Tuesday, February 17, 2015

ISIS is known for its harsh interpretation of Islam and brutal violence

I was looking over one of the Wikipedia sites on ISIS(ISIL) and decided on doing a compilation of useful information from one of these sites. "The Better you understand an enemy the easier it is to defeat them".

 begin series of useful quotes:

 ISIS is known for its harsh interpretation of Islam[50] and brutal violence,[51] which is directed particularly against Shia Muslims and Christians.[52] It has at least 4,000 fighters in its ranks[53]who, in addition to attacks on government and military targets, have claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed thousands of civilians.[54] ISIS had close links with al-Qaeda until 2014, but in February of that year, after an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda cut all ties with the group, reportedly for its "notorious intractability" and wanton brutality.[55][56][56]
ISIS’s original aim was to establish a caliphate in the Sunni-majority regions of Iraq. Following its involvement in the Syrian Civil War, this expanded to include controlling Sunni-majority areas of Syria (see spillover of the Syrian War).[57] A caliphate was proclaimed on 29 June 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was named as its caliph, and the group was renamed the Islamic State.[1]

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Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - Wikipedia, the free ..


  • On 14 May 2014, the United States Department of State announced its decision to use "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) as the group's primary name.[72] The debate over which acronym should be used to designate the group, ISIL or ISIS, has been discussed by several commentators.[69][70] Ishaan Tharoor from The Washington Post concluded: "In the larger battlefield of copy style controversies, the distinction between ISIS or ISIL is not so great."[70]
  • On 29 June 2014, the establishment of a new caliphate was announced, with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi named as caliph, and the group formally changed its name to "Islamic State".[1][74][c]

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By 2014, ISIS was increasingly being viewed as a militia rather than a terrorist organization. As major Iraqi cities fell to al-Baghdadi's cohorts in June, Jessica Lewis, an expert on ISIS at theInstitute for the Study of War, described ISIS as "not a terrorism problem anymore", but rather "an army on the move in Iraq and Syria, and they are taking terrain. They have shadow governments in and around Baghdad, and they have an aspirational goal to govern. I don't know whether they want to control Baghdad, or if they want to destroy the functions of the Iraqi state, but either way the outcome will be disastrous for Iraq." Lewis, who was a US Army intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, has called ISIS "an advanced military leadership". She said, "They have incredible command and control and they have a sophisticated reporting mechanism from the field that can relay tactics and directives up and down the line. They are well-financed, and they have big sources of manpower, not just the foreign fighters, but also prisoner escapees."[82] The May 2014 ISIS annual report reveals a metrics-driven military command. "This is a strong indication of a unified, coherent leadership structure that commands from the top down."[83] Middle East Forum's Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi said, "They are highly skilled in urban guerrilla warfare while the new Iraqi Army simply lacks tactical competence."[82] Seasoned observers pointed to systemic corruption within the Iraq Army, it being little more than a system of patronage, and attributed to this its spectacular collapse as ISIS and its allies took over large swaths of Iraq in June 2014.[84]
During the Iraq War, the US Armed Forces had never faced an organized militant force as effective. Douglas Ollivant, a former Army Cavalry officer who later handled Iraq for the White House National Security Council, said, "They were great terrorists. They made great car bombs. But they were lousy line infantry, and if you got them in a firefight, they'd die. They have now repaired that deficiency." Like other analysts, Ollivant credits the civil war in Syria for their striking improvement in battlefield ability since the Iraq War: "You fight Hizballah for a couple of years, and you either die or you get a lot better. And these guys just got a lot better."[82]
Another major weapon in the ISIS tactical armoury is control of rivers, dams, and water installations.[85]
ISIS runs a soft-power program, which includes social services, religious lectures and da'wah—proselytizing—to local populations. It also performs civil tasks such as repairing roads and maintaining the electricity supply.[86] Other armed opposition groups have turned against ISIS because the group considers itself a state with its own courts, not "a faction among factions", not allowing other opposition groups to take benefits from smuggling weapons and drugs between Syria and Turkey or to take penalties from border-crossers.
The group is also known for its effective use of propaganda.[87] In November 2006, shortly after the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq, the group established the al-Furqan Institute for Media Production, which produced CDs, DVDs, posters, pamphlets, and web-related propaganda products.[88] ISIS's main media outlet is the I'tisaam Media Foundation,[89] which was formed in March 2013 and distributes through the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF).[90] In 2014, ISIS established the Al Hayat Media Center, which targets a Western audience and produces material in English, German, Russian and French.[91][92] In 2014 it also launched the Ajnad Media Foundation, which releases jihadist audio chants.[93]
ISIS's use of social media has been described by one expert as "probably more sophisticated than [that of] most US companies".[94][95] It regularly takes advantage of social media, particularly Twitter, to distribute its message by organizing hashtag campaigns, encouraging Tweets on popular hashtags, and utilizing software applications that enable ISIS propaganda to be distributed to its supporters' accounts.[96]

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June 2014
  • In early June, following its large-scale offensives in Iraq, ISIS was reported to haveseized control of most of Mosul, the second most populous city in Iraq, a large part of the surrounding Nineveh province, and the city of Fallujah.[331] ISIS also took control of Tikrit, the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate,[332] with the ultimate goal of capturing Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.[333] ISIS was believed to have only 2,000–3,000 fighters up until the Mosul campaign, but during that campaign it became evident that this number was a gross underestimate.[334]
  • Also in June, there were reports that a number of Sunni groups in Iraq that were opposed to the predominantly Shia government had joined ISIS, thus bolstering the group's numbers.[335][336] However, the Kurds—who are mostly Sunnis—in the northeast of Iraq were unwilling to be drawn into the conflict, and there had been clashes in the area between ISIS and the Kurdish Peshmerga.[337][338]
  • 5 June: ISIS militants stormed the city of Samarra in Iraq, before being ousted from the city by airstrikes mounted by the Iraqi military.[339]
  • 6 June: ISIS militants carried out multiple attacks in the city of Mosul in Iraq.[340][341]
  • 7 June: ISIS militants took over the University of Anbar in Ramadi, Iraq and held 1,300 students hostage before being ousted by the Iraqi military.[342][343]
  • 9 June: Mosul fell to ISIS control. The militants seized control of government offices, the airport and police stations.[344] Militants also looted the Central Bank in Mosul, absconding with over $429 million USD.[345] More than 500,000 people fled Mosul to escape ISIS.[346] Mosul is a strategic city as it is a crossroad between Syria and Iraq, and poses the threat of ISIS seizing control of oil production.[347]
  • 11 June: ISIS seized the Turkish consulate in the Iraqi city of Mosul and kidnapped the head of the diplomatic mission and several staff members. ISIS seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit.[348]
  • 12 June: Human Rights Watch, an international human rights advocacy organization, issued a statement about the growing threat to civilians in Iraq.[349]
  • 13 June: Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed alarm at reports that ISIS fighters "have been actively seeking out—and in some cases killing—soldiers, police and others, including civilians, whom they perceive as being associated with the government".[350]

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki inBaghdad on June 23, 2014
  • 15 June: ISIS militants captured the Iraqi city of Tal Afar in the province of Nineveh.[351] ISIS claimed that 1,700 Iraqi soldiers who had surrendered in the fighting had been executed, and released many images of mass executions via its Twitter feed and various websites.[352]
  • 22 June: ISIS militants captured two key crossings in Anbar, a day after seizing Al-Qa'im border crossing at Qaim, a town in the province that borders Syria. According to analysts, capturing these crossings could help ISIS transport weapons and equipment to different battlefields.[353]
  • 24 June: The Syrian Air Force bombed ISIS positions in Iraq. Iraqi Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki stated: "There was no coordination involved, but we welcome this action. We welcome any Syrian strike against Isis because this group targets both Iraq and Syria."[354]
  • 25 June: Al-Nusra Front's branch in the Syrian town of al-Bukamal pledged loyalty to ISIS, thus bringing to a close months of fighting between the two groups.[230][231]
  • 28 June: The Jerusalem Post reported that the Obama administration had asked theUS Congress for US$500 million to use in the training and arming of "moderate"Syrian rebels fighting against the Syrian government in order to counter the growing threat posed by ISIS in Syria and Iraq.[355]
  • Iraq has reportedly purchased used Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia and Belarus to battle ISIS militants after delays in the delivery of F-16 fighters purchased from the US.[356] In an interview with the BBC Arabic service, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said, "[If] we had air cover, we would have averted what [has] happened".[357][358]
  • 29 June: ISIS announced the establishment of a new caliphate. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadiwas appointed as caliph, and the group formally changed its name to "Islamic State".[1]
July 2014
  • 2 July: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the new Islamic State, said that Muslims should unite to capture Rome in order to "own the world".[359][360]
  • 3 July: ISIS captured Syria's largest oil field from rival Islamist fighters, Al-Nusra Front. Facing no resistance, taking control of the al-Omar oil field gave ISIS crude reserves which could be useful to its advancing fighters.[361]

NOTABLE MEMBERS

Leaders
Other personnel

SEE ALSO

Portal iconIraq portal
Portal iconSyrian Civil War portal
Portal iconTerrorism portal

NOTES

  1. According to classical Islamic sources, Hilf al-Mutayyabin was an oath of allegiance taken in pre-Islamic times by several clans of the Quraysh tribe, in which they undertook to protect the oppressed and the wronged. The name "oath of the scented ones" apparently derives from the fact that the participants sealed the oath by dipping their hands in perfume and then rubbing them over the Kaʻbah. This practice was later adopted by the Prophet Muhammad and incorporated into Islam.[61]
  2. During the ceremony, the participants declared: "We swear by Allah…that we will strive to free the prisoners of their shackles, to end the oppression to which the Sunnis are being subjected by the malicious Shi'ites and by the occupying Crusaders, to assist the oppressed and restore their rights even at the price of our own lives… to make Allah's word supreme in the world, and to restore the glory of Islam…"[61]
  3. "Accordingly, the "Iraq and Shām" in the name of the Islamic State is henceforth removed from all official deliberations and communications, and the official name is the Islamic State from the date of this declaration."[75]
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Since it is generally thougth that ISIS(ISIL) is the biggest threat to the world at present (even though I personally see PUTIN as a much bigger threat), I decided to share this information in this format because I believe it will be helpful in finding ways to defeat ISIS(ISIL).


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