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Ian Condra
Ms. Fougerousse
English 10H
November 23, 2015

The terrorist group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, better known as ISIS, has been
growing in numbers, territory and notoriety, with daily executions and mass murders. (Wood,
2015). Their goal is to unite the Muslim world under one rule and to purify the world by killing
those who oppose them. ISIS power continues to grow by promoting its propaganda of violating
human rights through violence and extremism, and must be stopped.
ISIS first appeared in the late 2000s, has grown steadily, until its rapid rise in 2014 when it
declared itself as a caliphate in Iraq which is an Islamic kingdom of God on earth for all
Muslims under the laws of the Koran, the Islamic sacred text. (Plusher, 2015; Melhem, 2015). It
is an extremely conservative and Sunni based organization, and believers think they are purer
than Shiite Muslims, who tend have more modern views and lifestyles (Wood, 2015). The Shiites
and other non-Sunni Muslims are considered to be apostates, meaning they are Muslims who
have violated Islamic law (Wood, 2015).
The creation of a caliphate allows and directs the caliphate to use the extreme laws of
punishment in the Koran. ISIS is obsessed with judgement day from a war between Muslims
and non-Muslims (Plusher, 2015) and wants one Islamic State for all Muslims (Wood, 2015).
Islamic law is extreme, and allows for the amputation of limbs for stealing, stoning for adultery,
lashings for fornication, and the use of drugs and alcohol, and crucifixion and beheadings (Wood,
2015). These punishments are viewed by the western world as medieval, but the Islamic State
believes it is returning to the ways of Muhammed (Wood, 2015).

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The black ISIS flag is one of the most recognized symbols for ISIS, but the flag isnt meant
only for ISIS. It tells more about the organization. The writing on the flag translates to there is
no God but God, Mohammed is the messenger of God (Plusher, 2015). Since it has the name of
God, which is Allah, it is considered to be sacred and Muslims are prohibited from destroying the
flag in any way, and would be punished severely under the Koran (Plusher, 2015). The white
circle on the flag is a copy of the Seal of Mohammed, and is used to make it look like ISIS
mission is linked back to early Islam and the goal to destroy the world order (Plusher, 2015).
ISIS is funded primarily through black market oil sales, human trafficking, kidnapping and
extortion and by countries who are supposedly allies with the United States (Lister, 2014). It is
estimated that oil sales alone raise $1 million a day (Lister, 2014).
ISIS has used social media on the Internet to recruit foreign fighters, particularly young
Muslim adults, and order them to kill people wherever they live, and will kill non-radical
Muslims (Homeland Security, 2014). Conservative Muslim women, who are not allowed to leave
their homes, have been allowed to be recruited to move to Syria (Wood, 2015). All recruits are
promised a better life under the caliphate that examples of the prophet Muhammed and 7th
century Islamic law to rule (Melhem, 2015). Their tactics are also different in their constant use
of the Internet not only for recruitment but for publicity (Wood, 2015)
ISIS is very organized in how they attack the world. ISIS ideas and methods are different and
more violent than Al-Qaedas and smaller Islamic terrorist groups. Al-Qaeda was not as
interested in getting land, but ISIS has already taken over land areas to make it seem more
legitimate (Wood, 2015). ISIS has also grown since under Islamic law, it is not allowed to
recognize the borders of non-Islamic countries or their governments (Wood, 2015). ISIS has also

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grown by persuading smaller terrorist groups to join forces with them from all over the world.
(Homeland Security, 2014)
ISIS uses fear tactics that are unorthodox and cruel. They post videos of mass executions, and
promote rape and enslavement of women and children to spread psychological terror and
manipulation. (Cohen, 2015; Melhem, 2015). As stated earlier, they use the laws of the Koran to
justify beheadings and crucifixions to put infidels to death (Wood, 2015).
ISIS induces fear and violates human rights throughout the world through organized crime
with no limits in sight. The extreme tactics and ideologies used have caused thousands of Iraqis
and Syrians to flee their countries in the hopes of saving their lives and living in peace. ISIS is
too extreme and needs to be stopped. World powers must unite with the rest of the world to
support fighters of ISIS. An understanding of the religious ideas of ISIS would help fighters of
ISIS not to underestimate this organization. ISIS supporters hope to die fighting for their God
and to get the world to an apocalypse. These are people who dont have anything to lose. An
effective war to be waged against ISIS would not just involve ground and air strikes against their
caliphate and training centers, but also the use of worldwide technology to track the movements
of fighters attempting to go to Syria and Iraq (Homeland Security, 2014), and using the Internet
to hack their systems to cut them off from their financial suppliers that would then interrupt their
terror attempts in the Middle East and abroad.

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Works Cited
Cohen, Jared. "Digital Counterinsurgency." Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs Magazine, 30 Oct.
2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/digitalcounterinsurgency>.

"Homeland Security." Written Testimony of DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for

Counterterrorism Policy for a House Committee on Foreign Affairs Joint Subcommittee
Hearing Titled "ISIS and the Threat from Foreign Fighters" Department of Homeland
Security. 2 Dec 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <http://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/12/02/writtentestimony-dhs-deputy-assistant-secretary-counterterrorism-policy-house>.

Lister, Charles. "Cutting off ISIS' Cash Flow." The Brookings Institution. 24 Oct. 2014. Web. 17
Nov. 2015. <http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2014/10/24-lister-cutting-offisis-jabhat-al-nusra-cash-flow>.

Melhem, Hisham. "Keeping Up With the Caliphate." Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs Magazine,
22 Nov. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/keepingcaliphate>.

Plusher, Ilene. "What the ISIS Flag Says About the Militant Group." Time. Time, 9 Sept. 2014.
Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <http://time.com/3311665/isis-flag-iraq-syria/>.

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Wood, Graeme. "What ISIS Really Wants." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 15 Feb.
2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.