The Origin And Effects Of Terrorism In Iraq

Terrorism is the use of violence managed by either a single individual or groups of individuals against civilians in order to create a sense of terror or fear to achieve a financial, political, or religious goal. According to an article, “Terrorists activities include bombings, skyjackings, abductions, and other actions that threaten or result in injury or death to noncombatants”. This is an extremely crucial matter throughout the world, but it is especially prevalent in Iraq. Not only has Iraq lost many innocent civilian lives due to ongoing terrorism but they have taken many lives as well. Terrorism is a major complication within Iraq because it not only affects the people of Iraq but also the rest of the world.

What has happened

Iraq and other countries around the world have suffered from catastrophic terrorism resulting in a huge number of casualties. Terrorism first began in Iraq in the early 2000s when the United States invaded them. Hafez stated, “Suicide terrorism in Iraq began with the U. S. -led invasion in March 2003 and subsequent occupation of the country”. This invasion consisted of many days of major warfare operations and it signaled the start of the Iraq war which became known as Operation Iraqi Freedom. The U. S. had a combination of five major factors for conducting the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The first factor was the United States commitment to provide stability for the Persian Gulf. The second factor was the impetuous hostility of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator who constantly threatened the region’s safety through actions such as invading other countries and trying to develop WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programs.

Another factor was the extensive disapproval with the containment policy put into place by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton after the Gulf War of 1991. The fourth factor was the inclination of George W. Bush to believe that containment could be substituted by regime change without much effort and U. S. dedication. The last factor was the 9/11 attacks that created circumstances in which military interference in the Middle East was possible. According to figure one, there was a total of 12,125 civilian deaths in 2003 in the Iraq war.

The Iraq war began in 2003 with the U. S. -led invasion under the Bush administration. The main countries involved in the Iraq war are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Iraq. According to an article, “During most of the period from 2003 to 2009, U. S. troops were in charge of security in northern and western Iraq; British troops were in charge of security in much of southern Iraq; and a Polish-led international force had security duties in an area of central Iraq south of Baghdad”.

Iraqi and foreign militants were very against the United States and the United Kingdom’s forces being in Iraq. Therefore, they were striking against military and security forces and they were striking against civilians as well. The upcoming years were hard for Americans, “During the following seven and a half years, thousands of Americans lost their lives and tens of thousands were wounded in the war there”.

The number of casualties grew larger and larger as the Iraq war continued on. As violence was beginning to diminish, the U. S. slowly decreased its military presence in Iraq ending the Iraq war in December 2011.

What is happening now

Although the Iraq war ended in December of 2011 when the United States completed their withdrawal, the war did not really end. ISIS formed in 2003 back at the very start of the Iraq war and is still a group today. ISIS is a well-known acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. They control a vast amount of land in Iraq and Syria. The goal of this group is to bring all Muslims together into a worldwide caliphate which means theological empire. Bower stated, “Groups of dissatisfied young adult friends around the world – often with little knowledge of Islam but yearning for lives of profound meaning and glory – typically choose to become volunteers in the Islamic State army in Syria and Iraq, Altran contends”. People who join this group believe that they are truly giving their life meaning when in reality they are taking away innocent civilian lives.

The group, ISIS, first became known in 2014 when they captured Mosul in Iraq and went south until they reached the borders of Baghdad. They started calling themselves by the name of “ISIS” at this time and demanded all Muslims pledge their loyalty to them. After this happened, groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria and Ansar Beit Al Maqdis in Egypt started pledging their loyalty to ISIS. Other countries around the world, including the United States, did not see ISIS as a true threat. Times have changed since then, “Over the past two years, the group has been involved with 90 terrorist attacks around the world. More than 1,000 people have died as a result. Some of the attacks were committed by ISIS members. Others were the work of people who say they were inspired by ISIS”. ISIS is extremely dangerous, they have committed genocide and struck with retribution way beyond their territories. There were a total of 17,578 civilian deaths in 2015 in the Iraq war. The most frightening part about it all is that ISIS is growing, rapidly.

ISIS has established a rule of fear and terror second to none within the vast areas that they dominate. Living under ISIS rule is not easy, nor is it safe. All women are required to wear clothing that covers every part of their bodies, including their faces. They are not allowed out unless they have a male relative escorting them wherever they desire to go. Men are required to wear specific types of clothing and must also grow beards. Young boys are sometimes forced into joining ISIS as well. Anyone who doesn’t follow these strict rules are tortured and sometimes killed. Anyone who lives under ISIS and tries to escape is immediately killed on the spot. A man described, “Living under ISIS is like living in a prison”. People who live under ISIS control have no freedom and are living in constant fear and danger.

What should happen

Since ISIS is accountable for thousands of deaths not only in Iraq but in many other countries as well, actions need to be taken in order to put a stop to terrorism. Rosenthal and Muller stated, “For a long time we have quoted the Chinese aphorism about terrorism as the height of evil: “Kill one, frighten ten thousand. ” We now know that there are people for whom is not enough. Their motto is “Kill thousands and frighten millions”. It is extremely important that all nations work together to stop this terrorist group from growing even larger than they already have.

All nations must unite together and bomb the areas in Iraq and Syria that are ISIS-controlled. The nations must also bomb other areas that are ISIS-controlled in order to take away some of their land and hopefully, stop them from growing. The longer these countries wait to do anything about ISIS, the more time we are giving ISIS to devise their next attack.

Reference List

1. Bower, B. (2016). DEADLY Devotion. Science News, 190(1), 18-21.
2. Hafez, M. (2006). Suicide Terrorism in Iraq: A Preliminary Assessment of the Quantitative Data and Documentary Evidence. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 29(6), 591-619.
3. Iraq War. (2017). Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 1p. 1. Operation Iraqi Freedom Ends. (2015). Salem Press Encyclopedia, Terrorism. (2017).
4. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 1p. 1. The Truth About ISIS. (2016). Scholastic Action, 40(1), 4-8.
5. Rosenthal, U. , & Muller, E. R. (2007). The Evil of Terrorism: Diagnosis and Countermeasures.