority of the people in Syria and Iraq.

So, the Islamic State is an ever growing revenge mechanism of genocide to all minorities including Shias, Christians and Yazidis and everyone else who isn't a Sunni Muslim in NOrthern Iraq and Northern Syria and anywhere else the Islamic state travels next to blow up and genocide.