A political movement that employs terror as a tool to further its objectives is known as a terrorist group. A group of two or more people, whether organized or not, who engage in terrorist acts directly or indirectly make up the structure. According to Corporation (2013), terrorism is the deliberate use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians to further political, religious, or ideological objectives. This is done through intimidation, coercion, or inciting anxieties. The residents of many countries around the world as well as their infrastructure and security are typically threatened by terrorist organizations. In this essay, the two terrorist organizations that will be compared and contrasted are the Al- Qaeda terrorist organization and the ISIS group. I will look at the goals and objectives of the two groups and their prospects for failure and success.
Al-Qaeda: Background and Goals
Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organization that was developed by Usama Bin Laden and others in the early 1980s to support the war effort in Afghanistan against the Soviets. This group was to raise and supply funds as well as recruit and support foreign Mujahedeen in Afghanistan fighting the Soviets and the communist government, but these goals evolved as time went by (Esposito, 2002).
One of the principal goals of Al-Qaeda was to drive the United States armed forces out of Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere on the Saudi Arabian peninsula) and Somalia by violence. The reasons why Al-Qaeda opposed the United States included the fact that America provided help to "infidel" states like Saudi Arabia, which was regarded as an enemy to them. The terrorist group did not also like the manner of governance in the US.
The second goal of the organization is to avenge wrongs committed by Christians and Jews against Muslims over the ages. The terrorist group perceives that these transgressions were carried out intentionally to bring harm to Muslims.
The third primary goal of Al Qaeda is to establish a pan-Islamic caliphate which will be ruled by Sharia law under its brand of hardline Salafi Islam (Gunaratra, 2002). The group set this goal to avoid the possibility of failure, which is associated with a democratic government. The group aims to replace the secular states with a single Islamic political leadership.
The fourth objective of Al-Qaeda was to ensure that all non-Muslims and Americans were driven out of Saudi Arabia. This is because they perceive that the "infidels" will contaminate the home of Islam's holiest sites; the organization aims to apply the ideologies of the Salafi, which preaches the purification of the Islamic society from impure elements.
ISIS: Origins and Objectives
On the other hand, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is an extremist terrorist group that evolved from a faction of Al Qaeda. The terrorist group recruits fighters from abroad and has staged attacks throughout the world. The ISIS group encourages confrontation since the group believes that it's a fulfillment of the apocalyptic prophecy of a battle between the jihadist and the 'infidel' armies (The Atlantic, 2012).
One of the goals of the ISIS is to build a caliphate that will rule the world. This is similar to one of the goals of the Al Qaeda group. The group aims to create a unified world since it will enable them to enforce its extremist beliefs. The other purpose of the ISIS group is derived from the notion that the group will play a vital role in the impending apocalypse.
In contrast to Al Qaeda, ISIS aims to spread an extremist version of religion that cannot be recognized as Islam. Considering ISIS is mainly made up of the Sunni Muslims, which is often considered a more traditional sect, the group takes traditionalism to an extreme level. The group also has an objective to remove borders that separate different states. ISIS group does not recognize the idea of a democratic country, citizenship, and boundaries. They, therefore, aim to eradicate them since they are human-made and are not stipulated in the caliphate. The terrorist organization also seeks to enslave disbelievers as an act of purifying Islam and create a territorial presence that is stable, large, self-sustaining and constant which will battle the "Kaffirs."
Prospects for Failure and Success
I believe that the short-term prospects for success of the Al-Qaeda group are possible if it will be able to establish its territory in areas where the group has made inroads. However, this heavily depends on the ability of its affiliated groups to destabilize the current regimes of the particular states. However, in the near future, the probability of success is limited. This is because the group has a limited lifespan considering there is a high probability that a new group which is more extreme will emerge and take over. With the emergence of a stronger terrorist organization, Al Qaeda will be forced to rely on individual Muslims to achieve its aims.
There is, therefore, a high possibility that the terrorist group will fade in the future. In my opinion, this will be because time is not necessarily on their side. Considering most of their leaders are elderly, if they die, there is a possibility that the group will divide into smaller subgroups that are less powerful. Another factor that will limit the success of the group is the indiscriminate large-scale attacks which the group usually carries out. This is because Muslims also end up being killed in these attacks drawing a backlash from the Muslim community. Other factors that will increase the probability of failure are that at the moment the group has limited resources and decreasing popular support.
On the other hand, I believe that the prospects for success of the ISIS group in the short-term are possible. This is because the Islamic state opted to establish a caliphate on the ruins of disintegrating Middle Eastern nations (Alex, 2014). Another factor that will contribute to the short-term success of ISIS is the fact that the group offered protection to the oppressed Sunni Muslims and gave them the chance to build a utopian order and restore the early Islamic empire or caliphate. In addition to that, the group controls a vast territory, and they have impressive warfighting skills. These factors have therefore increased the appeal of the terrorist organization to recruits and enabled it to expand its territory.
However, the ISIS prospects of success in the future are low. One of the factors that will largely contribute to the failure of the group is the fact that it wants to consolidate a caliphate and at the same time expand its military prowess. The organization relies on its military expansion to gain economic viability. This is bound to fail considering military development is affected by other external attributes that they cannot control. Considering ISIS relies on taxation and oil sales for support, these resources will not be able to support the constant war they wage against multiple enemies.
Another factor that will contribute to the failure of ISIS is the fact that the group has extremist ideologies and this has led the group to have a large number of enemies. Considering the few recent successes the group has been having on the battleground, this may reduce the morale of the fighters weakening the strength of the caliphate infrastructure. The killing of some leaders within the Islamic state will also contribute to the failure of the group. This is because their military command structure will be weakened, and this will stall their operation.
Threat to United States Security
In my opinion, between ISIS and Al-Qaeda, the one that poses the most significant threat to the United States security is the Al-Qaeda group. Even though Al Qaeda is less dynamic and weaker than the Islamic State, I still believe it poses a higher short-term and long-term threat since its primary focus is on attacking the United States. The terrorist group poses an immediate threat to the U.S. since it plans direct attacks against the U.S. and its partners. This, therefore, interferes with the primary objective of the U.S. government (protecting the homeland and the American people, including safeguarding American values both in the homeland and abroad).
On the other hand, ISIS only poses an immediate threat since it uses social media campaigns and sophisticated online messaging to encourage their followers and affiliate groups to launch attacks across the United States.
In the long run, Al-Qaeda poses a more significant threat to America since they engage in activities that accelerate the collapse of world order and result in global trends that endanger American values and way of life. The Al-Qaeda group focuses on the quality of attack rather than quantity which the ISIS group focuses on. This coupled with the capability of the group to carry out extensive scale attacks makes the group be a more significant source of the threat when compared to the ISIS group. The Al-Qaeda group has also operated for a long time, and the group has learned from its previous failures, therefore, posing a more significant threat.
References
Alex, G. (2014). What is ISIS’ Goal:The Terrorist Group Poses An Extreme Threat To The World. Policy Bazar.
Corporation, R. (2013). Terrorist Organizations. In Public Policy Challenges.
Esposito, J. (2002). Unholy War:Terror in The name of Islam. Oxford University Press.
Gunaratra, R. (2002). Inside Al-Qaeda:Global Network of Terror. New York: Cambridge University Press.
The Atlantic. (2012). What ISIS Really Wants. Atlantic Press.
