ISIS, a potential long term threat

August 28, 2014 · by PittFaced · in Uncategorized

The ISIS terrorist group was a long time in the making, as new information suggests from the West Point Counter-Terrorist Column. As many people may know, the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq left a power gap open to anyone willing to claim it. This well-equipped and battle tested group was formed back in 2006 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, its goal, to form a new Islamic state in the Middle East. ISIS is an extremist group, stressing strict Islamic law, and carrying out public floggings and beheadings to those who disobey. ISIS is so extreme that Al Qaeda has denied any relation to their activities. ISIS has been raging war against all that have opposed them so far, so they are not just an Anti-NATO group. On top of all this, ISIS is currently the world richest terrorist group, with almost a half billion in funds. Since the United States has pulled out troops from that region, ISIS now has control over territory ranging from to Aleppo in Syria to Baghdad in Iraq. While many political advisors in the US considered ISIS a short term regime, the new report suggests that this group might outlast the Obama Presidency despite counter terroristic operations and local resistance. Many military official are curious to see how the regime holds up as they try to govern their growing territory and how they will deal with leadership changes when they occur because it is still thought that this will be ISIS’s potential weakness. Much of the success of ISIS is due to their strong campaigning for members, especially amongst teenagers, which raises international. Another aspect to their success was the unorganized and weak opposition to their advances. The new report from West Point also says that the threat of ISIS is growing and they are more powerful than they were 6 months prior. While the US has only been involved in air strikes within northern Iraq, there is debate whether the US, or its allies will become more involved in the region within the next months. However a 9/11 style offensive is highly unlikely, claims West Point.