The Events that Led to ISIS

Taylor White

Professor Shirk

POL 357

25 April 2018

The Events that Led to ISIS

Believing there to be weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the US invaded the state in 2003, leading to the political and societal chaos that laid the groundwork for ISIS. The failure of the US to understand the history of the country through, a lack of planning for the conflict, and regional conflict such as the Syrian civil war, gave ISIS a base of marginalized Sunnis to submit to their ideology. As anti-Western sentiments grew in the region, disillusioned believed the best possible future would be with ISIS, who told its members to look towards the West to explain their plight.

With a history of tension between the Sunnis and Shias in Iraq, the 2003 invasion and ousting of Hussein’s central government served to heighten these tensions further. After the invasion, the Iraqi government began to collapse, which destabilized society further. Inspired by this divide, ISIS stepped in to support the deposed Sunnis and to “take advantage of the wrongs felt by Iraq’s Sunnis and depict itself as the ‘defender’ and ‘protector.’”[1] Through appealing to the Sunnis, a minority in Iraq, who saw the Shia majority take their former government positions, ISIS was able to gain many members as, “There was a growing perception among Sunnis that they were being persecuted and excluded from power by Shiite officials.”[2] Unlike US officials who ignored the plight of Iraqi Sunnis, Baghdadi and other ISIS officers offered them a new life. Many Iraqis with no place to turn began, “fight under ISIS’ banner, even though many do not subscribe to its extremist Islamist ideology.”[3]

US policies at this time, including the disbanding the Iraqi military, left a power vacuum for ISIS. Along with dismantling the military, the US dissolved the Baath regime and the party of Hussein. While the US saw the ousting of the Baath regime as the removal of a violent regime from the region, what they neglected to understand is how expelling the governing party would destabilize the country. With a dismembered government and military, many in the region felt disillusioned and looked for someone to blame for, “As a result, many Iraqis sought retribution by taking up arms in the name of resistance to the American occupation of their country.”[4] The US acted too fast in its attempt to reconstruct Iraq; it is evident that the people of the country were not prepared for an overhaul of its society.

US military prisons, such as Abu Ghraib’s, violent tactics made Iraqis further opposed to the US’ presence in the region. Evidenced by videos and pictures, the conditions in Abu Gharib were abominable, and although it was meant to detain those suspected of terrorism, many of the prisoners were innocent civilians. Although the US saw the prison as vital in stopping the spread of radical ideas, in turn, it served as, “Those prisons, it appears, were networking centers for those who would join the movement.”[5] After being released from prison, many turned to extremism in response to the torture they received at the hands of the American military. The experiences in the prison were so scarring that, “…seventeen of the twenty-five most important ISIS leaders running the war in Iraq and Syria spent time in US-run detention facilities.”[6]

The fragmentation of Syria’s central government and the eruption of civil war in 2011, opened up another door for ISIS in the Middle East. In 2011, similar to the violence due to religious tension in Iraq, Syria saw a divide between its Sunnis and Shias. Again, ISIS used the tension as a means to appeal to Sunnis in the region and saw the civil war as its chance to gain power. In both Iraq and Syria, ISIS played upon the heightened emotions of Sunnis and, “ISIS’ anti-Shia, anti-Iranian program is the most effective card it has played…proved to be a powerful recruiting tool.”[7] Through capitalizing on social unrest in Syria, ISIS has been able to recruit more members and become the leading terrorist organization

The failure of the Arab Spring, a series of revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East, helped bolster ISIS. While Muslims saw the revolutions as a chance to oust oppressive regional governments, ISIS saw the chaos that surrounded the Arab Spring as a chance to consolidate its power as many leaders in the region were clinging to power. Across the region, Arab leaders saw the issue shift from political conflict to a fight to protect a national identity. ISIS was able to capitalize upon the distrust among many of the Arab leaders and, “As a nonstate actor, ISIS initially climbed on the shoulders of key regional states that battled each other for influence and supremacy in the heart of Arabia.”[8]

A combination of failed US policies and regional conflicts in the Middle East helped lay the groundwork for ISIS. Resulting from the US’ actions in the region, many in the Middle East grew to resent the US, and capitalizing upon this, ISIS served as a group for many to gather and blame the West for their condition. Not only was the invasion of Iraq a failure because the US failed to find any evidence of nuclear weapons, but it also served to create a home for a terror group, that although is shrinking, continues to serve as a domestic and foreign threat.

---

[1] Fawaz A. Gerges,  ISIS: A History  (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017), page number.

[2] Hanna, Jason. "Here's How ISIS Was Really Founded." CNN. August 13, 2016. Accessed April 23, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/middleeast/here-is-how-isis-began/index.html.

[3] ISIS: A History

[4] Ibid.

[5] "Here's How ISIS Was Really Founded."

[6] ISIS: A History

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.