Introduction
The conventional thinking on the issue of terrorism in the United States is covered with various misconceptions. These prevalent misunderstandings on this issue are embedded on the public perception on the terrorism. The dominant fallacy on the issue of terrorism is on the idea that terrorist organizations are similar especially the Islamic organizations. The two major terrorist groups that people fail to differentiate and often mistake them are the Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Despite the fact that the ISIS has some origin in the Al Qaeda, it is crystal clear that ISIS is not Al Qaeda. This is true due to the fact the two groups are not in good terms, as tension exists between the two groups. As a result, the mode of leadership, goals, and tactics used by these two organizations are different. As such, the aim of this essay is to compare and contrast between al-Qaeda and ISIS and assess which group between the two will last longer in future.
The origin of these two groups is one of the major difference between them. The source of al Qaeda is on the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan where the former Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden with his colleagues decided to take the victory of the Soviet to higher levels. This was the goal achieved by creating a network of taking jihad organization global. The goal of this movement by Bin Laden was to create an umbrella of an elite fighter of the jihad across the globe where both small and mighty jihadist would unite as a single group to fight their regimes. The local jihadist was supposed to pledge their allegiance to the Bin Laden for them to access a huge pool of assets such as weapon, money, expertise, Al Qaeda training, and logistical support. The 9/11 attack and bombing of two US embassies in Africa were a key indicator of the power, reach, sheer audacity, and capability of the organization.
The ISIS, on the other hand, started as an Iraqi organization, a phenomenon that shapes its movement to date. This group thrived in Iraq after the US invasion in 2003 that lead to the merging of the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was a jihadist from Jordan. Zarqawi refused to pledge his loyalty to the Bin Laden even after being sponsored by Bin Laden and sharing his goals with his group, as he purposed to run the group independently. This marks the key difference between the two organizations, as even after Zarqawi pledged his loyalty later, he did not agree on the goals of the al Qaeda.
Goals
The goals of these two groups is another major difference. The purpose of al Qaeda under the Bin Laden’s leadership was to target the United States. This is evident from the three major attacks made by the al Qaeda to the U.S. two of them in the American embassies in Africa and the other on September 11, 2001, in the America commonly known as 9/11. These attacks were the key indicator that the al Qaeda’s target was Americans and their allies. As such, the focus of al Qaeda has remained the Western countries with the America at the core of these attacks. However, the goal of ISIS as highlighted by Zarqawi and the leaders who followed was to wage ware and fight against on the Sunni Muslims. It was the belief of Zarqawi that violence was the only thing that would have alienated the Sunnis from their project. This shows that the focus of ISIS was the battle at home especially the Iraq, Syria, and their environs, unlike the al Qaeda who focused on the Western nations.
Tactic
Moreover, the ISIS focused on the use of horror images meant to intimidate their enemies. This was a successive tactic of instilling fear to their enemies in Iraq and Syria; thus achieving their military victories. Zarqawi focused on the use of incredible brutality allowing him to make the name of the group gruesome behind the camera and the videos they used. However, the al Qaeda focused on the use of attacks as the effective strategy of instilling fear to their targets. This is evident in the American culture where the name al Qaeda is synonymously used as attacks especially after the 9/11 event.
The use of these attacks is meant to convince the Americans that they need to withdraw from the Islamic world. In addition, the al Qaeda spreads propaganda to the Muslims trying to convince them that jihad is the best in adopting and implementing the al Qaeda’s goals; thus the need for them to give up their local ones and join the al Qaeda. Despite the use of similar tactics, the strategy of ISIS is to control their territory and expand their position. With such motive, the ISIS aims at establishing a government led by the Islamic law as well as creating an Islamic state that embraces the group.
Media
The two groups have different perspectives on the use of media to spread their effect. The ISIS utilizes the media to spread its effect while Al Qaeda barely used media before learning this tactic from the ISIS. Moreover, ISIS relied on the use of simple language on the social media for their targets to understand while the al Qaeda used the old style embraced by the Bin Laden who gave a speech in favor of the Arabs after the 9/11 attack.
Purpose
The purpose of each of the group is different that later determines their strategies. For the ISIS, the prime purpose was to stop the Sunnis and impose the Islamic laws and regulations. The Al Qaeda, on the other hand, focused on the activities of jihad. In this case, the ISIS believed that Islam was the solution to this problem, which is not the case with the Al Qaeda who believed in bombings. This reveals that the ISIS focuses on the near enemy unlike the Al Qaeda whose focus on the far enemy. In facilitating this mission, ISIS aimed at attacking the apostate regimes within the Arab world. Nevertheless, the Al Qaeda’ apostate regime was the United States, who according to this group were the key cause of the Middle East’s problems. As such, the Al Qaeda believed that by eliminating the Americans would leave the regimes in the Middle East vulnerable to attacks, which would be simple for the al Qaeda to control. The ISIS does not see the Americans as the greater danger compared to the al Qaeda following the withdrawal of the American soldiers in Syria.
Finances
The two groups differ from the source of finances to sponsor their activities. The ISIS shows some financial brain compared to the al Qaeda that focuses on the largesse of Bin Laden. The major source of income for the ISIS is selling of crude oil from Syrian and Iraq’s wells to the intermediaries and local truckers. Besides, the Islamic State obtain taxes in the territories under their control as well as Christians and other religious minority groups that have not yet fled incurring extra tax. The source of al Qaeda’s finance is from the kidnapping of the American and European citizens where they ask for a huge amount of money for them to release these individuals.
The fight for Affiliates
After the 9/11 experience, the al Qaeda attempted to expand its influence in the Islamic world where it started creating new affiliates. As a result, the Al Qaeda established a relationship with various groups in Tunisia, India, and Caucasus. The Islamic State also took part in this battle where they established a relationship with the jihad groups in Afghanistan, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Sinai, and Pakistan. The two have established good relationships with the jihad groups where AQAP in Yemen used chaos to free the imprisoned militants. The Islamic State, on the other hand, has gained support from prominent jihad groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Leadership
A group of leaders who implemented different leadership styles leads the Islamic States. The Bin Laden and his colleagues run the al Qaeda. The group leadership style used in the ISIS has constituted to the implementation of viable moves that have seen through the success of this group. For instance, ISIS is situated in various locations to facilitate their ruling and activities, unlike the al Qaeda who operates in a single point that constituted to capturing of their leader Bin Laden. The use of group leadership style is efficient compared to an individual style used by the al Qaeda. This is evident since the power and influence of the al Qaeda reduced after their leader Bin Laden was killed by the Americans.
Perception of women
The two groups have a different perception of women in a society that determine the way they treat them. The al Qaeda have a moderate view on women; thus, they support them in the society by educating them more than they do to men. This follows the believe that jihad women should support the efforts made by men in the military where they offer support and even support them in terms of finances. However, this is not the case with the ISIS as they have an utter disregard to them. This is due to their view as possessions rather than human. As a result, the Islamic State subject women to oppression used to create a brutal treatment of the oppressors by using them for sexual assault, organized rape, and forced marriages.
Growth
The progress bar of these two groups is different in various perspectives. The al Qaeda has taken advantage of the unsuccessful revolution attempts by ISIS in Syria and has moved to the areas the already mobilized areas by ISIS such as Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. As a result, the Al Qaeda has made a significant presence in these areas where there is a conducive environment for the growth of jihadism. Moreover, al Qaeda has moved to the new areas in the quest for repairing its reputation that has been damaged by the AQI and outsources new population in these areas. To accomplish this task, the al Qaeda has employed gradualism as well as facilitated cooperation with the local actors to reduce the counterinsurgent forces in these areas and avoid frightening the local population.
However, the Islamic State employs different strategies to support their growth in the jihadist and Islamic regions. First, the group portrays the moves or the attempts made by their rival al Qaeda as being weak and indecisive. Second, the ISIS enticed the al Qaeda’s affiliates by stressing on its expansion capability with the goal of poaching potential recruits, members, and groups from these affiliates. Evidently, the Islamic State growth strategies used are opposite to those used by the al Qaeda. While the al Qaeda is focusing on reducing the exposure of the counterinsurgents to the locals, the ISIS seeks the spotlight and uses it to publicize its victory. With such an attempt, the al Qaeda’s strategic approaches are turned into weaknesses.
Governance
The mode of governance of these two groups is different. The Islamic State implements the Sharia governance used to facilitate the caliphate’s legitimacy. After it had captured territories in Syria and Iraq, Islamic State started governance structures revealed the power that it has in providing social services to the locals. Along with this establishment, the ISIS used hudud punishment to enforce the serious version of sharia. This was meant to facilitate the forceful violence form of government to facilitate the Islamic State governance. This has resulted to throwing of gay people, beheading the traitors, stoning adulterous women and cutting off the hands of thieves. However, the form of governance used by al Qaeda is different in that they are slower and methodical in the imposition of sharia. The implementation of Sharia according to the al Qaeda should be tailored depending on the local conditions by taking into consideration the religious practices and local customs of each region that its affiliates is operating. As a result, the Al Qaeda affiliates have tolerated some of the minor practices by forgiving the transgressions while punishing in public for serious offenses. For instance, the Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria has publicly banned cigarette smoking and punished the fighters who have harmed the local residents.
Military strategy
Both Islamic State and al Qaeda differ in the form of military strategy they employ to carry their activities. The Islamic State uses an aggressive approach to acquiring territories. The use of force-on-force warfare strategy have granted the Islamic State a chance to acquire major territories at ease; thus allowing the organization to increase the rate at which it is acquiring new regions. Despite the various instances that the Islamic State has incurred military setbacks, it has exploited irregular warfare that has revealed its capability to adapt to various conditions. However, the al Qaeda makes use of covert activities that are meant to shape the worldview of this organization. Al Qaeda has masked itself from the upcoming global attacks as well as concealing the size of its network as a way of downsizing its capabilities. Moreover, the organization has hidden its involvement in the upcoming theaters of conflict and as a result established a covert relationship with unknown affiliates such as AST. This move is made by the al Qaeda has made people underestimate its power, yet it is still powerful. The strategy has also allowed the organization to attract resources from entities and individuals while still winning support from the public.
Similarities
Despite the outstanding differences between these groups as discussed above, there are some common aspects between them.
Overall goal
The first similarity relates to their overall goal, which is to establish an Islamic state that will be governed by the Sharia Law. The al Qaeda main focus is attacking the United States as they believe that they contaminate their religion; thus they wish that the Americans together with their influence should withdraw from the Islamic world. Therefore, by weakening, the influence of the America and its allies will lead to the establishment of a Caliphate. The Islamic State targets Shia Muslims who are their enemy together with other bodies and individuals that limit their influence.
Use of violence
Another similarity concerns the use of violence in both groups. The two groups make use of violence as a driving force for their influence as well as an effective strategy of recruiting more followers. The al Qaeda is effective in using suicide attacks for all of its affiliates; thus influencing other terrorist organizations. Taking the inspiration of suicide attacks from al Qaeda, the Islamic State has utilized this form of violence to instill fear, coerce, intimidate, and provoke an international reaction. This is evident with the chaos that the group has caused in Syria and Iraq enabling it to expand globally. The two groups have access to non-conventional weapons. The ISIS makes use of Nuclear Weapons (NW) and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), and it is planning in using radiological and chemical materials in future. This is the case with Al Qaeda who have maintained chemical weapons for different purposes such as defensive purposes as disclosed by Bin Laden during an interview after 9/11 attack.
Strategies
In the attempt of achieving their goals, both groups make use of similar strategies. The five common strategies commonly used by the two are attrition, spoiling, intimidation, provocation, and outbidding. The al Qaeda group has effectively utilized attrition in towards the US and their allies. This is the same case with ISIS who have combined attrition with intimidation when attacking the Shia community where beheading is used to instill fear to the community. Moreover, Islamic State has used intimidation and provocation at a global level where they use media to spread fear in showing their power, which attracts the global attention to spark a military clash.
Superior Group
From the above comparison, it is clear that one of the group is performing better than the other one and; thus, their future is promising. The Islamic State or ISIS, which at first was a subgroup of al Qaeda, have grown at a high rate, an aspect that proves that its future will be better compared to that of al Qaeda. The growing capability of the ISIS has seen through its increasing power and influence in the global perspective. This follows unique goals and strategies used to achieve them. Compared to al Qaeda, the ISIS focuses on home or closer enemies as well as policies, unlike the al Qaeda that focuses on the far enemy. In this case, it clear that Islamic State aims at reinforcing its army at the home ground by attracting and acquiring most of the jihadist groups. The group fights its home enemies such as Shia and Sunni communities who goes against their policies. This is an effective move made by this group by ensuring that they are in control of their home enemies before targeting the far enemy.
Moreover, the ISIS has a wealthy background supporting its activities. Their financial stability is another factor that promises their increased influence as they can recruit as many people as they can using money and heavy weapons as the incentives. Moreover, they are poaching the al Qaeda’s members, groups, and entities following their strength and their ability to expertise on the weaknesses of al Qaeda. This has enabled the Islamic State to get support from other influential terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram. With such power, it is expected that the group will merge with other terrorist groups to increase its power, which will be easy to target the far enemies. The ISIS is also good in using intimidation to spread fear to their close and far enemies. They show brutality in public and make use of media to ensure that such content reaches the entire globe. As such, the group will use the advent of technology to spread its fascinating videos and pictures to influence their enemies. Moreover, ISIS has an improved governance and leadership that have to facilitate in making of impactful decisions. The enforcement of the sharia law is the key focus of the ISIS at both national and international aspect. This implies that the group will move to the international Muslims once it has established itself in the Iraq and Syria.
Conclusion
It is evident that terrorism will continue with the increased rivalry between the Islamic State and al Qaeda. Each of this group wants to prove itself better than the other; thus intensifying their attacks on their target enemies. The al Qaeda major enemy is the United States and its allies while the Islamic State focuses on their fellow Muslim community such as Shia and Sunni. The al Qaeda want to eradicate Americans from the Muslim world for them to have total control in these regions while ISIS focuses on fighting the Muslim groups that oppose the imposition of Islamic laws. The two groups use various strategies to achieve their objectives with attrition, spoiling, intimidation, provocation, and outbidding being the prominent strategies.
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