(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Patrick Cockburn: The Rise of the Islamic State. ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution Verso, 2014
Patrick Cockburn is the Middle East correspondent for The Independent and has worked for The Financial Times. He has written three books on Iraq's near history. "There is reason to believe that we will see more ISIS attacks on European soil going forward," Cockburn wrote in the Class Fight 18. November 2015. And remarked: “In the West, people only notice these crimes when they happen in their own streets, but ISIS suicide bombers killed 43 people in Beirut 12. and 26. November. These attacks are almost impossible to stop, since they target civilians, and since suicide bombers are willing to wipe out their attack targets. "
Different groups. The 23. September 2014 expands US use of air bombs to Syria to avert the development of jihadism in the area. Syria is being destroyed and shattered. What is the solution for the country? The Assad regime is subject to numerous attacks by various teams. As always, the attacks that Assad and his allies are behind have been relentless. ISIS is thus fighting not only a battle against the West, but the right and power of the area, and the battle is, among other things, between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.
A number of different groups are fighting for their existence in Iraq and Syria: Shi'ites, Sunnis, Kurds, Alawites and Christians – all of these groups call for justification. And as Cockburn writes: ISIS is the product of a long era of war in Iraq and Syria, where the martyrdom achieved through suicide bombing tempts people who otherwise have no future. They attack all other existing non-Sunni Muslim groups, which they view as expressions of Western decadence and polytheism.
Caliphate. ISIS's major advantage is that the group has been able to operate on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border, the author writes. Also in Syria, ISIS has developed jihadist warfare. The many militant opposition groups to the Assad regime are dominated by ISIS. Various jihad groups have continued to fight in Syria. While Al Qaeda was an idea rather than an organization, he writes, ISIS's goal is to create a Muslim caliphate in the Middle East. During the aforementioned 100 days that this book mainly revolves around, the civilian condition of the area changed dramatically. Following the US and France attacks in Syria, the country completely collapsed, and the civilian population, for example, could no longer trust that they had electricity. The population had to boil water on propane gas, but at some point the gas supply also stopped.
Saudi Arabia. ISIS's most important task is to frighten people. But the organization has not emerged from nothing. Cockburn writes: «The importance of Saudi Arabia in the rise and return of Al-Qaeda is often misunderstood. Saudi Arabia is influential because its oil and vast wealth make it powerful in the Middle East and beyond. But it is not financial resources alone that makes it such an important player. Another factor is its propagation on Wahabism, the fundamentalist, eighteenth-century version of Islam that imposes Sharia law, relegates women to second-class citizens status, and regards Shia and Sufi as non-Muslims to be persecuted along with Christians and Jews . "
As Cockburn writes, ISIS has become most popular in Sunni areas. More and more Syrian rebels have switched to ISIS, which is seen as a powerful paramilitary group also for other Syrian rebels, and which is well suited to training other military rebel groups in the area.
The rise of ISIS. In the first chapter of the book, Cockburn discusses the background and growth of ISIS, based on developments in Syria and Iraq. In January 2014, ISIS took over Falluhja, located 40 miles west of Baghdad, a city stormed by the United States Navy ten years earlier. By June 2014, ISIS had overcome all other jihadist groups and had become the most effective paramilitary rebel group in the world. Each time weapons are provided to other anti-Assad groups, ISIS is strengthened because they always find a way to deprive these groups of this military equipment. And this is how ISIS increases its military superiority.
On June 6, 2014, ISIS began its attack on Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. Three days later, the city fell. Cockburn spends a lot of time depicting the fall of Mosul, which became a turning point in the development of the group as it became the strongest paramilitary organization in the Middle East. Following the attack on Mosul, ISIS was also followed by other paramilitary groups, especially Sunni groups, such as Baathist Naqshbandi, Ansar al-Islam and Moujahideen.
guerrilla. ISIS was attacked by the United States Air Force on August 8, 2014, and in addition, the United States began fighting against Jabhat al-Nusra and other Al Qaeda forces targeting its people. The US used big words to crush ISIS in a short time, but they did not succeed. The attacks were too random and little carried out.
What to do when you are massively attacked from above? Well, turning oneself into guerrillas divides into small groups fighting in different places at the same time. It was only after Mosul fell that the fear of ISIS's immense power really began to prevail, and that they became visible in the West. Suddenly the group was everywhere.
Unsystematic. Cockburn writes that the original political power that is shared between the government's constitutional political organizations was basically too weak and too systematic. This has given ISIS an easy victory in the area. The fact that the terror group managed to capture Mosul in such a short time came as a surprise to most, and gave the organization a reputation as merciless and effective. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Caliph Ibrahim), ISIS leader, described how all the enemies of the organization were easily swept off the field.
The West for the West. The military opposition in Syria and Iraq has long been dominated by jihadists, fundamentalist Islamic forces who have resorted to holy war. The hope of becoming a martyr for the Islamic faith is the driving force. ISIS is known for killing non-Sunnis along the freeway at the Damascus border, and many television viewers have seen how effective and mercilessly the killings are carried out. But now it is asked how much Western media and governments care about Shi'ite Muslims being threatened and exterminated by such groups. The West primarily thinks of itself.
Extreme Islam. This book was written and published in 2014. The development has been going fast, and when you read the book one year after it came out, one can wonder if it is still valid. Has Cockburn been able to predict such an attack as we have just witnessed in Paris? The answer to that is yes, he has so decided. The tragic thing is, of course, that ISIS and similar groups would not have been able to grow up in the area unless George Bush's erroneous "war on terror" tactics had been initiated. The anti-terror program was carried out without Pakistan and Saudi Arabia ever becoming part of the target of US attacks. However, it was Afghanistan and Iraq, where Al Qaeda was never located. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are allies with the United States, and were therefore never seriously considered an attack target. At the same time, Wahabism is taking over normal Islamism in Syria, and the whole area is being radicalized in a conservative, extreme-Islamic direction.
Military focus. Cockburn has written an interesting book about ISIS. But he could well have gone deeper into the religious aspect of the conflict. He has largely adhered to the military part of the terrorist group's development. If you look for other explanations, you should read for example The ISIS Apocalypse, also a good book on the topic that has recently come out.
Næs is a freelance writer.
henning.ness@getmail.no
