Isis Begins

In 2008, Ken Timmerman warned the U.S. government and the American public that Christians were “facing extinction” in northern Iraq. In the summer of 2017, he was back on the ground, debriefing the most recent victims of the ISIS onslaught. Sometimes fiction precedes reality. That is the case with ISIS Begins. A politico-religious thriller first written in 2010, and updated in recent months after Ken’s most recent trips to northern Iraq, it gives readers a ringside seat to a tragedy that never should have happened. Everybody with any involvement on the ground in Iraq, from U.S. government officials to Christian aid organizations to journalists like Ken, knew what would happen once the U.S. pulled out of Iraq. ISIS Begins takes you on a journey of the heart, bringing alive the sufferings of Iraqi Christians persecuted for their faith by jihadi Muslims. It also unveils the deep corruption and utter cynicism of some career U.S. government officials, who used their power to enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens – while decimating a Christian community that still uses the language of Jesus at home and in church. “I have spent my life tracking the murderers of yesterday. Ken Timmerman is tracking the murderers of tomorrow.” —Simon Wiesenthal “Timmerman names names… We’re going to have to get this book in the hands of a lot of people... Your book is fabulous! – Rush Limbaugh, on Shadow Warriors

Providing up-to-date information for general readers as well as those well-informed about the Islamic State, this book offers an essential understanding of the rise of ISIS and its current influence in the Middle East as well as worldwide. ISIS—also referred to as ISIL, the Islamic State, or Daesh—began to assert its power and gain recognition for its militant and terroristic activities in April 2013. After the coordinated attacks in Paris on November 13th, 2015, ISIS has captured the full attention of observers in the West. This accessible book explains what ISIS is, what the group's goals are, what their members believe, and why their ranks are growing. Readers will gain an understanding of how ISIS is a unique group—one seeking to be the army of the righteous fighting to defeat the unbelievers and usher in the end of days—but that the extremist views of ISIS are an expression of a growing frustration with life in the Middle East and elsewhere shared by a larger community of non-state and post-state actors. The book provides an introduction that documents the origins of ISIS within the larger Al Qaeda organization during the Iraq War. The following chapters discuss the origins, development, and territorial expansion of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and examine the ideological motivations behind the emergence of ISIS, thereby enabling a nuanced understanding of the importance of ISIS in contemporary history. Other entries discuss individuals, events, and organizations that put ISIS in historical context in terms of contemporary events since the Iraq War into the present and explain the group's position within the complex conflict currently boiling in the Middle East.

An authoritative introduction to ISIS—now expanded and revised to bring events up to the present The Islamic State stunned the world with its savagery, destructiveness, and military and recruiting successes. However, its most striking and distinctive characteristic was its capacity to build governing institutions and a theologically grounded national identity. What explains the rise of ISIS and the caliphate, and what does it portend for the future of the Middle East? In this book, one of the world’s leading authorities on political Islam and jihadism sheds new light on these questions. Moving beyond journalistic accounts, Fawaz Gerges provides a clear and compelling explanation of the deeper conditions that fuel ISIS. This new edition brings the story of ISIS to the present, covering key events—from the military defeat of its territorial state to the death of its leader al-Baghdadi—and analyzing how the ongoing Syrian, Iraqi, and Saudi-Iranian conflict could lead to ISIS’s revival.

A revelatory look inside the world's most dangerous terrorist group. Initially dismissed by US President Barack Obama, along with other fledgling terrorist groups, as a “jayvee squad” compared to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has shocked the world by conquering massive territories in both countries and promising to create a vast new Muslim caliphate that observes the strict dictates of Sharia law. In ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, American journalist Michael Weiss and Syrian analyst Hassan Hassan explain how these violent extremists evolved from a nearly defeated Iraqi insurgent group into a jihadi army of international volunteers who behead Western hostages in slickly produced videos and have conquered territory equal to the size of Great Britain. Beginning with the early days of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of ISIS’s first incarnation as “al-Qaeda in Iraq,” Weiss and Hassan explain who the key players are—from their elusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to the former Saddam Baathists in their ranks—where they come from, how the movement has attracted both local and global support, and where their financing comes from. Political and military maneuvering by the United States, Iraq, Iran, and Syria have all fueled ISIS’s astonishing and explosive expansion. Drawing on original interviews with former US military officials and current ISIS fighters, the authors also reveal the internecine struggles within the movement itself, as well as ISIS’s bloody hatred of Shiite Muslims, which is generating another sectarian war in the region. Just like the one the US thought it had stopped in 2011 in Iraq. Past is prologue and America’s legacy in the Middle East is sowing a new generation of terror.

ISIS started as rebels under the US occupation of Iraq. They grew by ravaging Libya and Syria. Their backers are Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and they fight as proxies for US neocons and allies. The motives are oil, gas, and empire-building. ISIS is a supercharged new brand of Al Qaeda, which like Gladio was founded by the US to fight Russia. The so-called founders and bogeymen of ISIS, Zarqawi and Baghdadi, were puppets invented by the CIA. ISIS is the latest offensive in a very long-term Anglo-Zionist "Divide and Conquer" project to balkanize and subjugate the Middle East, by fostering narrow sectarianism and infighting among its peoples. Britain installed the Saudi-Wahhabi monarchy over 200 years ago, which is the main source of funding for Islamic extremism, including ISIS. Turkey's dictator Erdogan runs ISIS for NATO; like the Saudis, he is an Islamic fundamentalist and a long-term ally of Israel. ISIS fighters were used to smash up and take over Qaddafi's Libya, then sent through Turkey to lay waste to Syria and Iraq. While pretending to fight ISIS, the US and its allies foster it and similar groups, leaving Russia to try on its own to quash the cancer threatening the entire region. However, the attacks in Paris, San Bernardino and Brussels are best explained as classic Gladio false flag operations, pinned on ISIS to foster the "Clash of Civilizations." The name ISIS is short for "Islamic State in Iraq and Syria," and it is also known as ISIL, Daesh and Al Qaeda in Iraq.

This illuminating work offers readers a comprehensive overview of ISIS, with more than 100 in-depth articles on a variety of topics related to the notorious terrorist group, and more than a dozen key primary source documents. ISIS formed through a combination of a rise in violent extremist ideologies demonstrated on September 11, 2001; the invasion of Iraq; and the Syrian Civil War. ISIS is possibly the most important conflict group and phenomena of the last half century, and understanding its source and success is crucial to functioning in the world today. This book provides insight into ISIS from its beginnings to the present, through coverage of its people, organizations, and operations. The book begins with an overview of ISIS, which provides context for each of the reference entries that follow. The introductory material also includes entries on the causes and consequences of the conflict between ISIS and the West. The book contains more than 100 reference entries on general and specific topics ranging from key leaders to major terrorist attacks and affiliated organizations. It also includes a carefully curated selection of primary sources that come from a variety of sources including national-level strategy documents, presidential addresses, and ISIS itself. The book concludes with a detailed chronology and annotated bibliography.

The New York Times bestselling authors and former Special Operations veterans, Brandon Webb, Jack Murphy, and Peter Nealen details the dangers of ISIS and how America can stop the religious extremist threat at last "It's too soon to say what steps the United States will take against ISIS. I don't want to put the cart before the horse," Obama told reporters during a White House news briefing. "We don't have a strategy yet.""-former President Obama If we have been at war with terror for over a decade and still don't have solid strategies for dealing with radical terrorism, then what have we really been doing the last thirteen years? It's a good question to ask yourself, and at least the former President was telling the truth when he said we don't have a strategy for ISIS. As ISIS grows in strength with each successful battle, they will also set up the infrastructure of something resembling a functional state. They will become a self-funded organization making millions of dollars from oil revenue. Left unchecked, it is hard to say how powerful they could become. The dream of a pan-Islamic caliphate is most certainly beyond their reach, however, they could carve out a very large swath of the Middle East for their empire. If ISIS were to capture the first and second most holy sites of the Islamic faith, Mecca and Medina, the entire Middle East may very well implode. The ISIS Solution takes a look at the current geopolitical situation, organizational structure of ISIS, and provides new thinking and strategies for dealing with the Islamic State in the Middle East. Its authors and contributors have over fifty years of combined experience in the intelligence, analyst and Special Operations communities. Leadership and a new philosophical conversation of action is needed to eliminate violent terrorism. This book starts the conversation.

The radical Islamist group ISIS has caused the deaths of thousands and contributed to the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment around the world, despite the fact that prominent Muslim leaders have denounced the group’s actions. Fears have been heightened by the spread of misinformation. Readers learn the real facts about how this organization rose to power and its current status, empowering them and equipping them to fight Islamophobia. Full-color photographs, annotated quotes, critical-thinking questions, and a timeline of key events augment the engaging text, giving readers a comprehensive overview of this chapter in the history of terrorism.