Americans across the nation are concerned about the growth of a major Terrorist group, ISIS. ISIS, meaning Islamic State in Iraq and Syria , is now infamous for their mass persecutions of disbelievers in Islam and in their radical form of carrying out Islamic traditions. Although ISIS is creating many problems for world leaders and many people in the Middle East, many young adults are unaware of the severity of this terrorist group, which is dangerous considering two Americans have already been persecuted by ISIS, quite publicly.
ISIS has been a terrorist group since the 1990s. The group was originally a stem organization of the notorious terrorist group, Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda has recently made it public that they have nothing to with ISIS affairs, according to CNN. Both groups are known for their radical beliefs, mass executions, and acts of terrorism. ISIS is known for their public executions of those who do not share their same extreme belief is Islamic culture. The group has already killed two american journalists, James Foley and Stephen Sotloff. The executions have been recorded and made public. Another american, Abdul-Rahman (formerly Peter) Kassig, has been taken by ISIS in the past year and is the next american threatened by the the group. Kassig is a Butler University graduate and Indiana native who was working in the middle east doing humanitarian work.
ISIS is run by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a terrorist who was released in 2009 from a United States ran detention camp, Camp Becca. ISIS is the richest terrorist group in the world with an estimated 2 million dollars,according to Breitbart an online newspaper . ISIS was originally getting money by extortion and robbery but lately al-Baghdadi, has switched to generating resources by large scale attacks and taking over territories. The group now owns up to 35,000 Square Miles of territory in Iraq and Syria. That land total would be as large as the state of Indiana. ISIS has also grown in numbers of soldiers. ISIS now has anywhere from 20,000 to 31,500 soldiers, according to the CIA. 2,000 of those being western people, and approximately 100 americans have joined ISIS.
The United States is now taking action against ISIS. The U.S along with its partners Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan are joining to organize air strikes on ISIS territory. Air strikes are attacks made by aircraft, which is a very strong tactic for these nations to pursue. Each country bringing well trained air forces to the table is a strong advantage for the battle against ISIS.