The Changing Face of Terrorism: Al Qaeda's Decline & the Rise of ISIS

Introduction

Al Qaeda is a global terror attack founded by Osama bin Laden and responsible for massive deaths on September 11 (Migaux, 2019 p315). Besides, al Qaeda has resulted in several terror attacks across the globe. Before the incident of September 11, most people did not know about Al Qaeda and its founder. Hence, People only new militant Islamists back in the later 1970s.

Since the declaration of war in the United States, the Jewish got together with their friends. Al Qaeda is responsible for massive killings. Al Qaeda has conducted many other deaths around the world. The worldwide terror attacks have been linked to different radical groups in the middles east and other parts globally.

The Islamic State is a militant organization that was established as an offshoot of al Qaeda in 2014. It took control quickly in most parts of Syria and Iraq and raised its victory flag. It later declared a caliphate and imposed strict Islamic rule (Hassan, 2017). The group is made mainly of Sunni militants from Syria and Iraq. However, it has drawn many fighters from across the Muslim community and Europe. Isis tacts include beheadings, taking slaves, and bans of un-Islamic behaviors for instance smoking and music

The current state of al Qaeda and ISIS/ISIL

Al-Qaeda has diminished in public debates and policies. The federal-state policymakers shifted their attention towards countering the Chinese and vicious Putin in the recent intelligence assessments of threats. Because of this, it has dropped on the priority list. The public concern in the U.S. regarding the risk of international terrorist groups has reduced over the past few years. There is also a policy of fatigue to counterterrorism. Most people worry about the electoral sensitivity to terrorism by al Qaeda groups.

Al Qaeda lost its status in U.S. policy debates and other public perceptions, which is part of the group’s failure (Migaux, 2019 p327). The group failed to carry out international terrorist attacks in the past years. The last attack internationally connected to al Qaeda happened in 2015, which was a shooting at Charlie Hebdo in Paris (Sageman, 2014). According to al-Qaida experts, the decline of the group led to the establishment of a different organization over the past decades.

Even though al Qaeda has called for attacks repeatedly over westerners, mostly Americans, it has reduced killing when because they suit their purpose. The most notable incident is when al Qaeda granted journalists a safe passage to interview their leader Bin Laden.

The Islamic State evolved from the civil war in Syria and Iraq. Its tactics, therefore, reflect this context. ISIS seeks to conquer by deploying artillery and massed forced to sweep new areas and defend the existing holdings (Salomon, 2016). Hence terrorism in this situation is the revolutionary war used to undermine the morale of the army and police.

Setbacks Emerging in al Qaeda

Al Qaeda has gone through different internal divisions after parting ways with its Iraqi subordinates. The original al Qaeda formed by Nusra split in 2016 because of issues on which enemy to target (ISIS versus Al Qaeda, 2017 p. 250). Al Qaeda has always advocated for the international jihadi revolution while the Syria offshoot concentrated on Syria. However, the collapse of the Syrian resistance strengthened the central position of al Qaeda, and the West became its main enemy.

There were quarrels between the al Qaeda and Islamic states that broke in 2014. ISIS soon sprung in areas where al Queda was dominated. The Islamic State challenged the Taliban in Afghanistan and distinguished itself from attacking civilians (Sageman, 2014). The factions from al Qaeda led to the split of Magh Reb and became an Islamic state in Sahara. It also attacked the forces of the U.S. and drew the American fire points.

Continued Ambition of al-Qaeda

Al Qaeda is relatively weak even though it is resolved politically to fight against the U.S. The target has, however, strained them in fighting the Americans (Sageman, 2014). Recently the leadership of Zawahiri has not expressed a sign of moderation. But he only disseminated video messages that socialized the al Qaeda global cadres and supporters; however, the message was the enemy of the Muslims.

The continuity of the ambition was not defined clearly, and the efforts of al Qaeda branching out with regional franchises weakened the solving of the conflicts (Migaux, 2019 p340). It is because of this that ISIS emerged successfully and considered alternative goals of defeating al Qaeda.

Contrary to the expectation, the leadership and cohesion of al Qaeda remained unified and responded to the instructions of Zawahiri. Al Qaeda still retains its unity and appeals in South Asia regions. The Indian continental Qaeda group remains loyal to Zawahiri. After the Syrian setbacks, Hurras gained more power, and this led to Zawahiri defecting from HTS. The 2018 expansion of the mergers with Jihadi factions allowed al Qaeda to resurge

In many ways, the ISIS group ranks have been resilient despite five years of war. The group adopted the new circumstances rapidly. Therefore ISIS is no longer seizing and holding territories, but they got back to their gorilla roots bombing and assassinations. Even though they lost the caliphate in Iraq and Syria, ISIS has expanded its reach by including over 14 affiliates across Africa and Asia.

ISIS and al Qaeda have new routines of filling the vacuum by those assassinated. Hence the replacements occur with American regularity through special operations. Regardless of the Sunni leader the organization that launched Syria and Iraq lightning offensive led to the seizure of territory

Because of ISIS, the states struck back to the global way. However, the conflicts by jihadi supporters discouraged them. This helped in the stimulation of al Qaeda in growth. This is the reason why ISIS remains to be the most influential group in the world. Its global presence gives the group footholds from where they launch their attacks (ISIS versus Al Qaeda, 2017 p. 254). It also helps them in gaining more resources and emanating and recruiting more terrorists

The success of ISIS was based on the collapse of the al Qaeda group in Syria and Iraq. The United States has been slow in comprehending the fact by maintaining that the areas should be named former Iraq and Syria (Salomon, 2017). The state, however, fails to remember the command of the monopoly of the legitimate use of force in a territory. Ironical, the bitter enemies Kurds and ISIS remain the primary beneficiaries of the situation.

Different political, economic, and sociological powers operate in addition to visible military groups. To a large extent, ISIS has been lucky in facing enemies who were crippled by the civil wars in Syria and Iraq.

On the contrary, even though al Qaeda was weakened, it started rebuilding its roots by gaining stability through the wake of the Arab Spring. It became among the regional forces that benefited from Arab Springs. The emergency of Zawahiri as an influential leader with the strategized vision he implements led to a weakening of al Qaeda forces.

References

1. ISIS versus Al Qaeda: Redefining Jihad and the Transition from the Global to the Local. (2017). ISIS, 222-259. doi:10.1515/9781400885596-011
2. Hassan, M. (2017). Debating a Modern Caliphate. Longing for the Lost Caliphate. doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691166780.003.0007
3. Migaux, P. (2019). 13. Al Qaeda. The History of Terrorism, 314-348. doi:10.1525/9780520966000-015
4. Sageman, M. (2004). Understanding Terror Networks. doi:10.9783/9780812206791
5. Salomon, N. (2016). Escaping the Islamic State? For Love of the Prophet. doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691165158.003.0006