How Is ISIS Different From Alqaeda.

Is ISIS is a bigger global menace than Alqaeda?
Religious Fundamentalism has become a global threat to the stability and security of nations
world over. It poses a bigger challenge than any other socio-economic or political problems,
for the players involved are usually not motivated by any tangible benefits, but rather by
intangible considerations; for example earning salvation in the kingdom of God after death.
This fundamentalist creed has wreaked havoc around the world, as is witnessed by the recent
spurt in violence linked to such groups around the world. This can be seen in the acts of Boko
Haram in Nigeria, the Taliban in Afghanistan, violence against minorities like that against
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, or more recently, against Muslims in Srilanka. However, the
emergence of ISIS in Iraq is a peculiar development which has larger implications for the
world at large and the middle-east in particular.
The ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It is an Extremist organisation
which is an al-Qaeda offshoot and is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. It aims at the
establishment of a Caliphate stretching from western Iraq to North Africa. In this pursuit, it
has led an offensive against the Iraqi government and has run over many cities like Fallujah
in Iraq, and threatens to invade Baghdad. The ISIS has exploited the dispute between Prime
Minister Nouri al-Malikis government and Iraqs Sunni minority to gain local Sunni
support. The ultimate responsibility rests both with the Maliki government and the George
W. Bush administration, which directly after the invasion dismissed 7,00,000 Sunni members
of the Iraqi army, leaving them jobless and giving Sunni militias a recruiting ground. Mr.
Maliki, who has been Prime Minister since 2006, has since banned Sunnis from becoming
military officers; he himself undermined the fragile sectarian balance of the region.
The Alqaeda in contrast is a broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin
Laden in the late 1980s and is the prime organisation which led the 9/11 attacks on the US
soil. It is responsible for dozens of terrorist attacks around the world. It operates as a network
comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement
calling for global jihad and a strict interpretation of the Sharia law. Characteristic techniques
employed by al-Qaeda include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different
targets.
Both the organizations are terrorist organizations that kill people around the world. Both of
them are a threat to the States around the world. Both are funded through illegal activities and
money laundering is an important mode of that. Both have religious fundamentalism as their
guiding ideology. There are many more similarities between them but there are some marked
differences that stand out as well.
Experts are questioning- Is ISIS a larger global threat than the Al-qaeda? Let us look into the
debate. Firstly, the ISISs strategy in Iraq reveals a stark difference from that of Taliban. The
Taliban never sanctioned a wholesale killing or extermination of the Shia population. The
ISIS, however, has undertaken this project very forthrightly in Iraq. This action threatens to
divide Iraq on Shia- Sunni lines as is already evident. It could lead to a bloody civil war,
traces of which are alarmingly coming up. The strategy has much larger implications too. It
threatens to divide the whole middle-east region on Shia-Sunni lines which could be
catastrophic, and has grave implications for countries like India, who has a large Muslim
population in her care. Any disturbances from Indias west would hang over the peace and
stability in India. Our dependence on the middle-east oil imports is an bad omen for our
economic and national security. The menace to lakhs of Indian expatriates in that region also
looms large. It threatens their lives, livelihood security and Indias very important source of
remittances. Religious colour to any conflict has always spelt long-term wars and are the
most difficult to put an end to.
Secondly, the Al-qaeda was never able to really hold onto a territory in a State and pose a
serious challenge to its integration. However, the ISIS is doing this in Iraq. It has led a direct
onslaught on the Iraqi state with sophisticated weapons and had nearly overrun half of Iraq a
few weeks ago. This direct challenge to a States organized military machinery distinguishes
it from Al-qaeda, which operates through largely dispersed, isolated spectacular attacks only.
The prospects of an Islamic state governed by sharia law also holds problematic prospects. It
will boost religious fundamentalism and will be an affront to basic freedoms of minorities,
other religious communities and especially women. It has held many areas in Iraq and has
been virtually running the administration in a show of its administrative skills to the local
populace.
Third, is the manner in which ISIS raises funds. It has endorsed the use of brutal methods to
terrorize civilian populations under its control and employs coercive methods that would be
familiar to an organized crime group to secure the required financing. ISIS has been billed as
the worlds richest terrorist organisation, the amount of its resources well past those of the Alqaeda network. It gets money from oil, extortion and jihad.
Moreover, the al-qaedas organisational structure has also shown its weaknesses. The group
operates through an informal network and the fighters stage bomb-attacks or missions in a
decentralised manner. This renders the monitoring and control of their actions a difficulty. In
contrast, the ISIS has shown better organisational capability thus far. The leadership of Abubakr rivals that of Osama-bin laden and the Al-qaeda does not have an effective leader like
him. However, on the other hand, the ISIS is a relatively new organisation and is primarily
based on a single mans directives, thus its viability needs more time to be judged. Al-qaeda
is a weakened terrorist organisation and ISIS is an emerging powerful alternative. Also, the
potential of ISIS to cause global jihad against the US or threaten the peace and stability in
South Asia is much more than that of the al-qaeda network.
It must be kept in mind that to declare the ISIS as a bigger global menace than the Al-qaeda
at this stage will be a little too premature and hasty. This is because Firstly, the Al-qaeda
feeds into the ISIS. The fighters of ISIS are being recruited from the mass provided by the alqaeda in Syria and other countries. Secondly, the al-qaeda has shown its resilience over the
years. It has a recognised leadership and well established networks all over the world. Such
networks are not easy to build and certainly ISIS does not have them. The recruitment and
funding pattern of al-qaeda is much more stable, predictable and sustainable than the ISIS.
Thirdly, the recent focus and emergence of ISIS which threatens to overtake the global terror
leadership of Al-qaeda might see a counter-comeback of the Al-qaeda. The organisation
might scrutinize its strategy and lead an offensive against the ISIS and stage a comeback.
Lastly, the reach of al-qaeda to attack foreign lands like the US, whether its the 9/11 or the
Boston bombings, is still intact. The ISISs capabilities in this regard are still unknown.
Hence, we need more time to arrive at a definite answer for this question.
One thing, however, is clear enough: both of them are messengers of doom for global peace
and stability. Both threaten the stability of states around the world. Both will kill and spread
blood. What is needed is rooting out the conditions which are giving rise to ISIS or keeping
the Al-qaeda intact. This needs global cooperation and intelligence sharing. The Shia/Sunni
issue which has led to this problem in Iraq is a very sensitive one. Experts like C.Raja Mohan
are of the view that in the near term, Iraq will survive, but in the long-term, there will be
problems, not just in Iraq but rather the entire middle east which has consistently fallen prey
to authoritarian regimes controlled by force.. The instability according to him is part of the
larger Arab-spring which demands greater political freedoms from the rulers of these
authoritarian states. The middle east needs a new political structure, a new lease on life, but
whose emergence cannot be predicted.
(I am reproducing this piece which I wrote on my blog --https://amzysrandoms.wordpress.com --- in July 2014. I have not included any
references which I used for this write up. They can be made available upon
request. However, I certify that this is my original work)

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Is ISIS is a bigger global menace than Alqaeda?

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