ISIS.
ISIL.
The Islamic State.
Daesh.
These are all names for the same militant terrorist group that, since 2014, has claimed responsibility
for hundreds of terrorist attacks around the globe.
There were multiple terror incidents across Paris.
They have murdered thousands of civilians.
We are continuing to cover the suicide bombing in Manchester.
They have destroyed cities, monuments, and heritage sites all over the Middle East.
But why do they do it?
ISIS members consider themselves Sunni Muslim, but they practice a rogue brand of Islam using
violence, coercion, and terror to spread their message.
"Down, down ISIS."
Most Sunnis denounce the actions of ISIS, calling the group Daesh, an Arabic acronym that sounds
like the word for treading underfoot, trampling down, or crushing something.
ISIS aims to re-establish an Islamic state, or caliphate, that adheres to their strict religious code.
Those who don?t follow, including other Muslims and minority religious groups, are targeted for
slaughter.
But how did an organization with such extreme beliefs come into power?
To really understand ISIS, we have to go back to 1979.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to bolster a struggling Communist revolution. What followed
were 10 years of bitter fighting between Soviet troops and Afghan mujahideen, supported by the
United States and aided by the CIA.
Depleted by the costly guerrilla war, the Soviet Union withdrew in 1989 with its own regime on the
brink of collapse and Afghanistan in turmoil.
Towards the end of all this, in 1989, a man named Abu Musab al-Zarqawi traveled to Afghanistan to
fight Soviet troops. But instead of fighting, he became a reporter for an Islamist newsletter. His views
became more and more radical.
In 1992, he was sent to prison for possession of guns and explosives. After he was released in
1999, he formed a group called Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'l Jihad, or JTJ, in Afghanistan. This group
would eventually become ISIS.
After the American invasion of Afghanistan, Zarqawi and the JTJ moved to Iraq. Zarqawi?s
anti-western rhetoric mirrored that of Osama bin Laden?s with one exception?Zarqawi also wanted
to kill off Iraq?s Shia population.
On October 28, 2002, members of Zarqawi?s organization assassinated US aide officer Lawrence
Foley outside his home in Jordan. Zarqawi and the JTJ would also set up a campaign of suicide
bombers all over Shia neighborhoods in and around Iraq.
In the fall of 2004, the JTJ became known as AQI, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, then ISI, the Islamic State of
Iraq, and continued operations for several years.
In 2006, two United States Air Force jets dropped bombs on Zarqawi?s safehouse. He was killed.
In 2010, a man named Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was leading AQI as the US withdrew troops from Iraq.
Within a year, Baghdadi expanded into Syria, where political instability made it an easy target.
ISI was renamed ISIS to include Syria.
In 2014, ISIS took control of Fallujah, Mosul, and Tikrit in Iraq. This was a major turning point for the
group. It was the first time it seized and controlled territory instead of just sending suicide bombers
to die.
Baghdadi renamed the group The Islamic State and declared himself caliph.
In 2014, ISIS turned to international terrorism. Using social media to recruit new militants, the group
encouraged supporters to carry out lone wolf attacks around the world.
Between 2014 and 2017, ISIS claimed responsibility for nearly 100 acts of terror. Meanwhile, in the
Middle East, a coalition led by the United States carried out over 24,000 airstrikes to help local
forces regain control of parts of Iraq and Syria.
In April 2017, the US military dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb on an ISIS compound in
Afghanistan. In July 2017, Iraqi forces successfully ousted ISIS from the city of Mosul, but over
9,000 civilians were killed in the battle to liberate the city.
ISIS emerged as a major terrorist group from the complexities of religious and political unrest in the
Middle East and maintains appeal because it promises revolution and justice for the vulnerable, thus
indoctrinating people to commit atrocities for its cause.
As of 2018, reports suggest that ISIS's military has weakened and its finances have dwindled. But
international efforts to eliminate the terrorist organization continue.