The Islamic State terrorist group, formerly known as al’Qaeda of Iraq, bases its name off the idea of an Islamic state (as in a religious government of a country, analogous to a Catholic state like the Vatican). Islamic State was first known as al’Qaeda of Iraq but took on the name of ISIS after it separated from al’Qaeda which was started by Osama bin Laden. Both al’Qaeda and Islamic State members come from the Sunni sect of Islam which is also the largest sect of Islam but these terrorist members are militant-extremists who want to rule according to sharia law while keeping Western countries from meddling in their governance especially since the invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein’s government.

“In the modern era, sharia-based criminal laws were widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models (Wikipedia).”

ISIS is said to have $2 Trillion in funding.

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The mainstream Sunni Islam clerics of Iraq strongly oppose ISIS and have called Sunni Muslims to band together against ISIS.

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ISIS has been brutally aggressive with its attacks on civilian targets as well as military targets that Islamic followers do not feel ISIS is really about Islam.

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Since 9/11 to the war against ISIS, some believe America should have let sleeping dogs lie.