How it all started?
Human mind is very imaginative. It
doesn’t like anything to be anything it doesn’t like! So when a seriously
diminishing situation presents itself, it covets. We covet. We like to think
about a perfect setting of the situation. We satisfy ourselves with a “good old
times”. Most of us have a steaming cup of tea after that! But what if some
people who don’t like tea, stand up to actualize that “good old times”? What if
they don’t care about the realisability of “the good old times”? What if they
have coffee instead??
An idea takes birth. An idea of
fundamentality. Resilient. Contagious. Dangerous. It develops a stress crack
which wouldn’t heal with time as it should, forcing people to think (or not
to). After a while most give up. But there is always a person (well, may be
two) who wouldn’t! Abu Ayyub al-Masri didn’t; neither did Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
They didn’t like the existing system. They wanted a superior rule-a fundamental
Islamic rule. The then existing Al-Qaida was too slow for them (now they are
too violent for Al-Qaida!). they learnt from Al-Qaida’s mistakes and
established an Organization turned Caliphate-recognized state --- Al Dawla ai Islamiyye f’il Iraq w’al
Sham.
Translated roughly as the Islamic state
of Iraq and Levant, the later part, most take to be Syria. The non-most claim
Levant stands for regions of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and
southern parts of Turkey, modeled after the Prophet’s caliphate(632—652 AD).
ISIS took root in 2003 after the USA invasion of Iraq, but really gained
traction in 2006 after a U.S. bombing raid took out al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi.
After splitting from al-Qaida in Iraq,
till date ISIL has conquered about a third of Syria and parts of Iraq including
the city of Fallujah, potentially stale-mating the Syrian and American
Governments with exceptional tactical brilliance. ISIS is more like
conventional army using military tactics like assault rifles and grenades.
Al-Qaida in comparison seems a bunch of hot-heads (with smart strategists). Let
us not even consider the very high popularity of ISIS. In current position,
ISIS can lay claim on a country or two, and still hide amongst their citizenry.
In fact the ISIS managed to dodge the spotlight till the fall of Mosul.
Why a big deal?
Back to basics now. The internet gives
us definitions of caliphate as "an Islamic state led by a supreme
religious and political leader known as a caliph – i.e. "successor" –
to Muhammad. Conceptually, a caliphate
represents a sovereign state of the entire Muslim faithful, ruled by a caliph
under Islamic law (Sharia)."
 |
| 643 AD |
It is the ultimate goal of all Muslim
Fundamentalists, in a broad sense, and ISIS, in particular, to establish a
global caliphate. This is not happening in a day or two and ISIS knows that. We
know ISIS knows, when ISIS left Bagdad untouched because ISIS knew it couldn't
dislodge the huge concentrations of Iraqi troops there — or hold a
majority-Shia city that would never accept a Sunni ISIS. A brilliant maneuver it
was! This kind of terrorism intends to rule the land by fear. From beheadings
to summary executions to amputations to crucifixions, the terrorist group has
become the most feared organization on globe right now.
 |
| 2013-14 AD (close enough) |
Noted, that most Gulf States like Saudi
Arabia, offer only cursory lip service about counterterrorism. They fund
militant groups. They arm them. They aid them. Why? The purpose of many seem to
be the destruction of Israel. These nations hate the “Palestinians” and the
only reason they aid the Palestinian cause is to gain access to the west bank.
Once they do there is no stopping the attacks on Israel and Tel Aviv. Want more
proof? Why didn’t King Abdullah of Jordan want any Bedouins on his side of
Jordan river? Because he identified them as nothing but a drain of his
resources. Why did Egypt refuse to let the Palestinians settle in the Sinai
Peninsula after Israel's War of Independence in 1948 and banish them to the
Gaza Strip I wonder? Just so you know, Sinai is as important to Egypt as your
appendix is to you unless you are an awesome horse reading this article!
Suddenly everyone is unusually threatened by ISIS. They behave like bowl-fish
before earthquake. Classic example is of Saudi Arabia, in its first ever public
service announcement about terrorism, saying that “ ISIS will be in Europe in a
month and in America a month after that”! Did anyone else hear that?
That is why ISIS IS a big deal, that’s why!
..............to be continued
..............to be continued
Katyayani S
BITSMUN Society
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