ISIS (Should stand for Instability)

            It is horribly unfortunate but I feel compelled to make another post about ISIS, the radical Islamic fundamentalist armed group that has taken huge swathes of land in both Syria and Iraq. Before, it looked as if they would take Baghdad and throw Iraq into a truly anarchic state. While that threat still looms, it has been subdued somewhat.

            Now we must look to ISIS’s actions in Syria which now threaten to cripple Syria’s oil industry. Syria’s civil war has destroyed much of the financial infrastructure and has plummeted many Syrians into poverty. For ISIS to take control of the largest oil field as they have done recently is nothing short of horrifying for Syrians and those residing in any other country. In short, the only thing ISIS can promise is instability and they have created just that.

            In Syria, ISIS has helped to weaken the opposition forces and has taken control of many areas in the north. ISIS asserts its control through executions and strong resistance of western and modernist influences. The areas which they control have seen large exoduses and the destruction of any semblance of a modern economy.

            In Iraq, ISIS hopes to bring about a religious civil war with the Sunnis eventually taking power back from Maliki’s government. Tens of thousands of Iraqi government troops have abandoned their posts as ISIS advanced and the country is stuck in a mire of religious fighting with armed groups paving their ways to major cities.

            Stopping ISIS is crucial not just because of the threat to the oil or to Baghdad, but because ISIS is the greatest threat to stability and peace in the Middle East as of now.