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ISIL THREATS IN THE UNITED STATES 11

ISIL Threats in the United States

Derek Baker

HLSS320

7/21/19

Terrorist Threats in the United States

In early April, 2019, federal authorities confirmed the arrests of two United States citizens accused of organizing ISIS-inspired attacks on the United States soil. In the same month, the federal bureau of investigation charged a United States born ISIS sympathizer with terrorist activities. One suspect planned to drive a U-Haul van into a crowd in a marina area outside Washington, DC. A second one was allegedly plotting attacks on a synagogue, gay clubs, and/or government premises in Montana, after relocating from New York. Even as the world is witnessing a decline in terrorist attacks, these are not isolated cases. President Trump, in particular, has declared ISIS caliphate in Syria defeated. Nonetheless, there is a greater possibility that ISIS-sympathizers could plan self directed attacks within the United States with no warning.

Origin, Ideology, Goals and Objectives of ISIS

Origins and Objectives

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, also known as Islamic State or Iraq and the Levant or Da’esh, is a terrorist group that currently wages a brutal war in some parts of Syria and Iraq. The origins of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant are tied to Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi, who is generally acknowledged as the founding father of the group. Although he laid the ideological foundation for the organization, his early years were complete contrast to Islamic teachings of purity. Al-Zarqawi had a history of criminal activities including pimping, sexual assault, plus bootlegging. He turned into a jihadist after his release from prison in 1999 and shifted to Afghanistan to meet al-Qaeda leaders. After the United States invasion, he fled to Iraq, where he grew into a feared jihadist commander. Al-Zarqawi’s group committed several suicide attacks in the country and was notorious for attacking non combatants such as Iraqi civilians and aid workers rather than foreign military forces (Warrick, 2015).

Al-Zarqawi’s goals and objectives included fighting the United States led coalition and starting a sectarian conflict that would lead to the formation of an Islamic State in Iraq. Many opposed the group because of its cruel and combatant tactics as well as its perceived foreign membership. In September, Al-Zarqawi became part of al-Qaeda after prolonged negotiations. His group became al-Qaeda in Iraq. However, the two groups had a fragile relationship because al-Qaeda considered al-Zarqawi an extremist. The former disapproved of the latter’s indiscriminate mass killing of Shi’i civilians, which hampered the image of jihadism in the eye of Muslim populace (Cockburn, 2015).

After the killing of al-Zarqawi in June, 2006, Abu Ayyub al- Masri became the group’s new leader. He changed the organization’s name from al-Qaeda in Iraq to Islamic State in Iraq to make it seem more Iraqi. Abu Ayyub al-Masri installed Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi, as the leader. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the leader of the organization following the killing of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. In April 2013, he changed the name of the organization from Islamic State in Iraq to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Warrick, 2015).

Ideologies

Regarding ideology, ISIS aims at the establishment of a single caliph as a political leader for Muslims. Any Muslim with a contrary view is considered an apostate. ISIS’s official spokesmen have clearly declared the organization as the only Islamic State and that no dissent would be tolerated. ISIL has declared that making migration or hijra to its territory is a personal responsibility to all Muslims across the world. Al-Baghdadi has, himself, appealed to Muslim scholars, judges, Muslim doctors and engineers, as well as individuals with military, administrative, plus academic capabilities to join ISIL. Central to the group’s worldwide view is the notion that the current nations are illegitimate, and that a rightful Islamic rule comprises of a single Caliph ruling the Muslim world (Cockburn, 2015).

ISIS: Leadership, Funding, and Capabilities

Leadership

ISIS operates as terrorist bureaucracy under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is the self-proclaimed caliph. He is assisted by a team of obedient jihadist or Islamist mandarins who are in charge of prison management and suicide operations. The top organization is a cabinet of highly experienced military officers such as Abu al-Anbari and Abu Muslim al-Turkmani. The former was a major general in Saddam Hussein’s administration and is now in charge of Syrian territories under ISIL control. Abu Muslim al-Turkmani was a lieutenant colonel in Saddam Hussein’s administration. The group’s finances in Iraq are managed by Abu Salah (Alexander & Beach, 2014).

Funding

For operational activities, oil was once the primary source of revenue for ISIS. The organization took control of numerous oil fields in Syria and Iraq, which were sold on black market. Other sources of revenue include taxes and fines, kidnapping, plus looting, confiscations and fines. Nonetheless, oil revenue has declined since ISIS lost control of oil rich areas in northern Syria and Western Iraq following United States led coalition and Russian military attacks on the regions. Revenue from taxes and fines has also declined after the group lost of significant cities such as Mosul and Raqqa (BBC, 2018).

Money collected through looting and fines increased at the beginning when ISIS took control of Mosul in 2014, but has declined since then. At one time, reports indicated that the organization was short of finance that it had decided to impose random fines for offenses such as driving on the wrong lane. A report by IHM Market considers territorial losses as the main contributor to ISIS loss of revenue. The organization’s ability to compensate for loss of revenue by increasing fiscal burden on its territory has reached its limits. Generally, total revenue declined from $1.89 billion in 2014 to $1.7 billion and $870 million dollars in 2015 and 2016, respectively (BBC, 2018).

Capabilities

The organization’s strengths and expansionist strategy possess significant threats to United States allies in the Middle East and to United States facilities plus personnel in the region and the West. Rasmussen (2015) indicates that ISIS, in 2015, announced its expansion into Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, and South Asia. The existence of violent extremists in the aforementioned countries provides the organizational greater operational reach and plays a major role in legitimizing its claim as the leader of Muslim world. ISIS has managed to recruit fighters from various parts of the world. In 2015, Akbar (2015) indicates that the group comprised of at least 30,000 foreigners by the end of 2015. Majority of fighters were volunteers from Middle East and North Africa, but the organization has seen increasing number of volunteers from Western Europe, Russia, Central and South Asia, as well as Balkans. Some of the recruits include former military officers, doctors, engineers, and information technology experts.

Training Programs and Communication

ISIL has numerous training camps in Syria and Iraq that provide basic physical fitness training, weapons training, and armed assault techniques. Also, recruits are trained on how to make bombs, evade authorities, and communicate securely. Trainees must satisfy their trainers by showing commitment and loyalty. After training some will join fighters. In order to mount attacks in Western countries and the United States, the group seeks persons who can easily travel to and blend easily in the target nations (Cockburn, 2015). In these cases, American citizens are best suited to access other people and facilities to help them mount terrorist attacks in the country.

In its efforts to lure new recruits into its ideologies and consolidate its position, the organization is using an effective media strategy. Berger (2015) identifies shocking beheading images, burning alive of enemies, mass executions of opponents, and other gruesome images are part of the media strategy. It shares such pictures via its Twitter accounts, despite Twitter’s forceful approach to the organization’s use of the platform in 2014. The organization has accordingly created accounts with strong privacy settings for dissemination of numerous smaller and unofficial accounts via the use of hash tag.

ISIS: Tactic and Procedures

Weapons and Delivery Method

Vehicles packed with explosives guided by suicide drivers, fields of improvised explosive devices, and chlorine gases are common tactics, procedures as well as techniques used by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. ISIS also usually uses chemical weapons against unarmed civilians. The organization delivers chlorine gases and mustard against targets through mortars and rockets. Suicide bombers wear suicide vests, and while usage varies from one region to another 40 percent to 60 percent of ISIS fighters wear suicide vests (Cancian, 2017). In the United States, ISIS inspired terrorists have used various techniques to advance their objectives. For instance, Corey Johnson stabbed 3 people in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida in 2018. In 2017, Joshua Cummings, an ISIS sympathizer, shot and killed a guard in Denver, Colorado. Omar Mateen killed nearly 50 people in a Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June 2016. In December 2015, ISIS took responsibility for the killing of 14 people in San Bernardino, California by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik (Bergen & Sterman, 2018).

Surveillance and Propaganda Techniques

Al-Baghdadi and his lieutenants have proven difficult to track and kill due to the fact that they are encrypting their communications and striving at avoiding detection by the United States surveillance. In addition to encryption, the group is also using other applications that permanently delete messages shared via the Internet. As a result, it is almost impossible to intercept their correspondence. The group has adjusted its communication strategy because it is aware that its activities are being constantly tracked (Harris & Shachtman, 2017).

The organization hides behind the Internet to spread black propaganda, which comprises of false information. Whatever ISIS says is unreliable as exemplified during the group’s negotiation with Jordan for release of a captured pilot, Muath Safi Yousef al-Kasasbeh. The Jordanian authorities agreed to release the pilot in exchange for release of ISIS prisoners in Jordanian prisons. Later on, the group released a video showing Muath Safi Yousef al-Kasasbeh death by burning. Mah-Rukh (2015) indicates that ISIL’s propaganda material is advanced and contains elements of truth, which is presented through modern techniques. The group structures its propaganda to enjoy wide appeal.

References

Akbar, J. (2015, July 4). All 12 of us are in the Islamic State: Luton family confirm they are in

Syria and encourage other Britons to join them. Daily Mail. Retrieved from

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3149190/All-12-Islamic-State-Luton- familyrelease-statement-confirming-Syria.html

Alexander, H., & Beach, A. (2014, August 23). How Isil is funded, trained and operating in Iraq and Syria. The Telegraph. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11052919/How-Isil-is- funded-trained-and-operating-in-Iraq-and-Syria.html

BBC News. (2018, March 28). Islamic State and the crisis in Iraq and Syria in maps. BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27838034

Berger, J. M. (2015). Jihad 2.0: Social media in the next evolution of terrorist recruitment. Washington, DC.: U.S Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs.

Cancian, M. F. (2017). Tactics, techniques, and procedures of the Islamic State. Military Review, 52-61.

Cockburn, P. (2015). The rise of the Islamic State, ISIS and the new Sunni revolution. London, LN: Verso

Harris, S., Shachtman, N. (2017, April 14). ISIS keeps getting better at dodging U.S. spies. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from https://www.thedailybeast.com/isis-keeps-getting-better-at- dodging-us-spies

Mah-Rukh, A. (2015). ISIS and propaganda: How ISIS exploits women. Reuters Institute for Study of Journalism, University of Oxford.

Bergen, P., & Sterman, D. (2018, September 10). Jihadist terrorism 17 years after 9/11. Washington, DC.: New America.

Rasmussen, N. J. (2015). Current terrorist threat to the United States. Washington, DC.: National Counter Terrorism Center.

Warrick, J. (2015). Black flags: The rise of ISIS. New York, NY: Doubleday.