Is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) a country?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:03:25 -0400

We haven't seen a terrorist really take land like this in recent years. In Afghan you had a terrorist group that was supported by the government but they were power right after the departure of the Russians. We aided in that but their really wasn't a host government like there was in Iraq.

ISIS has been able to not only hold their land but also emplace their own government. They are able to trade and sell oil and make revenue. They are able to collect taxes from their cities and are mostly self sustaining. Should we treat them as such or are they just a terrorist group that is just operating in Iraq and Syria?

How does this affect your view when you speak of places like Kurdistan? It isn't a country but it is referenced so often like it is.

Commentary: ISIS has emerged as a terrorist state

The Islamic State group of militants appears to be more advanced than simply a terrorist organization.

Response by CPT Bruce Rodgers made Jun 4 at 2015 4:06 PM

CPT Bruce Rodgers — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:06:02 -0400

It seems they want to be, let declare war

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2015 4:06 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:06:53 -0400

Based on that map it's more of a desert than a country.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2015 4:11 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:11:03 -0400

In order for IS to be a country, they need to be international recognized and have diplomatic missions etablished.
Not bloody likely.
The "government" consists of playing Robin Hood with pillaged loot and purloined oil, used to pay off collaborators, fighters, and influential citizens.
That is about as much a government as Blackbeard's pirate ship.

Response by SGT Aaron Barbee made Jun 4 at 2015 5:37 PM

SGT Aaron Barbee — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 17:37:40 -0400

Legitimate country or not, it's an intriguing question. It may help to keep in mind a militarist organization is able to maintain an appearance of governmental control. Just because they levy taxes and collect successfully doesn't make them an official city-state.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2015 1:28 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 01:28:24 -0400

What must be understood is that the neither the natives nor the militants of the middle east recognize the same borders we do. Look back all the way to the Sykes–Picot Agreement and from there we can see where a lot of the trouble began. European powers drew the borders of the middle east with the intention of keeping the natives in constant conflict with each other. It's a tactic that's similar to what the USG did with the Native Americans during that genocide. We forcibly removed them from their home lands and resettled them next to tribes and clans we knew were their historic enemies. This is the same thing the UK, French, and Russian governments did. The middle east conflicts are all by design. The only way that peace can be sustained in those areas is through brutal dictatorships that kill all dissent (think Saddam, Qaddafi, and Assad). The only other way to keep peace is through a massive restructuring of the middle east. This means Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, etc should have their borders redrawn to reflect the actual disposition of the tribes, clans, ethnicities, and religions of the people. I believe a sovereign Kurdistan will be established by the end of the next decade. Also, in order for the Shia-Sunni conflict to simmer down, Iran must annex part of Southern Iraq while at the same time conceding its territory to the new Kurdistan and breaking off other parts of the country to other secessionist parties.

I'm in the process of writing an essay on how damaging ethnocentrism is to the intelligence collection process. We need to stop identifying states by their current political boundaries and start recognizing them by human terrain analysis.

The way this ties in to your question is that the intel community totally missed how fast ISIS could spread because the majority of us were stuck on the group operating only in Syria and with lumped them along with all the other groups attempting to overthrow Assad at that time.

Response by SSG Roger Ayscue made Jun 9 at 2015 3:13 AM

SSG Roger Ayscue — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 03:13:49 -0400

No Sir,
They are terrorists. Cut and Dried. Call in the rain of metal that you only get from a GUNSHIP.