Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, otherwise known as ISIS or Islamic State, has caught the attention of America as a whole for its hostility, videos, attacks, as well as capturing and killing of prisoners. Currently, by taking over the al-Qaida organization, ISIS is now the most powerful and effective extreme jihadist group in the world. Territorial control under ISIS has swelled exponentially, particularly across Iraq and Syria. As more and more groups, namely militant groups from Egypt, join ISIS, it garners more influences through stockpiling arms, money, weapons. To further strengthen forces, ISIS also trains children in training camps and religious courses to become cooks, guards, spies, and armed forces to fight in battles. Teenage boys are often seen with weapons in the public in the city of Mosul, Iraq.
The list of disturbing ISIS activities is ever-increasing. One of the most publically known activities includes the videotaped beheading of an American journalist, James Foley. Another video was released on numerous Jihadist websites, featuring a British soldier named John Cantile whom the American government had failed to rescue on July 4th. John Cantile speaks from Syria, where he waits as a hostage until ISIS prisoners currently held in America are released. John Cantile says that he is, “angry at our governments [United States and Britain] for allowing the matters to get to this position… I will continue to speak out against this military action and the deceitful arrogance of our governments…” As a propaganda, the video shows both governments, United States and Britain, the sole way to free prisoners from ISIS is to release Islamic State’s prisoners.
In effort to eliminate the hostile occurrences between America and Islamic State, United States fired missiles on September 22nd and September 23rd, targeting ISIS. Again, on November 8th, United States-led coalition was able to send air strikes to northwestern Iraq where a group of Islamic State group leaders gathered. With the escalating crisis, President Obama prepares to request the use of armed forces against Islamic State to congress. Senator Rand Paul also publically supported a formal declaration of War against ISIS on November 23rd through an interview for the New York Times.
