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  • Once again, Iraq is in complete turmoil. This time, it all centers on a

  • group called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, commonly referred to as ISIS. But you'd have to be a scholar on Iraqi and Syria to fully understand

  • this conflict, so we can't explain everything. But we can tell you enough

  • to contextualize all the news stories you've been hearing lately, so that the next time someone says ISIS,

  • you can say, oh yeah. I know those guys. They're horrible terrorists.

  • So, who is ISIS and what do they want?

  • They are a Jihadist militant group with strong holds in both Iraq and Syria

  • as you can see on this map. But they are not stopping there.

  • Their goal is to obtain more lands, so they can create their own nation.

  • Their dream country will look something like this, and it will be called the Islamic State

  • In Iraq and Syria or ISIS. So who are the fighting members of ISIS?

  • Well, that where it gets more complicated. Iraq breaks down into three major groups;

  • Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs, and Kurds. ISIS members are Sunni Arabs, so was Saddam Huessien.

  • His regime was Sunni backed.

  • So does that means this is just the old guard taking back power?

  • No. Saddam Huessien was a secularist.

  • ISIS, on the other hand, is militant Jihadists group that wants strict Sharia law.

  • This was not the desire of Huessien's regime.

  • Although there are science that some of the Huessien's former forces are currently working with ISIS.

  • It's complicated.

  • And in Syria it gets even more complicated. Syrian war-crime committing government

  • is currently fighting a civil war against

  • various rebel groups.

  • ISIS is not one of those rebel groups, but ISIS does wanna take over most of Syria.

  • So they are in some degree of arm conflict with both the Syrian government and the rebels.

  • It is pure chaos. In short, ISIS has been committing acts of violence, and terrorism

  • in both Syria and Iraq for a while. And only now make it the news for one simple reason.

  • They are winning. Militarily speaking, ISIS is the most successful Jihadist group

  • the world has ever seen.

  • They are collecting taxes from businesses, setting up infrastructures,

  • and releasing quarterly reports.

  • They're gaining strength. They could be around for a long time. And they may be a bigger

  • threat to the surrounding areas in the long run than Al Qaeda.

  • What is now your comments and what you think about ISIS.

  • If you'd like to learn more about the current state of Islam, check out our video on what

  • the true meaning of the word "Jihad" is. The answer is much more positive than you might

  • think. Or click on the other box to get up to date information on the current lethal

  • injection debacle. And remember we post new episodes every single day. So please, please, please subscribe. We're

  • new and you could always use as support

Once again, Iraq is in complete turmoil. This time, it all centers on a

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