1 00:00:01,980 --> 00:00:07,180 It seems that hardly a day goes by in which the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, 2 00:00:07,180 --> 00:00:11,860 doesn’t appear in a newspaper or on a TV news screen. And the news is always bad 3 00:00:11,860 --> 00:00:16,100 -- hideous death and wanton destruction of a type rarely seen in modern history. 4 00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:21,180 So, what is the Islamic State? Where did it come from? What does it want? And why? 5 00:00:21,180 --> 00:00:23,920 Let’s try to answer these questions in turn. 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:29,000 First, ISIS is the illegitimate child of Saddam Hussein’s regime and al Qaeda. 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:33,820 Saddam’s former military and intelligence officers hold many of ISIS’s most senior positions 8 00:00:33,820 --> 00:00:40,180 and have overseen the group’s rise to prominence. In 2002 and early 2003, some al Qaeda members 9 00:00:40,190 --> 00:00:44,330 relocated from Afghanistan to Iraq, where they prepared to fight the Americans, 10 00:00:44,330 --> 00:00:49,440 who toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime in March 2003. These jihadists became known as al Qaeda 11 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:56,420 in Iraq when their leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi swore his allegiance to Osama bin Laden in 2004. 12 00:00:56,420 --> 00:01:02,600 Zarqawi, a murderous psychopath, was finally killed by US and Iraqi forces in June 2006. 13 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:07,520 Following his death, al Qaeda in Iraq was rebranded as the Islamic State of Iraq. 14 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:13,580 In 2010 a new leader took control of the group -- Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Taking advantage 15 00:01:13,590 --> 00:01:18,759 of the power vacuum left by the complete US withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 and the Syrian 16 00:01:18,759 --> 00:01:23,630 Civil War that began that same year, Baghdadi and his lieutenants greatly expanded the size 17 00:01:23,630 --> 00:01:29,250 and scope of the organization. At first, Baghdadi was loyal to al Qaeda’s senior leadership. 18 00:01:29,250 --> 00:01:34,619 But in 2013 he defied orders from his superiors and declared that his group was now the Islamic 19 00:01:34,619 --> 00:01:40,899 State of Iraq and Syria or Levant, known by its acronyms ISIS and ISIL. It’s worth noting 20 00:01:40,899 --> 00:01:45,259 that ISIS continues to market Osama bin Laden’s endorsement of them to this day. 21 00:01:45,260 --> 00:01:50,599 What does ISIS want and why? ISIS is attempting to resurrect an empire similar to those that 22 00:01:50,599 --> 00:01:54,899 arose in Islam’s early history. These empires were referred to as “caliphates” 23 00:01:54,900 --> 00:02:00,020 and led by a “Caliph,” the Muslims’ chief ruler, also known as the “Emir of the Faithful.” 24 00:02:00,020 --> 00:02:03,960 This is, in fact, how Baghdadi’s followers now refer to him. 25 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:09,120 ISIS relies on a rich Islamic mythology, with citations from Islamic texts, to justify its 26 00:02:09,130 --> 00:02:14,549 actions and portray itself as the true heirs of Mohammed. Their propaganda videos use Islam’s 27 00:02:14,549 --> 00:02:19,629 early history to frame their actions as part of an ongoing conflict with the “Crusaders.” 28 00:02:19,629 --> 00:02:24,620 ISIS’s leaders want their followers to believe they are fighting as part of this same religious war. 29 00:02:24,620 --> 00:02:30,420 When ISIS’s Libyan branch executed 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in 2015, 30 00:02:30,420 --> 00:02:34,760 ISIS advertised the slayings in a video titled, “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation 31 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:39,020 of the Cross” – “the Nation of the Cross,” of course, meaning Christians. 32 00:02:39,020 --> 00:02:44,680 That's why on Libya’s Mediterranean shores, the lead executioner of the Egyptian Coptic Christians 33 00:02:44,689 --> 00:02:48,089 pointed his knife in the direction of Italy and promised to conquer Rome, 34 00:02:48,089 --> 00:02:50,240 the symbolic seat of Christendom. 35 00:02:50,250 --> 00:02:55,349 Despite seeking to spark an inter-faith war, however, most of ISIS’s victims are Muslims, 36 00:02:55,349 --> 00:03:01,009 especially Shiite Muslims for whom ISIS, which is Sunni Muslim, harbors a special animosity. 37 00:03:01,009 --> 00:03:05,640 ISIS claims that any Muslim who does not swear bay’ah (an oath of allegiance) to Baghdadi 38 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:09,859 is an “infidel” or an “apostate.” Even ISIS’s rival jihadists in al Qaeda 39 00:03:09,859 --> 00:03:14,299 are considered apostates, because they refuse to genuflect to Baghdadi. 40 00:03:14,300 --> 00:03:18,879 In November 2014, Baghdadi announced that his “caliphate” had expanded into several 41 00:03:18,879 --> 00:03:23,480 areas outside of Iraq and Syria. Baghdadi’s people set up “provinces” everywhere from 42 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:29,549 West and North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula to South Asia. ISIS argues that Muslims owe 43 00:03:29,549 --> 00:03:34,080 these “provinces” their loyalty. Most of these “provinces” control little territory, 44 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:38,560 but they have become prolific killers. Just over one year after Baghdadi’s announcement, 45 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,780 the Islamic State’s “provinces” had already engaged in hundreds of terrorist attacks. 46 00:03:42,780 --> 00:03:47,900 On Oct. 31, 2015, for example, the Islamic State’s “province” in Sinai brought 47 00:03:47,909 --> 00:03:52,509 down a Russian airliner, killing all 224 people on board. 48 00:03:52,509 --> 00:03:57,960 In sum, ISIS is attempting to become a permanent totalitarian state, inspired by the “caliphates” 49 00:03:57,969 --> 00:04:01,989 of Islam’s first decades. From this base, they will spread their ideology to the rest 50 00:04:01,989 --> 00:04:06,600 of the world. Anyone who stands in the way is marked for death. But ISIS’s “caliphate” 51 00:04:06,609 --> 00:04:12,249 claim rests on its ability to control territory. This is both its strength and Achilles heel. 52 00:04:12,249 --> 00:04:15,930 Should it lose significant ground in Iraq and Syria, its caliphate claim will become 53 00:04:15,930 --> 00:04:20,590 tenuous, severely damaging its legitimacy in the eyes of many Muslims. 54 00:04:20,590 --> 00:04:25,039 How this might happen is a key question for the United States, Europe, Asia and many in 55 00:04:25,039 --> 00:04:29,959 the Arab World. But this much we know: It will take much more than air strikes. 56 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:34,560 I’m Tom Joscelyn of The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies for Prager University.