The State of ISIS

Eunes Harun
US History Period 3
Day by day people are being executed all across the world due to the peril
caused by a terrorist group that goes by the name ISIS. ISIS is a radical Sunni Muslim
terrorist group standing for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Their sole purpose is
to implement a strict Islamic ruling for the tri-state area, and cause utter destruction
in the process. We are going to explore what ISIS is, what they are doing, if they are
a threat to us and how the U.S. will deal with this international issue.
Nowadays on the news, all we hear about it is this terrorist group called ISIS,
or also referred to as ISIL, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The Levant is a
larger area of the Middle East that includes Lebanon and Jordan in addition to Syria.
Aside from the name, this terrorist group is mostly made up of radical Sunni
Muslims. However, as President Obama said in a speech a few weeks ago, ISIL is not
Islamic (Miller 1). ISIS goal is to establish a strict Islamic state in which the
government is run directly based on their radical interpretation of the religion. They
attempt to do this without regards to our societys norms of today, or human
decency for that matter.
Over the past few months, ISIS has accomplished immense amounts of
annihilation across the region. By just a few weeks ago, they conquered a large piece
of territory in northwestern Iraq and some of northern Syria (Smith 10). Aside from
that, they have been committed horrendous acts of violence against anyone who
stands in their way. Obama said that ISIL has killed children, executed prisoners,
sexually harassed women, threatened with genocide and killed two American
journalists (Miller 1). These are brutal leaders of an even more relentless group.
They specifically kill Shia Muslims, another sect of Muslim people and they kill Iraqi
soldiers who are captured. One issue is that the Iraqi soldiers werent able to protect
themselves and were not well enough equipped, and for this reason, they either fled
their posts, or were forced to join in on the ISIS forces. At this point in time, they
captured some American weapons and artillery that we supplied to the Iraqis to
help protect themselves. This means that the ISIS fighters are now equipped with
heavy-duty, high tech equipment free of charge, and now are using them against
others.
ISIS/ISIL is having an immense impact on our society in the United States
even though these events are occurring thousands of miles away. In fact,
precautions are being taken locally -- Gov. Dan Malloy announced on September 25,
2014 that increased security personnel would be dispatched throughout the state
on our rail lines and at the airport out of an abundance of caution due to the events
occurring overseas (Schoenfeld). Many people are worried about our economy and
the oil that we need here in the U.S., and is the reason that people are concerned. If
there is civil and political unrest in the Middle East, oil prices will increase
immensely, and our economy can take a hit for the worse. Another potential risk is
the fact that if we dont do anything, and continue to let ISIS/ISIL create destruction,
Iraq could become a harbor for terrorists this is something that we have been
trying to avoid through the continual occupation of Iraq over the past 10 years
(Smith 11). This would in effect make us lose what we worked for in the Iraq war
that we were fighting overseas for so many years. In a speech made by President
Obama, he detailed what he would like to do to combat ISIL/ISIS. He says that we
have a distinct four-part objective to, Degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL (Miller
1). To accomplish this goal, he says that the United States firstly plans to carry out
airstrikes upon ISIS territory and resources. Secondly, he has deployed several
hundred service members to help the Iraqi security forces protect themselves.
When saying this, he makes it clear that this is not an initiation of ground war like
we have done in the past. Thirdly, Obama says that we are working on our own
intelligence to help prevent terrorism in our homeland and to also prevent future
ISIL attacks. And lastly, Obama stated that we would provide humanitarian
assistance to those innocent people who were affected by this terrorist group
(Miller 1-2). As you can see, the United States is getting involved pretty immensely
to protect our own interests internationally.
In conclusion, ISIS is gaining territory while committing violent acts against
innocent people, or any one who stands in their way for that matter. They are a
terrorist organization that is being misled by radical interpretations of the Muslim
religion and its teachings. I believe that we are doing the right thing by attempting
to degrade and destroy ISIS so that our interests; like the supply of oil to the U.S. is
not compromised and that our economy continues to recover from without defects.
We have explored in detail what ISIS is, the horrendous acts they are committing,
and how the U.S. is affected and how it plans to respond to these international
events.
Works Cited
Miller, Zeke. Full Text of Obamas Address on ISIS. Time, 17 Sept. 2014: Web.
Smith, Patricia. Middle East Mess. Upfront, 01 Sept. 2014: Print
Schoenfeld, Samantha. "Governor Orders Increased Security Along Rail Lines & At
_________Bradley Airport." FOX CT. Tribune Broadcasting, 25 Sept. 2014. Web. 25
_________Sept. 2014.