“A Look at Dangers Posed by the Islamic State Group”
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
ISIS: A New Threat Name:______________________________________________ Teaching with the News Online Resource 1 “A Look At Dangers Posed by the Islamic State Group” DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The ransom, illicit businesses, and other gangland- Islamic State militant group that has taken style criminal activity. over large parts of Syria and Iraq and declared Militarily, the group has seized heavy a self-styled caliphate poses one of the most weaponry, including tanks, artillery pieces and significant threats to stability in the Middle surface-to-surface missiles, from Iraqi and Syr- East in years. But what danger does it immedi- ian forces. Human Rights Watch has accused ately pose? the group of using ground-fired cluster muni- Here are some questions and answers tions in at least one place in northern Syria. about the Islamic State group: What danger does having the Does the Islamic State group Islamic State group holding this run a de facto country? territory in the Arab world pose? The Islamic State group holds roughly The world has seen the risk of allowing a a third of Iraq and Syria, including several state sympathetic to Islamic extremists exist strategically important cities like Fallujah and before. Al-Qaida was able to flourish and plot Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. It rules over the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in large part because a population of several million people with it had a safe haven in Taliban-controlled Af- its strict interpretation of Islamic law. It also ghanistan. controls many of the roads linking the com- The Islamic State group is a far superior munities it has conquered—although much of threat today than al-Qaida was in 2001. It is the territory in between is sparsely populated richer, operates a modern, effective media arm, desert. and holds much more territory than al-Qaida It claims thousands of heavily armed ever did. And while al-Qaida operated on the fighters, and has set up its own civil adminis- basis of a loose network of various cells in trations and judiciaries. different countries—a decentralization that “It acts as a state in areas that don’t have worked in its favor in the beginning—the a state at the moment. It’s effective because it group eventually could no longer centralize its provides services, it has a military presence, command in a coherent way. it speaks as a state,” said Hassan Hassan, an “With the Islamic State we are seeing a analyst at The Delma Institute in Abu Dhabi. highly centralized command and governing In propaganda videos, the group lays out structure which will require a new counter- ambitious expansion plans that include targets terrorism strategy in the region,” said Lina such as Baghdad, Damascus and Islam’s holi- Khatib, director of the Carnegie Middle East est city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Center in Beirut. Colin Clarke, a political scientist at the What resources does the Islamic RAND Corporation who researches global State group have? security, said even without the trappings of The Islamic State group controls oil fields, any kind of nationhood, the territory that the power plants, dams, and factories in Iraq and Islamic State group controls “can still prove to Syria. Charles Lister, an analyst who closely be an incubator for extremism...and exporter tracks jihadist groups at the Brookings Doha of terrorism.” Center in Qatar, estimates the group is capable of bringing in some $2 million a day just from the sale of oil. The group has long gener- ated cash too from extortion, kidnapping for THE CHOICES PROGRAM ■ WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY ■ WWW.CHOICES.EDU ISIS: A New Threat Name:______________________________________________ Teaching with the News Online Resource 2 Why has the Islamic State group Can the Islamic State group attracted so many young Muslims? export terrorism to the West? Both Iraq and Syria are rife with corrup- Western officials are concerned about the tion and weakened by sectarian divisions that threat posed by Islamic State sympathizers. the Islamic State group and other extremists They point to the case of Mehdi Nemmouche, exploit. a Frenchman who authorities say fought along- In an audio speech released in July, the side Islamic State militants before he shot four group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, listed people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in instances of alleged oppression of Muslims May. around the world, describing the “Islamic Analysts believe the group is foremost a State” as one that “will return your dignity, regional threat but acknowledge that “lone might, rights, and leadership.” wolf” attackers inspired by the group’s ideol- With its transnational agenda, the group ogy do threaten the West. has become a magnet for disenfranchised Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah warned last young Muslims from all over the world. week: “If neglected, I am certain that after a The group’s leader has called on scholars, month they (IS) will reach Europe and, after judges, doctors and engineers to flock to the re- another month, America.” British officials gion to help build the state. In a recent article, have raised the country’s terror threat level to the group’s English-language magazine offered “severe,” its second-highest level, because of them advice: “Do not worry about money or developments in Iraq and Syria. accommodation. ... There are plenty of homes and resources to cover you and your family.” Article by Adam Schreck and Zeina Karam. Does the Islamic State group Karam reported from Beirut. Associated want to strike the West? Press writer Matt Small in Washington contrib- The Islamic State group so far has shown uted to this report. little desire, let alone the capability, to launch Published September 2, 2014 <http:// major terrorist attacks in the West. But that bigstory.ap.org/article/look-dangers-posed- could change. islamic-state-group>. Islamic State militants called American Reprinted with Permission of the Associ- journalist James Foley’s gruesome videotaped ated Press. beheading revenge for U.S. airstrikes against the group, and they still hold at least three other Americans hostage, including freelance journalist Steven Sotloff. A video posted online Tuesday purported to show Sotloff’s beheading by the group. Apart from Foley’s killing and random threats by individual fighters, however, there are few other instances in which the Islamic State group officially threatened the U.S. or the West. This sets apart the group from al-Qaida, which has long made attacks on the West a priority. THE CHOICES PROGRAM ■ WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY ■ WWW.CHOICES.EDU.