SSB Lecturette series: ISIS - A threat to Humanity : Part 2

In part 1 of this series we saw the background of this and the Iraq side of the story. Here lets move and complete the picture by seeing the story on the other side.

Syria’s Side of story

ISIS leader Abu –Bakr al-Baghdadi, the man who made this monster was a jihadist and during the American invasion of Iraq was arrested on unclear charges, after six months of Jail time he was freed, he then joined Al Qaeda in Iraq. How Baghdadi was different is that he caught what the top men in Al Qaeda missed. He saw the need to unite the tribes’ men on both sides of the Iraq Syria border. His policies were further escalated when after the breakout of the civil war in Syria, the Syrian president Bashar al –Assad slaughtered Sunnis.

It is because of these in humanitarian conditions that ISIS formed with Baghdadi as its leader.  But how did ISIS became so huge in size and number that even top military organizations like the Al Qaeda have parted ways from it and see it as a rival? The answer lies in how systematically ISIS operates. Let’s look at a number of factors which have made ISIS what it is.

•    The Growing Number:

Firstly, ISIS was formed and had a large followership due to the tribesmen on either side of the Iraq Syria border. To increase its influence even further, this militant group not only posts beheadings and other gore acts online it also uses social media as a major weapon to reach out to the mass. Several Facebook and Twitter accounts are handled by ISIS operatives; they reach out to Sunni Muslims and convince them of joining the war to spread Islam and Islamic rule. There have been a number of Incidents when teenagers who get influenced by these militants volunteer for joining ISIS.

•    Funding and Weapon Systems:

ISIS doesn’t limit its funding to one source it is smart in the sense that it raises money through the captured oil fields, extortion, and ransom in return of the captured foreign nationals and from Private Investors in Qatar. Also, ISIS has a variety of weapons after it laid claim on the Iraqi stocks of American and Russian equipment, thereby allowing it to make flexible war tactics and killing more in number.

The above factors have been strengthening ISIS and have made it possible for it to spread terror on such a large scale. Today not only the people in Iraq and Syria face threat from ISIS, but in fact the whole world faces the dangers of its spread. The beheading video of foreign nationals, the burning alive of Jordanian pilot and the brutal means ISIS follows shows how this militant organization poses a great threat to mankind. In my point of view not only America, but every country who has been a victim of Terrorism, who has seen the blood of its innocent flow in name of religion should actively contribute to end this evil. America alone cannot stop terrorism, it is the combined effort put by every citizen and ever nation which would make the change. Today we as civilized humans need to act and act now to stop not only ISIS but any militant organization from spreading its terror. We have to say NO to terrorism and set aside our personal differences to work together for the common good, even if it doesn’t involve us. People have to understand that following such barbaric means in no way would spread the message of Islam, but would definitely set them on a path where they would destroy themselves and the future generations to come. Governments need to be honest with each other, they should not only punish those who spread terrorism in their country but also punish those who had spread terror in other countries and take refuge in their countries.

The best way to counter terrorist organizations like ISIS is to cut down their supply of weapons and funding, which is only possible if we stop fighting among ourselves and cooperate with each other to find ties and links among these terrorist organizations. Elimination of one terror group would weaken the other. The superpowers need to understand that fighting for more land and imposing sanctions on each other shouldn’t be the priority at the moment. We need to fight terrorism not as Indians, Americans, Russians, British, Iraqis, Syrians or any other community but as humans. Its only after we fight for each other that we will win this battle for ourselves and live a better life. These  are my views  on this topic , i would also like to hear the views of other aspirnats, so let the discussion begin. Comment here and lets discuss.

 Click here to read: ISIS - A threat to Humanity : Part 1

About the Author: Shekhar Tanwar is a computer science engineer who is working with a renowned MNC and is a die heart defense aspirant. Guitar is his passion and he is very firm believer of physical fitness. This article is a way to help defense aspirants to present his critical views on the topic, on the forum so that collective exchange of thoughts can take place.