ISIS is on the verge of creating a huge terrorist sanctuary in western Iraq and eastern Syria

What You Need to Know About ISIS in Iraq

by Kelsey Harkness 

Four letters are topping headlines around the world: ISIS. Pinned at the center of the crisis in Iraq, it’s hard to read or watch the news without hearing the name.

Despite shaking up global security, the group remains a mystery to many Americans. So who are they?

The short answer: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (or al-Sham). But that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of this complex, brutally violent terrorist group.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal, The Heritage Foundation’s expert in Middle Eastern affairs, James Phillips, breaks down the basics of ISIS, explains how they came to power, and discusses the threat they pose to Americans both at home and abroad.

The Daily Signal: First off, who and what is ISIS?

Phillips: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is an al-Qaeda offshoot that seeks to overthrow the governments of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, and establish an Islamic state governed by a harsh and brutal interpretation of Islamic law. Its long-term goals are to launch a jihad (holy war) to drive Western influence out of the Middle East, destroy Israel and become the nucleus of a global Islamic empire.

It is composed of Sunni Muslims drawn to radical Islamist ideology. Most of its members are Iraqi and Syrian Arabs, although it has attracted a wide range of foreign militants, especially Arabs from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, and Egypt.

Q: How long has ISIS been around and why are they just now on the move?

A: The group initially was established in Iraq in 2004 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Palestinian Islamist extremist born in Jordan, who formerly was one of the estimated 25,000 foreign Muslims who flocked to Afghanistan after 1979 to fight the Soviets. He was a close associate of Osama bin Laden, although he did not formally join al-Qaeda until 2004 when he was recognized as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006 and his organization was decimated by a U.S.-led counterterrorism campaign. But the group made a comeback in Iraq after the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011, which took the pressure off it. Also, Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s Shia-dominated government alienated Sunni Iraqis, driving many of them to see ISIS as the lesser evil.

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