ISIS: Terrorism Upgraded

ISIS: Terrorism Upgraded

07/08/14

Mario Abou Zeid

Counterinsurgency, Terrorism, Security, Iraq

"ISIS’s merger of terrorist tactics against its enemies and state-building behavior in areas it controls, in addition to its exploitation of sectarian tensions, has succeeded in winning the support of local communities."

The emergence of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, marks a radical evolution in how terrorism is conceptualized—changing the conventional model embodied by Al Qaeda and the September 11, 2001 attacks. IS/ISIS’s new form of terrorism is grounded in territorial control, annexation and declarations of sovereignty.

Originally affiliated with Al Qaeda and its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri—who succeeded Osama Bin Laden—IS/ISIS soon diverged and developed its own agenda of creating an Islamic state. After the death of its former leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, during a joint U.S.–Iraqi raid on June 7, 2006, and with the rise of the anti-Al Qaeda Sahwa groups headed by moderate Sunni tribal leaders, IS/ISIS was on the verge of being eradicated. Yet the group has been regenerated under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who reformulated the identity of IS/ISIS as a Sunni organization dedicated to confronting Shiite domination in the Levant.

As a former founder of Jabhat al-Nusra, an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, al-Baghdadi requested Nusra’s allegiance. The latter refused on the basis of its commitment to Al Qaeda’s modus operandi and its focus on Syrian territory. This break with Al Qaeda marked the turning point in IS/ISIS’s evolution into a new form of terrorism.

Traditionally, terrorist groups aim to undermine the legitimacy of a ruling entity, destabilize a country’s security, weaken political institutions, drain a country’s armed forces, topple regimes and generate power that would allow them to control entire communities. Violence, suicide attacks, criminal behavior, and targeting civilians are the conventional means to achieve their goals. Al Qaeda was an exemplary group, applying this textbook model of conventional terrorism.

Not only has IS/ISIS resorted to these techniques to plant fear in the heart of the populace, but it has also upgraded it. IS/ISIS is trying to expand and control more territories and put them under its direct rule as it seeks to create and govern a Sunni heartland that bisects the Shiite-led alliance that stretches from Tehran to Hezbollah’s stronghold in Lebanon.

Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/isis-terrorism-upgraded-10825