ISIS Synthesis Essay

Words: 1207
Pages: 5

On that fateful Monday morning of April 15th, 2013, the very first of 40 different bombings and shootings was carried out in Iraq. These are the first suspected attacks of the Islamic State of the Levant and Syria, or ISIS, that gained international attention. Though the United States had assassinated Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, what caused the growth of power of ISIS in the Middle East? Essentially, the main cause of ISIS’ exponential growth and influence both domestically and internationally is to be blamed by the United States’ intervention in the Middle East which caused the right things to happen at the right time, funding from outside sources, and taking advantage of cyber capabilities. US intervention in the Middle East opened the …show more content…
With Saddam Hussein out of leadership, democratic systems were put into place, and such elections were held. However, thousands who worked under the Hussein cabinet were left without jobs, leaving them angry, worried, and revengeful. (“A Brief History of ISIS,” 2015.) Al-Qaeda took advantage of the situation and established a counterpart known as al-Qaeda in Iraq, or the AQI. The AQI was quite active in waging sectarian warfare against Shiite militias and militants backed by the Iranian government within central Iraq. However, in 2007, the US-installed, Shiite-run government based in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, began their movement of reaching out to Sunni tribes within the country. The government warned of al-Qaeda in Iraq and strongly encouraged that they reject both AQI and its influence. Luckily, the movement was a success, causing al-Qaeda to weaken in numbers. Peace seemed to be laying over the land once again. However, let us fast forward to 2013. The Syrian Civil War has been going strong for over two years at this time,