JulietteHooperHooper1

Williams
English112
26March2015
ISISintheMiddleEast
The20thcenturytaughtushowfarunbridledevilcanandwillgowhentheworldfails
toconfrontit.Itistimethatweheedthelessonsofthe20thcenturyandstanduptothese
murderers.Itistimethatweendgenocideinthe21stcentury.InthesewordsofAllyson
Schwartz,itcanbeseenthat
terroristgroupssuchasISIScontinuetopersecutepeoplewiththe
worldwatchingandwaiting.Whatisitthateveryoneiswaitingfor?Genocideishappeningnow.
ISISischangingtheMiddleEastandtherestoftheworldbydamagingtheeconomiesof
MiddleEasterncountries,challengingtheworldwidemoralsbyspreadingintolerance,andby
continuingtoexpandandthreateningevenmorecountriesiftheyarenotstopped.
Tobegin,ISISisdamagingtheMiddleEasterneconomiesandthreateningtheir
governments.SomebelievethattheIslamicStateispartofanewMiddleEastColdWarandthat
itispossibleforthemtotakeovertheentireMiddleEast,destroyingthegovernmentand
economiesofthosecountries(Gause).TheUnitedStatesandtheWestdependontheMiddle
Eastforoilandothernecessaryresources.Withtheeconomiesofthesecountriesfailing,this
willindirectlyaffecttheUnitedStatesandtherestoftheworld.OnereasonhowISIScould
destroytheeconomyisthatitisincrediblyexpensivetofightforthemandtofightagainstthem.
ISISreceivesmostofitsmoneyfromstealingandfromprivateinvestors(Windrem),butthe
resourcestofightISISmaybeevenmoreexpensive.Todedicatethatmanypeople,weapons,

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andmoneycantakeatollonthesecountrieseconomies.TheIslamicStatealsothreatensthe
governmentsofsomecountriesbytakingoverandreplacingthemwithIslamicextremists.The
entirereasonwhyISIShasbeenabletobecomesosuccessfulisbecauseoftheirhugefunds
(Windrem),andthisisonemainfactorthatdifferentiatesthemfromAlQaeda.Altogether,ISIS
usesitsfundingtodestroytheMiddleEastandthepeopleinit.
Furthermore,ISISisspreadingintoleranceandthiscouldbethebeginningofa
worldwidegenocide.PatriarchLouisSako,
IraqbasedleaderoftheCatholicChurch,claimsthat
thishasalreadybecomegenocideIsis'spersecutionofIraqiChristians,whichhasalready
forcedtensofthousandsofmen,womenandchildrentofleefortheirlives
,isfastbecominga
genocide(JonesandBowcott).Thegroupthemselveshavecalledthisethniccleansing.Many
apostates,christians,andShiiteMuslimsarebeingpersecutedintheMiddleEasttoday.There
arespecificexamplesoftheIslamicStateburningcrossesandtakingoverchurchesbyturning
themintomosques(JonesandBowcott),andtherestoftheworldisstillnotviewingISISasa
threat.InastatementbythePresidentonISIL,ObamaexplainsthatISISisaJVTeamandis
NonIslamic.Hesaysthatnoreligionwouldsupportthemasskillingsofinnocentpeople
(Obama).Thisgoestoshowhowgenocidecanbesoundetectedwhenpeoplearelivinginit.
Lastly,andmostimportantlyisthefuturethreatthatISIScanbecome.Tofirstunderstand
thethreattheycanbe,onemustlookatthetrueintentionsofthegroupandwhattheystandfor.
TheirgoalistocreateanIslamicCaliphatethroughouttheMiddleEast.AsofJune2014,
The
groupseizedMosul,Iraq,lastJune,andalreadyrulesanarealargerthantheUnitedKingdom
(Wood).TheIslamicStateisnotlookingfornegotiationorrevolution,theyarelookingto

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enforcetheirextremistbeliefsasfastandfaraspossible.Thisideaiskeyinunderstandingand
underestimatingthepotentialanddangerofthegroup.Afterall,mostgenocidesandterror
groupsstartsmallandundetected,butgrowintosomethingunstoppable.Thatiswhyitis
importanttoatleastacknowledgetheIslamicStateandtryandstopthembeforeitistoolate.
IsisisreshapingtheMiddleEastinmanywaysbydamagingthegovernmentand
economiesofthesecountries,spreadingintoleranceandbeginningaworldgenocide,andby
growingevenbiggerandthreateningthelivesofmanyiftheyarenotstopped.Thiscanbeseen
intheamountofresourcesittakestofightISIS,thepersecutionofpeoplebasedontheir
religiousbeliefs,andhowtheIslamicStatehasalreadytakenovermuchoftheMiddleEastand
isclearlybeingunderestimated.Inordertomoveonintoasafer,stable,moretolerantworld,itis
necessarytoaddressISISandtostopthemoderngenocidethathasthepotentialtotearthis
worldapart.

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WorksCited

Gause,GregoryF."ISISandtheNewMiddleEastColdWar."
Brookings
.N.p.,25Aug.2014.
Web.24Mar.2015.
Jones,Sam,andOwenBowcott."ReligiousleaderssayIsispersecutionofIraqiChristianshas
becomegenocide."
TheGuardian
.N.p.,9Aug.2014.Web.25Mar.2015.
Obama,Barack."StatementbythePresidentonISIL."WashingtonD.C.10Sept.2014.Web.2.
Mar.2015.
Windrem,Robert."ISISistheWorld'sRichestTerrorGroup,ButSpendingMoneyFast."
NBC
News
.N.p.,20Mar.2015.Web.25Mar.2015.
Wood,Graeme."WhatISISreallywants."
TheAtlantic
Mar.2015:78+.
OpposingViewpointsIn
Context
.Web.23Mar.2015.