THE RISE OF ISIL AND ITS IMPACT ON WORLD PEACE

Intro

In the very seemingly controversial words of Serj Tankian, we first fought the heathens

in the name of religion, then communism, and now in the name of drugs and terrorism. Our

excuses for global domination always change. The above assertion notwithstanding, issues of

terrorism ought not to be seen wholly as an excuse for interference or invasion but a stepping

stone to objectively dissect varying views of the various factions involved as a means to

establishing understanding and a step further to maintaining world peace. According to the

Global Terrorism Index (2014), religious ideology as the motivation for terrorism is only partly a

global phenomenon. While it is predominant in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA (Middle East and

North Africa) and South Asia, in the rest of the world terrorism is more likely to be driven by

political or nationalistic and separatist movements for which ISIL is no exception.

The controversy which is often accorded an insignificant if not a non-existent attention is

the incontrovertible fact that it was the unprovoked and unsubstantiated claims underlined for the

invasion of Iraq that gave life to the establishment of what is known today as the Islamic State of

Iraq and Levant coupled with the U.S decision to disband the Iraqi army and form a new one in

2003. As affirmed by the Global Terrorist Index Report (2014), the entire organization is led by

Abu Bakr al Baghdadi with Abu al-Anbari as governor of the Syrian territories of ISIL and

Abu Muslim al Turkmani as governor of the Iraqi territories of ISIL, both former Major

Generals under Saddam Husseins regime.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) have emerged as the largest Sunni terrorist

organization active in the Middle East. The group was originally al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI).
However, following the death of the head of AQI, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and disagreement over

tactics, a group split from AQI and formed the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). ISIL became known

for extreme violence and terror tactics as a major actor in the Syrian civil war. According to

Kirkpatrick (2014), ISIL as an extremist Wahhabi insurgency has its primary goal in establishing

a regional caliphate or state under Salafist oriented Islamic law, Sharia. Its for that matter that it

advances violence to those who do not adhere to it interpretations and aspires to control the

Levant region which includes Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
 REFERENCE

Global Terrorism Index (2014). Measuring and understanding the impact of terrorism: Institute

for Economics and Peace, 2nd Edition. Retrieved from

www.visionofhumanity.org/sites/default/files/Global Terrorism Index Report 2014_0.pdf

Kirkpatrick, D., ISIS Harsh Brand of Islam Is Rooted in Austere Saudi Creed, The New York

Times, 24 September 2014.

Tankian, S. Retrieved from http://www.inspirationalstories.com/quotes/we-first-fought-the-

heathens-in-the-of-serj-tankian-quote/