Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

(Amelia) #1
How Wars Are Fought 287

empowered Shiites over the Arab Sunni minority, and the IS has taken up the radical
Sunni cause. The IS broadcasts its terrorist acts through social media: the behead-
ings of Westerners and Muslim opponents; mass executions; the rape of non- Muslim
women like the Yazidi minority; the sexual slavery of non- Sunni Muslims; the taking
of hostages for ransom; and the destruction of cultural antiquities. But it differs from
most terrorist organ izations in impor tant re spects, too. It seeks to control territory
and has done so in parts of Syria and Iraq. It self- finances by controlling oil assets.
And the IS claims religious authority centered in the proclamation of a caliphate, led
by Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi. Many of its estimated 15,000 foreign recruits, from as
many as 80 countries, are attracted by its utopian goals. As one scholar explains, the
IS seeks to “create a ‘pure’ Sunni Islamist state governed by a brutal interpretation of
sharia, to immediately obliterate the po liti cal borders of the Middle East that were cre-
ated by Western powers in the twentieth century; and to position itself as the sole po liti-
cal, religious, and military authority over all of the world’s Muslims.”^21 Yet the very use
of terror and its tactics, as well as its religious fundamentalism, has isolated the IS
from virtually all of its neighbors, most Muslims, and the rest of the international
c om mu n it y.
Though the examples above are from the Middle East, terrorism also has a long
history in other parts of the world, reflecting diverse, often multiple, motivations. Some
groups adhere to extreme religious positions, such as the Irish Republican Army, the
protector of Northern Irish Catholics in their strug gle against Protestant British rule.
The Hindu- Muslim rivalry in India has led to many terrorist incidents. Other groups
seek or have sought territorial separation or autonomy from a state. The Basque
separatists (ETA) in Spain, the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, Abu Sayyaf Group in the
Philippines, and Chechen groups in Rus sia are all excellent examples.
Since the 1990s, terrorism has taken a new turn.^22 Terrorist acts have become more
lethal, even as the groups responsible have become more dispersed. In the 1970s, about
17  percent of terrorist attacks killed someone, whereas in the 1990s, almost 25  percent
of terrorist attacks resulted in deaths. Until 2000, the worst loss of life was the 1985
bombing of an Air India flight, in which  329 people were killed. That statistic
changed dramatically on September 11, 2001, when over 3,000 civilians died and $80
billion in economic losses were incurred. Increasingly, terrorists have made use of a
diverse array of weapons. AK-47s, sarin gas, shoulder- fired missiles, anthrax, back-
pack explosives, and airplanes as guided missiles have all been used. The IS has made
theater of executing prisoners by beheading, a particularly grisly form of execution in
which the IS rec ords the act and then distributes it online. The infrastructure that
supports terrorism has also become more sophisticated. It is financed through money-
laundering schemes and illegal criminal activities. Training camps attract not just
young, single, and uneducated potential terrorists but also older, better- educated
individuals who are willing to commit suicide to accomplish their objectives. Terrorist

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