ISIS Effects On Children

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as Isis, terror group has been an important issue in the United States for the past couple of years. After the recall of troops from Iraq, radical Islamist movements started to begin and Isis was formed. The first issue of Isis is they have grown in numbers over the years. Secondly, Isis controls thousands of square miles of ungoverned territory. Their high supply of troops and land allows them to creatively think of major attacks, including attacks on the U.S. Lastly, when people see the attacks from Isis, some people naturally gravitate towards these groups. Two months after 9/11 attacks Osama Bin Laden said “When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse.” Isis will continue to grow in power if countries do not come together to help totally eliminate them.

This group’s roots trace back to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who set up Jihad in 2002. A year after the United States invaded Iraq, Zarqawi pledged allegiance to Osama Bin Laden, and founded Al-Qaeda in Iraq. After Zarqawi’s death his followers created an umbrella organization ISI, or Islamic State in Iraq. In 2003 the Islamic State renamed itself to the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant. Now ISIS is using propaganda to recruit Westerners to their cause. Most people who are being recruited have no connection to ISIS, or Syria at all. There is no initiation process to join ISIS. One just has to be willing to commit acts of terror, and be a cold blooded killer. To be recruited one must find a Jihadi mentor. The

According to American intelligence officials, 20,000 foreigners and at least 3,400 Westerners have joined the Islamic State’s cause and are now fighting on the frontline in Iraq and Syria. Unlike the British in WW1, ISIS doesn’t use propaganda posters to recruit new fighters, they use social medias like Twitter, Facebook, and Whatsapp to reach their target audience in a language it understands. According to U.S. States Department spokeswoman,

As this quote from Riyad Al-Najem states, “In some areas the main reason of child recruitment is poverty, parents can’t find food for their kids, so they push them into armed groups to get money and food.” (PBS 2016) This shows how through being poor extra income is needed to have a good life. Other children are fighting because they have nothing to make money and no one to give them food and provide necessities. A boy named Charlie who was highlighted in an article by NPR interviewing Alexandra Zavis, “....his only source of income was a stall that was attacked and destroyed when his town was invaded by rebel troops about a year ago. And he made the decision to join the same rebels that had destroyed his livelihood because he needed a way to survive.”(NPR 2014) As you can now clearly see when nothing is left for you to live you are almost needed to find a way to make money and for these kids, it is through war. One kid also was fighting to provide yet again, this becomes especially evident when he says, “... I would be beaten up by people my age who were part of the Al Shabab… They made me want to join the TFG so I can defend myself.”(The New York Times 2010) As you can see all kids want to do is provide, and they sometimes choose the only option, and this is one of the main reasons why the world is still teeming with child

They carry messages to different camps and spy on government forces. Unfortunately, numerous children are caught while on the job. Others surrender to the government and then are detained for working for a rebel group, instead of being integrated back into a community. One of the major jobs of a child soldier is being a troop. When armies recruit children, they make sure they are able to find the most children in the most vulnerable places (Mancini 30). Ninety percent of the Lord’s Resistance Army are children (Mancini). Kids are sometimes forced to kill a family member or watch them be killed. Most younger children are recruited as suicide bombers. Children do not get stopped by armed forces when they run around a community. Therefore, they are able to bring out any sort of attack ( Mancini 21). Children recruited as suicide bombers are easily influenced into thinking that after they carry out their mission, they will go to heaven (25). One-third of child troops in the world are girls (56). When girls are exposed to killing family members and abducting other children, their girlhood is warped and relationships towards people change dramatically (58). On the other hand, girls may experience pleasure while battling on the front line because they finally feel equal to men. The girls that are not fighting on the battlefield are the “wives.” They are the children that are raped and prematurely give birth to kids whose

The article, ISIS is Training an Army of Child Soldiers, says, “ISIS typically pays between $250 and $350 per child per month, and thus many families have willingly sent their children to ISIS due to their material needs.” This is showing the parents are willing to give up their children for money for themselves to remain living. Another excerpt from, ISIS is Training an Army of Child Soldiers, says, “ISIS organizes festivals at mosques and in public squares to brainwash the children in attendance.” This is telling us that the recruiters are going to family areas to either kidnap the children right from their parents or buying children off of

Child suicide bombing is a big issue that is about how people are kidnapping children(mostly girls) and taping bombs onto them to blow up the area were they kidnappers want them to explode. “Of the 134 suicide bombers whose age could be determined, 60% were teenagers or children. The youngest suicide bomber identified to date was just 7 years old” CNN says. This issue is taking advantage of teenagers and others. Since the kidnappers don’t want to get caught or blown up they take children that their parents sold and strap explosives on them to do the work for them. Of course this is outrageous issue, but instead of not killing themselves they wanted to think smart and use others.As well as regularly employing women to

The use of children in the terrorist group, Islamic State in Iraq exposes these child soldiers to extreme violence and exploitation. Children are kidnapped and sent to the military training camps, where they practice beheading with dolls. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child claimed the militants force kids into service as suicide bombers. Research with former child soldier, commanders will supply child soldiers with marijuana and

There is no denying that Muslims are treated differently now, and ISIS has seen that and has used that to their advantage. ”Some are alienated by harassment or discrimination against Muslims at home, and want to join what they see as a pro-Muslim movement. Some, according to the ISD, enjoy the shocking violence.The ISD study, which examined the social-media postings of Western women who joined ISIS, found the women "celebrate the violence of ISIS, unequivocally."” (Why girls join) In the past women were seen as the people in society that would never condone violence, but the changing role of women has also changed the way they see violence. ISIS wants to find people who celebrates another western terrorist dying, and they do not care what gender. They have found a new demographic and because of that they are increasing the amount of people willing to commit acts of terror. Females often long for the sense of family and community, and when that is taken away since they can easily go into a state of depression, especially if that is all they have, “And for some women, there are benefits to joining ISIS. Many are given free housing and food. Others find a sense of camaraderie and sisterhood" (Why girls join). IS has invaded many Middle Eastern countries and turned them into war zones and has left thousands of people dead or living in terrible conditions. ISIS promises the people that are barely living everything that they desire. This can consist of a safe home, food, water, and most importantly the feeling of community once again. ISIS has created a plan to ensure that people will join the “cause”, and everything they have done, whether it was creating social media accounts or raiding countries for all of their belongings has had an end goal of getting

Point two Children being used as soldiers by multiple groups such as ISIS and Local Militias

Utilizing children and adolescents as a weapon and turning them into suicide bombers is a very effective strategy for terrorist. Children, along with some women, under the Geneva Accords and other international treaties are mainly seen as “privileged noncombatants.” (Sawicki, 2016) “Children are likely to be able to approach a target more easily, evade scrutiny and, in general, catch the target with its guard lowered.” Sawicki also pointed out, you have to kill a suspected suicide bomber before they determinate. Which terrorist can use and spin the story of a child being killed and use it as propaganda to send the message, “the State is killing unarmed women and children.” (Sawicki, 2016).

ISIS preys on teenagers that feel that they are not wanted or do not “belong”.“They’re often times searching for an identity, because what the jihadis are actually pushing is a specific narrative, which is: Your people are being oppressed in this place called Syrian; your government is doing nothing; we’re the only ones who are actually going to help you out,” (Peritz)“Why don’t you join the fight?”. They offer a home for teens who feel they don't have family, they often lower them in by social media and propaganda ISIS also tries to lower in teens who are unsure on their

ISIS is currently a substantial threat to the Iraqi people as well as globally. The Iraqi politician and Human Rights Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani states that "ISIS is not just an Iraqi phenomenon, but it is a transnational phenomenon that poses an imminent danger to all countries of the world, it defies all human rights principles and international law," (Moore, "Isis Declared 'Global Threat' as UN Mulls Emergency 'War Crimes' Investigation") The reason why this is now becoming an international threat is because ISIS has been able to grow quickly due to the fact that they are able to effortlessly obtain fighters from across the globe. ISIS was able to accomplish this through the use of social media by acquiring popularity within

Mothers are clearly an important influence in the article “Mothers of ISIS”. In all of the stories documented by these mothers, their child had kept in touch with them despite what was happening around them. However, just because they had close connections with their mother towards the beginning of their journey, does not mean they were close in the end. According it the the article, “The mother is extremely important in Jihadist Islam…..you have to ask her permission to go on Jihad or to say goodbye.” So this would explain why the recruitment fighters sought out for their mothers at the beginning of their journey. Most of the recruited seemed to not have active father figures in their lives which can lead them susceptible to other males as

Social media has played a big part in this story, making it easy to make plans and execute them. "In spite of ISIS 's ferocious social media presence, partly responsible for successful enlistments -- its affiliates posted 129,600 tweets in 2014 alone, before some 500 accounts were deactivated -- till late 2015, ISIS had lured and converted only some 17 Indians to its cause, according to United Nations and the US National Counterterrorism Centre statistics." (Daniels). It is easier to meet on an anonymous online chat room via. Facebook than it is to fly thousands of miles for a terrorist meeting. But the dangerous part is, when to believe ISIS. A case in India states that a family hired a tutor for their son who apparently was part of ISIS.