Jacob

Pd3
HWLC

TheOppressioninstigatedbyISIS
TheoppressionISISandotherextremistgroupshavebeenforcinguponmanyreligions
andpeoplearoundtheworldiscausingmassdestruction.Suchgroupsarecausingmany
problemsintheirowncountriesaswellasinwesterncountries.Theyaresplittingupfamilies,
killinginnocentcitizens,andthreateningmanyothersfornolegitimatereason.Thereareplenty
ofrecenteventsthatareprovinghowatrociousISISandtheiraffiliatesare.TheattacksonParis,
Belgium,andmanymorehavekilledamassamountofinnocentcitizensintheattemptof
oppressingChristiansandanyonewhodoesn'tbelieveintheirchosenideology.ISISiseven
oppressingthepeopleoftheirownhostedcountries,mostnotablyinSyriaandIraq,andhave
killedmoreMuslimsthananyoneelse,whichshowstheirruthlessnessinrulingbecauseeven
beingthesamereligiondoesn'tsaveyoufromtheirexecution.
Extremistterroristgroupshavebeensplittingupmanypeopleintheirefforttooppress
Christians.AnarticlebyLucindaSmithcalled"SistersLivedSecretLivestoSurviveISIS
Oppression"givesanideaaboutwhatthegroupisdoingtoChristianfamiliesintheMiddleEast.
Oneofthesisters,wholivedinAlBab,oneofthetownsoccupiedbyISIS,explainshowthey
wouldforcepeopleintotheirbeliefs."Thefirstthingtheydidwastoterrifypeoplebycuttingoff
headsandputtingthemondisplayinthestreets"(Smith1).ShealsostateshowISISislikethe
Syrianregimeandhow,ifacivilianiscaughttalkingaboutISIS,theywillbekilled.ISISdoes
notcareaboutanythingbutwhattheybelievein,soobviouslytheywillsplitupfamiliesby
killingpeoplefornoapparentreason.Theeasyrouteforpeopleindangeristofleethe

oppressionofISISintheMiddleEast.ThisisatopicthatJanineDiGiovanniandConorlGaffey
oftheresearchsiteSIRSreportonin"TheNewExodus:ChristiansFleeISISintheMiddle
East".Theywriteaboutamanwhosaid"IsawpeoplewearingAlNusraheadbandswhostarted
shootingatcrosses"(3)andexplainedastoryabouthowmembersofISIS"putapistoltothe
headofmyneighborandforcedhimtoconverttoIslam"(4).AllofthisishappeninginaSyrian
townknownforitspeaceandavoidingwarinthepastyears.TheoppressionISISiscarryingout
againstChristianshascausedanestimated700,000outof1.1millionoftheseChristianstoflee
IraqandSyria,butwhataretheirreasonsforkillingtheseinnocentfamilies?MichaelHausamof
IJReviewcomposedanarticlelistingoutISISreasonsforexecutingtheinnocents.Onestated
reasonwas
allMushrik(anyonewhoworshipanyotherGodotherthanAllah,whichincludes
theShias,Yazidis,theKurds)canneitherbegrantedamnestynorberansomedoff.Quotinga
passagefromSurahAlAnfal(TheSpoilsofWar),itsays:Punishthemseverelyinorderto
dispersethosewhoarebehindthem,sothattheymaylearnalesson.(Mausam1).Thethingis,
ISISiskillingfarmorepeoplethanjusttheonesthatdontbelieveinthesamegod.TheUNhas
concludedthatatleast9,347civilianswerekilledintheMiddleEastduringthefirst8monthsof
2014,andthemajoritywereMuslim,sotheirreasoningdoesntmakemuchsense.Toconclude,
ISISdoesnothavearealreasonfortheiroppressionofpeople.Theyjustkillanyonewhothey
seeasanoutsider,rebel,orseemstonotbelieveinthesamethingasthem.
Extremistgroupshavealsobeenterrorizingwesterncountriesaswellasthoseinthe
MiddleEast,andkillingmanyintheprocess.WilliamWanlundofCQResearcherwrotean
informativearticleaboutthedemographicsofISIS/ISILoutsidetheMiddleEastandhowthey
canhavepowerinotherplaces.Hewrites"Isisforcestop20,000,some3,400fromWestern

Countries150fromtheUnitedStates"(Wanlund1).Isisforcesinwesterncountriescontinue
togrowasshownbytheamountoftheirfollowersproves.Thenumberisonlygrowingand
thesefollowerswhobelieveintheextremistwaysofIsisarehelpingtooppressChristiansand
peopleofnonMuslimreligions,too.Healsowritesthat"Islamicterrorists'influenceextends
beyondtheMiddleEastBokoHaram,(agroup)whichhascarriedoutassassinationsandmass
kidnappingsinitscampaigntoinstallanIslamicstateinNigeria"(Wanlund1).Thisarticle
extendsinformationthatmostdonotknowaboutwhatpowertheseterroristgroupshaveoutside
theirhomestatesintheMiddleEast.PeterBergen,CNN'sNationalSecurityAnalystwrotethe
article"HowISISThreatenstheWest"abouttheimpactthatISIShashadoutsidetheirhome
areas.Bergen'sarticleconcludeshow"Germansecurityservicesreport720Germanshaveleft
forSyria,andtheyestimate180havebeenkilledthere,100havereturned"(Bergen2).The
InternethasalsoplayedabigpartinIsis'supbringinginthewest."4,500westernershavebeen
drawntojoingroupsinSyriaandIraq"(Bergen).ThousandsofpeoplegettingpulledinbyIsis
inthewestjustbyInternetsitesisincredible.PeterBergen'sarticleamassesmajorinformation
abouthowwesterncountries'citizenshavebeeninvolvedingroupslikeIsisandthedatagiven
byGermanyandothercountriesreallyshowtheeffectthatSyriaandIraqarehavingontheir
citizens.SaraMalmofMailOnlinewroteanarticleinDecember2014aboutthemurderthatISIS
isdoinginitsveryownhoststates.Thearticleistitled"ISIShaskilledalmost2,000peoplein
Syriaaloneinjustsixmonths".ThearticleexpressesthebrutalityofISIS,andshewriteshow
"IslamicstateofIraqandSyriahadexecutednearly2,000peopleinSyriaalonesinceclaiming
territoryinthewartorncountry"(Malm1).ObviouslyISISdoesnotcarewhotheykilleither,as
shesays"Themilitantgrouphasalsomurdered120oftheirownmen,mostofthemforeign

fighterstryingtoreturnhome"(Malm1).ISISwillkillanyonewhomentionstheirname,looks
likeathreat,orevenmerelylooksliketheyrepresentsomethingthatISISdoesn'tbelievein.
Theyhavesomuchpowerthattheycankillwhoevertheywantwhenevertheywant.
HowcantheleadersofISISstayhidden,yetatthesametimerunastate,andhaveaton
ofpower?Andhowcantheyfindsomuchsupportwhilenotbeingknownverywellthroughout
theworld?That'saquestionthatSarahChildressofPBSWTTWwritesinanarticlecalled"The
RiseofIsis:WhoRunstheIslamicState?".Shestates"Isisisunlikeanyterroristgroupinrecent
memory.Ithastokeephiddenwhilealsorunningastate"(Childress1).Shealsooffersthe
informationabouttheSoutanGroup,whoareanintelligencefirmfocusedontracking
informationfromIsispublicationsanddefectorstryingtopiecetogetherapictureofthetop
leadersinIsis.ThisdocumentwrittenbyChildressgivessomeclearanceastohowIsiscanrun
itselfsolowkey,evenwithsomanycountriesouttheretryingtogetridofthem.Another
questionishowhasISISgrownsomuchpowerifalltheydoiskillinnocentpeopleandterrorize
people?MarkTranofTheGuardianhassomeevidenceastohowandwhyISISissopowerful.
Firstofall,theyhaveanabundanceofmoney."ISIShassecuredhugecashflowsfromoilfields
ineasternSyria,whichitcommandeeredinlate2012.Italsoreapedwindfallsfromthe
smugglingofrawmaterialsplunderedfromthecrumblingstateandpricelessantiquitiesfrom
archaeologicaldigsAfterMosul,thegroupsfinancialassetsareestimatedtobeabout$2bn"
(Tran1).ISIShasbeenabletogaintonsofpowerthroughitssheeramountofmoneyand
resources.Theleadersarereapingthebenefitsofthispowerandareabletocontrolcountriesof
peoplewhileremaininghiddenenoughtowheretheywon'tgetcaughtbyothercountrieslikethe
UnitedStates.JaneFriedmanofCQResearcherwritesabouttheleadersofISISandtheirpower

inanarticlecalled"Whichterroristsposethebiggestthreat?"Oneexamplegiveninthearticleis
aboutamanwhowaspersuadedbyISISovertheInternet."PolicehadbeenattackedinNew
YorkCitybyZaleThompson.Hehadviewedvideosofbeheadingsandjihadistwebsitesand
wasnamedaselfradicalizedMuslimconvert"(Friedman1).AnotherrecenteventFriedman
wroteabouttookplaceinTexas."InearlyMay,twoAmericanMuslimmenattackeda
conferenceinTexasthatwasholdingacompetitionshowingcartoonsofMuhammad.ISIL
calledthemsoldiersofthecaliphate"(Friedman1).ExampleslikethisshowmoreofISISand
Muslimextremistgroups'power.PeoplearejustgoingonlinetotheseselfproclaimedIsis
websitesandseeingenoughonthemtoconvertthemselvesandevengooutanddoextremist
actionslikeattackinginnocentpeoplelikeZaleThompsondid,andhe'snottheonlyone.In
additiontothis,wehavethe"soldiersofthecaliphate"goingoutandattemptingtomurder
peoplewhohavedonenothing.
ISISandotherterroristgroupsbasedaroundtheMiddleEastarecapableofmass
destructionandarealreadystartingtocausemoreproblemswithintheirownstatesandin
westernstates.TheoppressiontheseextremistgroupshavebeenforcinguponChristiansand
othernonextremistMuslimsbothinandoutsideoftheMiddleEastisbeginningtotakeeffect
ontheworldasweknowit.Theirleadershavethepowertosplitupfamilies,killinnocent
citizenswherevertheyplease,andcontrolpeoplethroughtheirreligionandtheirrecourses,
whichhasinstigatedthehugeoppressionofChristiansandanywhodon'tbelieveinISIS'
extremeways,andthey'reevenouttherekillingpeopleofthesamereligionasthem,soit'snot
setinstonewhotheywillandwontkill.NowISISisamassivegroupwhoarethreateninglife
asmanyknowit,evenoutsidetheMiddleEast.