ISIS
Overview
The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham is a terrorist organization in the Middle East that has goals of spreading an Islamic territory through neighboring countries of Iraq and Syria. This group is a splinter organization off of al Qaeda and has extremely ambitious goals. They are known for killing thousands of people and forcing harmless citizens to convert to Islam or be tortured. ISIS ignored international boundaries and poses a huge threat to nations everywhere.
An ISIS fighter carrying the official flag
regions that are under the control of ISIS
Facts
- receive millions of dollars in oil revenue
- steal millions of weapons from Iraqi and Syrian installations
- believed to have 30,000 fighters in its ranks
- holds public executions
- uses social media to instill fear in other countries
How it Affects Us
Even though ISIS seems like it doesn't pose a threat because it isn't close to the US, it does. Many ISIS recruits come from countries like France, Germany, China, Pakistan and the US among others. They are one of the wealthiest terror groups in the world and their exact power isn't known to many people in the general public. It is possible that ISIS will try to invade countries around it such as Turkey.