A Radical Islamic Group in Iraqi Kurdistan: Ansar al-Islam Essay

Islamic States of Iraq and Sham ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, al Qaeda in Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Islamic State, Da’ish is an active group formed c. 2014. ISIS is a terrorist group that sole purpose is pushing their beliefs on others and if their religion isn’t accepted in the appropriate way (how they expected) they then result to violence. Da’ish is the official name of the terrorist group known as ISIS, dramatically arrived and shocked many people in the West. The horrifying and violent events that have occurred since the appearance if ISIS struck fear into the hearts of people all across the world. Even though fear is an extreme emotion, the hatred that came with it is even stronger and is more Ernest.

and coalition forces. A Jordanian militant by the name of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, aligned his organization, Jama’at al-Tawhidw’al-Jihad with al Qaeda, ultimately taking on the name al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). With the death of Zarqawi in 2006 from a U.S. airstrike and the reconciling of some Sunni led tribes with the Shia lead government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, AQI changed its focus to establishing a caliphate and took on the name ISIS (Laub 2015). Due to multiple ideological and strategic goals, mainly the indiscriminate targeting of civilians by ISIS militants, AQI and ISIS parted ways. Al Qaeda’s main focus was its main interest on attacking the United States and our Western allies, whereas ISIS was mainly driven by the idea of establishing the caliphate within the Middle

Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) also known as the League of the Righteous or al-Khazali Network which is Shia militia supported by Iranian government, functioning largely in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon. In June 2006, Qais al-Khazali was selected to be the leader of the group. AAH conducted many attacks against American troops and Iraqi forces and carried out sectarian attacks against Sunni groups. Qais al-Khazali is considered the founder of AAH however, he does not have the upper hand on AAH. Iraqi Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Kazem al-Haeri is considered the decision maker for al-Khazali Network. Al-Haeri has ordered AAH to fight alongside with Syrian’s regime forces. Since then AAH has joined the fight with Syrian forces against ISIS. Furthermore, AAH,

Both ISIS and the al Qaeda were radical anti-western militant groups that devoted themselves to creating an independent Islamic State in the region. However, ISIS, unlike al Qaeda, is significantly more brutal and effective at seizing and controlling it’s territory, and early in the year 2014, al Qaeda even disowned the Islamic State (Thompson et al.). The Islamic State goes by several names, most famously, and currently, ISIS, which is short for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISI, the Islamic State of Iraq (Tran). The third moniker is ISIL, officially, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Piven). Since its formation in 2004 ISIS has morphed from one title to the next, which is parallel to its rapid evolution in ten years. In June of 2014 ISIS changed its name once again, calling itself the State of the Islamic Caliphate, or SIC (M.R.). The theme among these titles is that they all contain the word “state,” and public officials and many residents of the region who oppose ISIS deny them the dignity of being called a state by calling them “Da’ish,” or as Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General, calls them “Non-Islamic Non-State (M.R.).” While there are various official and dignity denying names for the Islamic State, the media generally continues to call the group Islamic State or ISIS

15, 2006, when what is known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) was established. That groups was formed by uniting several groups, most notably al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Mujahedeen Shura Council in Iraq, and Jund al-Sahhaba [Soldiers of the Prophet’s Companions]. ISI took Baquba, Iraq, as its capital and swore allegiance to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as the group’s emir” (The Evolution of ISIS, 2013). Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, was considered the organization “lone-wolf,” as he would carry out numerous attacks, through assassinations, bombings, beheadings, and poisonings etc. It was said that he was the determining factor that initiated the civil war in Iraq between the Sunnis and the Shiites, in which it would cause the separations among the Muslim groups and make any attempt at a resistance limited. After the death of Al-Zarqawi, the Mujahedeen Shura Council swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and new leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria since 2010 (The Evolution of ISIS,

“The panicked reactions, fanned by right-wing politicians in the United States and Europe, to ‘declare war’ on the Islamic State are mostly just noise. None of those proposing that kind of response offer the slightest idea of how it would be done; all they have is an understandable desire, which we share, to obliterate the terrorist group also known as ISIS,” wrote the New York Times editorial board. Syria fell under a French Mandate after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following World War I, and then struggled to achieve independence. The Assad family used repressive police state measures to ensure a stable government in Syria. An increase of opposition caused Bashar al-Assad to inflict more brutality and dictatorship.

The Ansar al-Islam (AI) insurgent organization was established in 2001 in Iraqi Kurdistan with intentions of creating an Islamic caliphate in northern Iraq. The research paper will provide insight into the background, leadership, tactics, and objectives and transformation of AI. The paper will provide a chronological overview of the AI organization followed by a synopsis of the PMESIIPT variables and how their involvement in the Syrian civil war has facilitated in creation of the current situation. After each variable, the author will explain how each unique situation will affect Human Intelligence (HUMINT) operations in Syria as well as recommendations on how to successfully implement HUMINT into this theater of operations.

Terrorists groups like ISIS are making it harder for the Muslims to live peacefully. These people who consider themselves are manipulating the main message of Islam about peace and reconciliation. They are tarnishing the good Muslims who are actually following the real Islamic values. Queen Rania of Jordan, one of the most influential women in the Arab world, is against ISIS. She is a representative of the Muslim community that believes that Islam is about peace and groups like ISIS are not Muslims. In her exclusive interview with MailOnline of Jordan, she said, “It is nothing to do with religion. It's the antithesis of religion. Groups like ISIS are not motivated by faith; they are driven by materialistic gains – by greed, by power, and by the search for influence. ” ISIS is using

The rise of the Ba’th party in Iraq saw the development of a drive for a singular Iraqi national identity (Albert 2013). The Ba’th pursued a unique brand of Pan Arabism which sought to make Iraq the leader of the Arab world. In this unified Arab Iraq, the Kurds did not have a place and thus began decades of incredibly brutality and war, but it was this brutality that helped unite the various Kurdish political groups. Unification between Kurdish forces began to gain momentum with the development of the Iran-Iraq War. The two main Kurdish political groups, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), served as proxy forces for Iran and Iraq until in 1986 when Iran negotiated a truce (Entessar 1992). However, Saddam Hussein saw Kurdish unity as a threat and began a series of brutal military actions known as The Anfal Campaigns to destroy Kurdish unity and strength (Yildiz 2007). The Anfal Campaigns were a series of eight military offensive between the spring and summer of 1988 that gained international recognition because of the most deadly use of chemical warfare since WWI. The Anfal campaigns resulted in the displacement of 1.5 million refugees, mass executions, destruction of thousands of villages, and the death of hundreds of thousands Kurds. From eyewitness accounts, “Bombing

This new group was known as the Islamic State of Iraq. At this time, the group’s leaders were Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Both of them were killed in April 2010. After the two leaders were killed, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi stepped up to be the group’s new leader. Later on, he renamed his group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Ghosh, "ISIS: A Short History.").

This article centers around the infamous terrorist group, ISIS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. This leauge of terrorists is striking fear in the hearts of people around the world, with videos being released of ISIS hostages being brutally murdered, as well as various attacks to important historical landmarks, and the takeover of an area as large as the United Kingdom in an extremely short amount of time. Some have referred to ISIS as the “J.V.” version of Al Quaeda. In the absence of Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Quaeda, this group has only grown larger and more powerful, people from all around the globe have begun to join and support this group of extremists.In recent times, many countries had underestimated the ability

Islamic state of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) also rendered as Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as the Arabic phrase Da’esh and self-described as Islamic State was formed in April 2003 but was established in 2006, growing out of al- Qaeda in Iraq. It has since been abjured by al- Qaeda. Isis has a treasury of 2 billion making it the richest terrorist organization also it has become one of the main jihadist groups fighting government forces in Syria and Iraq because of it vast amount of fighters estimated from 7,000-12,000 with 3,000-5,000 being foreign fighters. The leader of ISIS is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Not many people know about but it is believed that he was born north of Baghdad, in 1971 and joined the armed rebellion against the US that erupted in Iraq soon after the 2003 US-led invasion.

ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is also known as ISIL, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The Levant refers to a larger region of the Middle East, therefore involving more countries other than Syria. President Obama refers to this malicious, relentless terrorist group as such due to their threat in multiple areas in the Middle East. This truly establishes the multitude of the presence of ISIS in this area. However, ISIS refuses to limit the countries in their path of destruction to simply the Middle East, but has made convincing threats to America, namely the members of our armed forces, (“Beheading Video Sends Brutal Message”) and the American population in general. ISIS pursued their threats to maintain and sustain growth of their caliphate by the killing of two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff. This has certainly caused America to consider the level of seriousness of ISIS and determine the extensiveness of their plans. The United States plays a pivotal role in limiting the power and harm inflicted on its own population, as well as the global population by this terrorist group. An effective course of action must be taken against this group to ensure the safety of our citizens. The United States should primarily seek to utilize their armed forces as opposed to air strikes to successfully eliminate ISIS, and must engage with ISIS in order to ensure its demise for the safety of the global population.

The Kurds have given basic help with vanquishing ISIS. Notwithstanding when outgunned, the Kurds have been the most solid and successful battling power against ISIS, both in Iraq and in Syria. For over 50 years, the Kurds of northern Iraq have kept up a warm yet prudent association with our partner Israel. What's more, Iran restricts autonomy in light of the fact that an autonomous Kurdish state in northern Iraq will be an obstruction to more noteworthy Iranian administration in the Arab world. (Nader (2010)

ISIS is known today for its impending threat to society and causing thousands of deaths. But when did this group originate? Honestly, no one really knew when ISIS came to be. Some sources trace the group back to 1999 (Miller, 2016), while others say that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria emerged around 2011. The most common belief is that ISIS stemmed from the group Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI was formed after the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003. Al-Qaeda in Iraq was backed by the Shiite militia of the Sunni tribes until 2007 when the government of Baghdad encouraged citizens to no longer support AQI. At this point people began to think that AQI had been defeated, but the group resurfaced during the uprising in Syria over their dictator Bashar al-Assad. AQI had many contacts in Syria because they would go there to resupply during the Iraq War. AQI decided to relocate their group to Syria when the uprising turned into a civil war. After moving, the group renamed themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). At the time Al-Qaeda was already trying to establish an “Al-Qaeda in Syria” and wanted this ISIS group to “remain separate.” Some members of AQI wanted to stay loyal to Al-Qaeda and started a war with their renamed partners, ISIS. After the war between the two groups ended, ISIS had officially separated themselves from Al-Qaeda and have become what we know them as today (Cassis, 2015). Now, ISIS has been a threat to the world for nearly a decade. The