Entering into this project my main focus was on the Islamic State or ISIL, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. I researched three main topics within ISIS and those were, ISIL financial operations, foreign recruits and its spiritual background.

ISIS is funded is through oil smuggling and mostly foreign, anonymous allocations of weapons, supplies and money. A complex system of oil smuggling networks has been set up for some time. These same tactics of smuggling oil  across the Turkish border from Syria and Iraq, were the same ones used during Sadam Husseins reign in power so that he could avoid heavy sanctions against him. This makes it easy for ISIL to pick up right where he left off and could help explain their rapid rise to power in the region. ISIL has been smuggling oil to Iraqi Kurdistan, where it is then sold to countries like Turkey and Jordan. The US estimates ISIL is profiting millions weekly. This helps to relieve some of the financial stress that they incur from paying salaries to fighters and field commanders. Control of oil fields is essential to holding power in the region and allows them to control territory, unlike its counterpart, al-Aqaeda. The group has control of about half a dozen oil fields that are located in Najmah, Al Qayyarah, Hajil and Hamrin Iraq. Along with funding from oil and anonymous donors , ISIL has control of numerous other resources, such as the ability to print money and make their own passports. These too, are crucial to holding power in the region because they do not have to rely on anybody for these resources but themselves.

Another addition to ISIL’s stronghold is the pool of human capital that they regularly draw from. The zeal of fighting for an extreme cause has seemed to catch the ears and hearts of thousand of young fighters and fighters wives from all over the world. ISIL has field commanders from Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, Australia, Georgia and possibly Russia. They are also well trained and paid. This allows ISIL to be run with keen military and civil expertise, unlike many volunteer rebel groups in the area. The field officers mentioned above are almost all former military commanders of their respective countries or former regimes. This abundance of expertise is a significant advantage in their campaign and allows them replace personnel after experiencing casualties. Every other week an ISIS field officer is killed in an air strike but is seamlessly replaced. The experience most of the  officers bring to the table comes from previous wars against the far and near enemy, both of whom they are battling right now. Knowledge of terrain and tactics in the area is yet another edge for the military core of ISIL. This brings up an interesting fact.  Almost every high ranking official, who holds a position of significance, is a former commander of Sadam Hussein. Many have been killed in battle but again, some how, are replaced. These officers help to explain the ease with which ISIL smuggles oil and funds itself, as well as the civil expertise it takes to run a small empire. As mentioned earlier, the oil smuggling routes have been in place since the Hussein Regime and continue to be used today.

ISIL caught my attention not just because of the brutality they inflict on enemies but because of the overall message I felt that they were portraying to the world. This masquerade was that of a ancient spiritual group that is to bring forth the Apocalypse and true justice to the world in the name of ALLAH. Along the way they were to break down all Western world barriers. In my eyes It was the pinnacle of the holy war that has been waged in the region for a millennium. Dating back  to the crusades. I have to admit that this sparked my interest because of the rush that comes from such ideas. To me, this was the source of their power, along with military expertise. I genuinely felt that they were believers and this faith gave them the ability to be so brutal in their campaign. These deep beliefs, however, are most likely held by very few within the ISIS organization. There are stories of many disaffected, who are only fighting for ISIS because of the decent pay they receive in comparison to the meager one they would receive other wise. It is also apparent that only Baghdadi and a hand full of influential decision makers within ISIS are true believers. As for the others, they are merely remnants of the Hussein regime still hungry for power. They will use anybody and everybody to get what they want, which to me is still unknown. It could be the rid of all Western ideas and then a totalitarian rule over the people.

After researching what ISIS is, I found things that I was not looking for. ISIS is not the hope for the world that they proclaim to be but a front for the undying ideologies of Sadam Hussein and other dictators. The very thing that ISIS is fighting against, oppressive authoritarian regimes, is exactly what they have become. They have absolute hunger for territory and power but no real direction on how to maintain it and what it’s  future holds. Do they truly believe that once they acquire significant territory for a substantial amount of time, which could already be true, the near and far enemy will let them rule it peacefully? There is no end game but war, unjust war.

When looking at the situation ISIS and other rebel groups are in through the perspectives in globalization lens, it becomes blurry. Many of their members are radicals in the sense that they have nothing to lose and will eliminate all unbelievers but do not care for a true democracy and are not believers themselves. In a sense, many of them are acting as political realist because they are only fighting for the ISIL cause in name of their interest and not ALLAH. As a whole, the organization also covers the spectrum of perspectives. Although there actions show that they are radicals, underneath the surface, one could argue that they are political realist or market liberals. ISIL could can be seen as a political realist regime if you look at their operations. In the past, al-Qaeda and its affiliates were sworn enemies of ISIL. Because of added pressure from the far enemy through air strikes and intelligence , ISIL has folded and formed alliances with al-Qaeda in Libya, Yemen and Syria, among others. If necessary the top leaders will bend their ideals in order for the organization to continue in the direction that best suits it’s interest, much like that of the enemy. ISIL can also be seen as market liberal corporation. It literally funds itself in the freest market on earth, the BLACK market, to evade taxes and formal red tape. It also funds itself on the free flow of cash and its liquidity is essential to operations because of the velocity at which it is able to move. This efficiency helps ISIL to purchase the necessary resources for day to day operations. Without this free flow of currency, ISIL does not exist. Cosmopolitanism can arguably be touched upon also. ISIL’s main recruitment tactic is of the cosmopolitan nature. Each and every recruit is inspired so much that they would sacrifice their lives for an end they will never see in this lifetime. They may come from all over the world but each individual is contributing to the greater cause, whatever that may be, and this idea of adding to the bigger scheme of things, through individual actions and faith, is cosmopolitan.

ISIL exist because of a few reason and one of those is because of the Arab Spring. Throughout the Arab world each and every revolution was different because of many reasons. In Tunisia the dictator, Ben Ali, was peacefully overthrown by the very class he helped to prosper through two decades of free higher education. They realized their education was high enough to govern themselves and they were correct. In Libya, Ghadaffi was forcefully decapitated and sodomized by the people he had oppressed  and murdered. They realized that people being beheaded on national television was the last straw. Even though these are two extremes, the one thing they have in common is that they had dictators with absolute power. Tunisia has been successful in comparison to other countries because there was no real power vacuum. Tunisia had always been a strong country with people who voted. It was a soft dictatorship and the people did have some input with the direction of the country. This meant there was no one power that could easily assume office because it was in place before the revolution, it had many. This kept the power structure in check. In other areas, such as Libya and Yemen, the story is different. Many of these countries citizens live in poverty and are not highly educated. This means that surviving is the first rule of thumb and voting is almost nonexistent. This is exactly the type of country ISIL targets. While a countries internal politics are weak, ISIL is working hard to insert itself into a position of power. This can be directly seen in Libya. Libya currently has no official power structure. There are two rival governments battling over territory with various rebels adding to the conflict. At the height of violence, ISIL enters the realm and established power. They also did this in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. The Arab Spring is a direct contributor to why ISIS exist.

My final thoughts are that ISILL is not what I thought they were. For as long I could I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they truly believed in breaking down unjust social, cultural and political barriers in the name of ALLAH. Not that I agreed with the way they went about it, but at least it was something I thought was organic and was a result of the near and far enemy encroaching on territory. Unfortunately, this is not true. ISIL are not believers at all, and the ones who claim to be true believers should be ashamed of themselves for associating with the likes an evil Hussein regime. If your going to fight for a just cause then by all means fight! But don’t sacrifice ideals on the way because then it will be all in vain. ISIL leaders, including Baghdadi, may be educated in Islam, and have keen military experience, but do they know about building just societies? Do they know of the struggles man experiences when decisions are made? Don’t they know that they are on the brink of touching the untouchable, true freedom? My answer is no, ISIL knows nothing of the sort. They are traveling full force into the future so far that we will return to the dark ages.

In recent news, the US Naval warship USS Theodore Roosevelt has been sent to meet up with other aircraft carriers in the waters outside of Yemen to intercept Iranian ships carrying weapons and supplies to Houthi Rebels. The US has been increasing its presence since it has received intelligence of activity in the region. Along with that, the US has also been providing logistical and intelligence support to Saudi forces. The Houthi’s are a Shiite religous group in a Sunni dominated region. They are being backed by Iran to overthrow a US backed government which is why we have so much vested among other things.

Another article I came across was ISIS claims increasing stake in Yemen carnage. This discuss the ongoing power struggle that is Yemen. al-Qaeda and ISIS are taking an increasing stake in Yemen as the countries government dissolves. ISIS has now claimed the Yemen province of Lahj which is usually occupied by AQAP. This has furthered complications in US foreign policy because there main target is being targeted. They now have three parties to operate against.

I tie these articles together by the fact that US is involved in both situations. This complicating US foreign policy is an understatement. What does this mean for the apparent negotiations going on with Iran about nuclear weapons? Is this a power move by the US to give some sort of stabilization to the region while they try to sort out to presence of third party ISIS? Well, time will tell. All of this chaos, is really mind boggling. The US is constantly showing their political realist colors by adapting in every situation. Sometimes we act as enforcers or in other cases nurturers. It’s all because of our self interest. Look at the warship situation. We negotiate with Iran one week and then threaten them the next. But this is not entirely the US’ fault. Many of the activities going on in the region called for this free flowing government.

The two articles that I found are about recent violence that ISIS has inflicted. The first one is ISIS Beheads Blasphemer and the second is Yarmouk Refugees Describe ISIS Raid. In the first it describes how ISIS has recently increased the severity and frequency of their executions. ISIS recently released some of its most graphic videos and this is added to the all ready blown-up reputation behind them. Many believe this is still just a tactic to promote propaganda to others in the outside world. The second article was about the raid on Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp, by ISIS. After defeating various militias outside of the town, ISIS the proceeded to raid the town, executing residents along the way. Around 5,000 people have fled while other remain trapped in what are calling the “circle of hell” This town is another example of al-Qaeda and ISIS working together to control other powers in the area. It is estimated that 90% of the town is controlled by these two groups and they are actively removing any other operations.

There are two things that I take away from these articles. One is that ISIS is increasing its propaganda for a reason. They are either becoming weaker because of the loss of personnel and need more recruits or because they’re in-fighting. ISIS has recently began cleansing its inner circle of any remnants of Iraqi officers. Could this new surge of recruitment be an attempt to fill the void that is being made by this split in factions. For me, there is no other reason to ramp up killings and take over a weak town but to portray a sense of power that can be maintained even without the powerful influence of for Iraqi officers. Whether this is true or not, ISIS needs the powerful intelligence apparatus more than the apparatus needs them. If this split continues to go in this direction then we may be looking at new more powerfiul  enemy who was in front of the whole time.

I found two articles, U.S. Sees New Threat In Iraq for Sufi Sect and ISIS Rounds up ex-Baathists. Both of these articles are about the Nashqbandi Sufi-Militant group. The first article talks about the initial arrival of the group and its origins. Their leader is Izzmat Ibrahim al-Douri, former Vice President under Hussein. He has been on the US Most Wanted list since the Iraqi invasion of 2003 and this article was released in 2009. The second article read was about ISIS rounding up ex-Baath party officers and eliminating them. Ever since Mosul experienced yet another power change, there has been a rift between ISIS and the Sufi militants who helped put them on the fast track to power in the region. Some feel that these are preemptive measures to control any dissidence within the organization.

These two articles are interesting because of the timeline. In 2009, almost nobody knew who ISIS was but yet this small but powerful sufi militant group was known. Is this just by chance or did Sadam Hussein’s evil genius continue to work even after his death. What else is intersing, is that if ISIS is taking these measures to eliminate former Iraqi officers then they are going to have to eliminate their entire intelligence apparatus. For me, this confirms previous thoughts that ISIS is internally weak. Not because they are not powerful enough but because they not truly believe in what they are doing and anything that has the potential to expose that will be destroyed.

The two articles I chose to analyze were Yemen’s Civil War Forges Alliance Between al-Qaeda and ISIS and Sadam’s Ex-Officer: We’ve Played Key Role In Helping Militants.

The first article talks about the chaos that is the Yemen civil war. With the legal government in shambles, there is a power vacuum occurring much like that in Libya and Syria. This power vacuum has allowed militant groups like ISIS to come in and fight for a considerable amount of power. This power will now be amplified by the so-called “unholy” alliance between ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliate, AQAP.  Once sworn enemies are now working together against the rebel Houthis and could soon take over Yemen. The second article was about Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a former Iraqi officer under Hussein. In this article, al-Douri claims that ISIS is only a small player in the events that have occurred in Iraq and possibly every where else in the region. There are apparently five major groups operating in the region of which ISIS is not the major player. The major player is Nashqbandi, the group that al-Douri heads. Now this is a bold claim, given the fact that ISIS is in the headlines these days.

These two articles are related in the sense that in one, ISIS is the major player operating in the area, and in one they’re not. These findings that Hussein is still influencing events in the middle east are astounding. Is ISIS just a puppet in the grand scheme of an evil architect? Quite possibly. ISIS’ core group of intelligence officers are almost all former Iraqi officers under Hussein. And now, to learn that ISIS is only one of five forces in the area, I don’t know what to think. Is it all just one big charade? One thing is confirmed for me, ISIS are not true believers and are the true infidels. Those who are sacrificing themselves in the name of freedom and who fight against imperialist are the true believers. Hussein’s officer are only in it for the power and are using religion as a driving force to bring people together.

Two things that I am interested in researching further are the ways ISIS recruits from all over the world, and what the power status is in Libya. The two articles I read are a few examples of the power struggle in Libya, and a who’s who of foreign recruits.

When it comes to the variety of people fighting for ISIS, there is no shortage. ISIS has field commanders that come from Tunisia, London and as far as America and Georgia of the former Soviet Union. I found numerous articles of tales of the disaffected and even a few Americans who caught the wave of inspiration that ISIS radiates. The article that most caught my eye was,The Secret Life of an ISIS Warlord. This article goes into the life of Omar The Chechen, a top field commander from ISIS. Omar originated from Georgia of the former Soviet Union and was in the Georgian army. Before transferring to the ISIS regime, Omar was also an officer in the Georgian army. Apparently his battle field experience started as a youth, fighting alongside Russian rebels. By the time Omar reached the legit ranks of military, he was prime for war. Omar lead many successful campaigns for the Georgian army and rose through the ranks. A back injury, paired with the death of his mother, would send him into dissolution. Because of his injury, Omar was not able to reenlist and this left a void that could not be filled. Following the departure of his older brother to Libya, Omar went to fight along side ISIS forces. The question to ask now is, how far is ISIS’ reach? If ISIS can recruit a Georgian as well as western foreigners, then how long will this war last? With an apparent pool of to choose from, ISIS is now resourcing talent in interesting ways. ISIS has talented personnel that are savvy in western media, war tactics, organizational skills and anything in between. This could be the source to their success. They are appealing to the easily influenced youth of the modern world, all while sticking to powerful old world spiritual fundamentalism and war tactics of waging jihad that have been used in that area for generations. Is ISIS the pinnacle of the rebel sectarian culture that has dominated the region? If so, then Baghdadi’s claim to being the caliph and bringing forth the 6th caliphate may not be so preposterous. But then again, does Baghdadi truly believe that he is the next Muslim Emperor? It’s not hard to criticize his harsh tactics in conquering land. I don’t think that a true leader of people could be so unsympathetic toward those that don’t believe in what he does especially when that leaders actions completely contradict his beliefs. Be-headings and imprisonment go against the very basic teachings of the Qur’an but ISIL feels that this is the only way to cleanse their land of the infidels, which is the broader and more important goal to them so that they can bring forth the 6th caliphate. It’s almost as if they have reached a status where they reveal to the world that borders and laws are not really finite but things made by the old and western worlds. To them, common cultural beliefs transcend these borders and cannot be defeated because it is an idea and not a thing.

The second article that I found was Tripoli-backed fighters sent to Sirte to confront ISIL. Although ISIL has presence in many places, they are not the only ones in LIbya. Since Moammar Ghadafi was brutally taken out of office, there has been a serious power vacuum. As many a three major groups are fighting for power, all of whom have several smaller rebel groups supporting them. The UN-Recognized government has almost no power in Libya, while other groups are vying for it. Libya has a new contender, ISIL. They are the newest regime to enter the battle realm that is Libya, many of whom have been in place before Ghadafi’s  fall. What does this mean for the future of the middle east? Is Baghdadi’s proclamation of him the new Caliph true? Yes and no. Yes in the sense that ISIL has taken up a considerable amount of actual territory that they control, along with being able to print their own money and passports, which essentially means they are a nation. This is something that al-Qaeda or the Taliban has done or wants to do. I’m certain it is a daunting task to run a grassroots revolution while running a Caliph, as they believe. But is this new occupation of territory an all encompassing  movement of Islamic unity or just the agenda of ISIS while the majority suffers the affects of war. There are highly influential Islamic leaders that feel ISIS is a group of heretics and feel that they are destroying the religion as a whole, which very well might be their intent. Out with the old, in with the new.

The two articles that I looked at are What ISIS Really Wants and New ISIS Propaganda Video May Feature Latest American Recruit. These are two very different articles with ISIS being the common denominator. In the first, I found information about ISIS’ objectives and the means it uses to reach them. ISIS follows a strict interpretation of the Qur’an which includes executions, crucifixion and slavery. The group considers anybody who is not a Salafist(about 20 million people) an apostate whom they then execute. Executions are not only reserved for apostates but to heads of state who threaten ISIS’ power control. Christians are suppose to be immune from persecution as long as they admit to defeat in the holy war and pay a tax called jizya. Their young leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the self-proclaimed caliph and if true, would be the first in centuries. Even with this self-proclamation, he is widely supported by other legitimate groups as being the true caliph. As the true caliph, Baghdadi plans to execute the prophecy of Muhammed in the Qur’an which includes purging, and an apocalypse that is to be started by waging jihad. So far Baghdadi has been quite successful but seems to be folding under pressure with recent deaths of high profile members. He has also been successful in recruiting members.

This magnetic ideology that ISIS professes has caught the attention of many around the world. ISIS has recruited members from all walks of life and this includes college students, professionals, former military personnel from all over Europe and the Arab World, and people who just seem to be looking for purpose in the world. An example of the diversity within ISIS can be shown in the ranks alone. ISIS has field commanders that originate from Georgia of the former USSR, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt and many other Arab countries. An American has yet to make to the upper ranks but there have been numerous reports of American dying in battle while fighting for ISIS. In the second article, ISIS propaganda, it informed of a high ranking ISIS field officer named, Omar al-Shasani (Omar the Chechen), who is a formally trained Russo-Georgian. He was a Sargent in the military there, fought in wars and had apparently been helping Russian rebels in battle from a young age. This diversity is something that should be monitored as it could be detrimental to society as a whole. If more people continue be recruited then more people will attracted to it. In my opinion this will be especially true for the disaffected who have nothing to lose and who have a vendetta against society.

Two articles that I read and will be comparing are ISIS In Libya: How Powerful Is Militant Group’s Franchise?, and ISIS Uses Intelligence to Purge Opponents. The ISIS in Libya article was very interesting because of all the different variables involved. Not only do you have the invasion of ISIS but also a split government, the preexisting  militant group(Ansar al-Shariah), and a rogue general. Another fact to note is that the leader ISIS sent to rule in western Libya is Tunisian. Could it be that Tunisia’s revolution was aided by ISIS and that they have some sort of control there also. If so, then ISIS is a forced to be reckon with. In the article it stated that ISIS already had 400 Tunisian and Yemini militants in the city of Sirte. Another connection from the class that I found in this reading was that ISIS is now  recruiting al-Qaeda members versus fighting them like in Iraq and Syria. My question is, could these same al-Qaeda Libyans be ones that were oppressed by Moammar Gaddafi in Benghazi ? Could it be, that the hate Moammar Gaddafi bread within his country is still around? My answer would be yes. Something else that caught my attention was that the elected Libyan government has no control over power or resources. If that’s the case, then who does?

The ISIS intelligence article was very enlightening. It went into great detail about how ISIS operates and the tactics it uses when occupying new territory. ISIS’ intelligence is, well…intelligent. Many high profile security officers from the previous regime have joined ISIS and are now giving their valued experience to the organization.  According to the article, one of the intelligence apparatus’ most important job is to find enemies of the regime and eliminate them immediately so that no outsider can infiltrate the organization. This is based off of the extreme Salfist belief that the land should be purged of any opposition. The people they purge against include anybody who opposes them, especially tribal sheikhs that are in cahoots with governments and Awakening movement members who have fought against jihadist groups. So the question is, how many influential people have they killed and who are they? Well, it seems to me that ISIS is weak and scared. They are losing leaders daily and are beginning to tighten their grip in the upper levels of leadership. This can mean two things; there is in-fighting within ISIS or heavy pressure is being put on them by other intelligence agencies who are picking off ISIS leaders one by one.  Either way they are definitely trying to show there power by with the beheading of 20 Christians and its invasion of Libya. Or maybe they are showing their weakness and that their stronghold in Iraq and Syria may not be so strong anymore, so they are now attempting to cover new areas in new ways.

Two things that I recently posted on Diigo talk about the 2012 Benghazi terror attack on the American Embassy. Among those killed was high profile U.S. ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens. I chose to look up Benghazi because of the discussion we had about the Libyan revolution in class and its impact. The first article that I read came from April 2, 2014, which is almost two years after the attack. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that the attacks were coming out of Benghazi and not Tripoli. In our reading for the week, it talked about Benghazi being a place that has groomed activist and revolutionaries for decades, many of whom made it to the upper echelon of al Qaeda. This came to the fore front after the 2012 attack which happened to come on the 11 year anniversary of 9/11. Many U.S. officials, including former CIA director Mike Morell, strongly believe that the attacks were Benghazi Islamists with ties to al Qaeda. I find it intersting that no matter who the leadership of the country is, these radical groups still seem to have vendettas against society.

The second article that I read about was written Oct. 18, 2012, only 1 month after the U.S. Embassy attack. This is an article highlighted more evidence that al Qaeda was behind the attack. In the article it discusses a group called Ansar Al Sharia which is based out of Benghazi. The leader of this group, Abu Safian bin Qumu has strong ties to al Qaeda trainings camps and Bin Laden. It reaffirms everything that our readings have talked about. Oppression by Gaddafi only made these radical Islamists stronger and more radical. It is now the American citizens and global citizens that must pay the price for misconstrued ideologies.

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