ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (Updated Edition) (1) Hardcover – March 29, 2016

This is the second book I have read on ISIS/Islamic State. I have previously read Black Flag. I appreciated this present work that details to the readers further insight into the Islamic State. The two authors definitely has done their research and while the future will no doubt have more scholarly books analyzing ISIS with more information this book is quite helpful at the moment given how little book length treatment currently exists on ISIS. I think this work would still be important even in the future among the collection of works that paved the way in terms of analyzing ISIS. Both authors are journalists who among other things contribute to the periodical Foreign Policy. Their background no doubt is helpful. The book essentially traces the history of how Al Qaeda in Iraq evolved into the Islamic state. The main question that the book focuses on is how is an insurgency group that at one time was as a “junior varsity” among terrorist’s organization eventually became its own self-proclaimed state.The book starts off with the founder of Al Qaeda in Iraq name Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and how he founded the group. It is intriguing to see the apocalyptic mindset of al-Zarqawi being described in which he seems to be much more evil than Bin Laden at the height of his terrorist career. The author pointed out that Bin Laden was largely silent about the question of the status of the Shiites orthodoxy whereas al-Zarqawi was adamant in his view that Shiites were the enemies that needed to the targets of suicide bombers. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi even managed to have his own father in law commit himself as a suicide bomber in 2003. I had to google that to see if there were other sources that mentioned that and not just something the book mentioned. Of course with al-Zarqawi’s hardline position against the Shiites and eventually other Sunnis this received the ironic backlash of Al Qaeda’s leadership condemning al-Zarqawi and calling him to practice restraint. It is also interesting to read in this book how al-Zarqawi was at one dismissed by Bin Laden but later with al-Zarqawi’s success in Iraq would later be spoken highly and praised by Bin Laden. Often those in the West think of all members of Al Qaeda as blindly following Bin Laden but here we see that al-Zarqawi was very capable of being his own man and courted the franchise of “Al Qaeda” in order to attract attention of potential recruits, funds and other support. Unlike Bin Laden, al-Zarqawi was also different than the other terrorist celebrity in an important regard: al-Zarqawi believes that he is destined to re-establish the Caliphate which means bringing about an Islamic empire again. This was the genesis of the “Caliphate” ideology that would become a part of the “DNA” of his followers long after al-Zarqawi’s death by the Americans going after him.I also appreciated how the authors were able to get a wide array of sources for this book ranging from those who fought in insurgency in Syria against ISIS (and of course the Syrian regime) to those whom ISIS have oppressed and even former ISIS members who defected. One thing readers will find in this book that one probably won’t find discussed elsewhere is the different kinds of fighters that make up the rank and files of ISIS fighters. Some are die hard radical Islamists but the book pointed out there’s also degrees of radicalization and also those who have different motivation for fighting. On the one hand you have those who were a part of ISIS merely because of their identity with being Sunni in which the conflict in Iraq has pitted Shiites against Sunni while on the other hand you have those who were former Baathists of the previous regime of Saddam Hussein. I thought the book presents the argument rather persuasively that ISIS is not monolithic and at times bear signature of a coalition of disenfranchised Iraqi Sunni tribesmen, hard core Wahhabis, Sunni opportunists and former Baathists.Another aspect of the book that I like is the authors exploration of the problem of the Islamic State beyond seeing this as merely as an Iraqi problem and conflict. Readers must not forget that the Islamic State presently occupy Syria as well and wishes to expand elsewhere. The book is wonderful in that explores the Syrian Civil War and how that contributed to the rise of ISIS. The authors argue that Assad’s Syrian regime have actually helped fuel and even created the problem it has today with ISIS: at first the protests and civil war against Assad by the rebels were largely a broad coalition of Syrians of various background despite religious and ethnic background but that changed with deliberate policies by the Assad regime. They intentionally released a lot of Sunni radicals from their prisons in order for them to fight against Assad and therefore in both the home front and the court of public opinion it would look like Assad was fighting a “war on terror.” At the same time according to the authors Assad regime also sent out killing squads from Alawites descent in order to divide the people on religious lines and therefore the minorities can be exploited to side with Assad against the Sunnis since the conflict is now crafted as a way for the survival of these minorities. Simply evil. It is easy to be conspiratorial when it comes to current events about the Middle East but the authors buttressed their views with further evidences such as the fact that the Syrian armed forces focused more resources and energy in attacking non-ISIS insurgents rather than attacking ISIS itself. Classic divide-and-conquer tactic.There’s so much more in the book than this review can go over. I highly recommend this work if you want to be informed and understand the Islamic State.

Weiss and Hassan do an excellent job documenting the history of ISIS. They explain that ISIS practices a 7th-century version of Sharia law and wants to restore the ancient glories of Islam. Its leadership aims to create a worldwide Islamic caliphate - a religious government - without borders. ISIS is shown as barbaric and its moral values have little in common with ours. The book is well written and provides a lot of helpful information. It focuses on ISIS's activities in the Middle East and ends ominously with this sentence: “The army of terror will be with us indefinitely.” The book was published earlier in the year and does not mention the group’s recent international terrorism or its moves into Afghanistan and Libya. The authors leave you with the impression that we lack allies in the region and our leaders don't really have a plan to deal with ISIS.Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, its current leader, has a PhD in Islamic Studies. Like many of his lieutenants, he is a former American prisoner. The authors believe that his family must have had strong Baathist connections given his level of education. They note that many of his senior subordinates once served in Saddam’s army. ISIS deem Western-style democracy and modernity not only fundamentally irreconcilable with Islam, but the main pollutants of Arab civilization. They advocate a return to theological purity and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. Baghdadi’s followers frequently use torture. Opponents and criminals are beheaded and often have body parts cut-off in public. Rape and sexual slavery are viewed as spoils of war. Women are treated like second class citizens, who are required to dress head-to-toe in black. Free speech is not considered necessary in an Islamic state. Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death. Anyone who disagrees with their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam can be executed. Al Qaeda and ISIS have made many in the West scared of Islam.In Iraq, the minority Sunnis had been running the country until America’s invasion in 2003. In Syria, the Sunnis are an oppressed majority, their enemy is Assad who is an Alawite and is backed by Iran. ISIS emerged after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI started out as a resistance movement. It was founded by a Jordanian militant called Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a US drone in 2006. Assad’s regime gave him early support because he was fighting the US.Eventually, the jihadists were driven out of Iraq by the US and the Sunni Awakening Movement. By the time the US left Iraq in 2011 AQI had been defeated. However, AQI had moved into Syria. In Iraq, the remaining Sunnis soon found themselves oppressed by the Iranian-backed government of Nouri al-Maliki. AQI morphed into ISIS in 2012 and returned to Iraq in 2013. It headed a coalition which included former Baathists, Islamists and disgruntled Sunnis. ISIS captured huge swathes of the country. According to the book, Iraqi Sunnis preferred rule by ISIS to rule by a Shia government led by Malaki. Most Sunnis saw the paranoid Malaki as their enemy. He had a sectarian agenda and arrested and executed his opponents. This encouraged ordinary Sunnis to join ISIS. The US has been blamed for not reining him in. Emma Sky, a former adviser to the US military, told the authors. “It is common in the Arab world to hear talk of secret deals between Iran and the United States, and laments that the US ‘gave Iraq to Iran.’ This perception, Sky said, is one of the primary reasons that many Sunnis have been attracted to ISIS.So far ISIS has been underestimated by the main actors in the Middle East who have mostly left it alone. For the Turks, the main enemy has been Kurdish separatism. The Kurds don't want to crush ISIS just defend their new-found borders. The Shiites of Iraq and their Iranian supporters have a dwindling appetite for fighting Isis outside Shia areas. For the Saudis, the main enemy isn’t ISIS - they have a lot in common theologically - but Iran. The Israelis are worried about Iran and Assad. Assad believes his main enemies are the U.S. and the Syrian nationalist opposition (e.g., Free Syrian Army) which receives American support. Russia, Turkey and Iran have long supported Assad. Until recently, the Obama White House viewed ISIS as an Iraqi problem.Weiss and Hassan claim that tacit understandings between ISIS and the Assad regime have helped the group expand. The book indicates that Assad has gone out of his way to avoid fighting ISIS. Fear of ISIS has helped Assad rally non-Sunnis to his regime and reduced Western enthusiasm for his overthrow. The White House has until recently been obsessed with removing Assad from power. It has never really explained what would come next. A power vacuum in Syria would probably allow ISIS to conquer the whole country. Unlike ISIS, Assad is a regional player who is just trying to survive. There now appears to be a realization in Washington that it may have to work with Assad, even though he is a brutal dictator. ISIS is now recognized as the bigger threat, mainly because franchises seem to be turning up everywhere. Unlike Al Qaeda, which is nihilistic and purely a terrorist group, ISIS wants to turn countries into Islamic states.The book explains the past but leaves the reader to speculate on the future. The authors suggest that ISIS has brought law and order and protection to the areas it controls. Baghdadi grows ever more ambitious. In 2014 he split with al Qaeda implying that its leaders were has-beens. A coordinated offensive by the numerous regional actors to destroy ISIS is unlikely given their religious and political differences. America is reluctant to put boots on the ground, but the West may eventually have to consider eliminating ISIS before it becomes too powerful. ISIS has stated that it wants to fight American ground troops and has been trying to provoke the US into a fight. This fits with its Islamic end times narrative in which the armies of Islam triumph over the forces of Christendom.The book is an enjoyable read and provides a good introduction to the anarchy in Syria and Iraq. However, it could have been even better, there are no maps or photos and no index.

Full of accusations, stating theories are facts when the evidence really doesn't stack up at all. They claim the Syrian war started peacefully, which has been proven wrong. The protests were hijacked by armed Jihadis bused in from Turkey (they stockpiled weapons in mosques before the protest started. The book claims Assad a Shia Muslim supported both AQ & ISIS (Sunnis). There's no factual evidence to support these claims, Assad had locked up anyone with links to AQ for years. They're his biggest allies Russia & Irans enemy also. He had NOTHING to gain from supporting them and everything to lose. And strangely the Authors don't point out the geopolitical tension between Turkey, Qatar, Saudi regimes at all. They're the main supporters of the so-called opposition both with arms, money & logistics, and yet this fact is nowhere to be found in the book. They also don't bring up the fact that ISIS was allied with the FSA from 2013-2015 as well as Nusra Front (Later rebranding as HTS) we were AQ in Syria. It seems there is a bias for the 'rebels' who have committed the same crimes as ISIS had. The blame for everything seems to be targeted as the Syrian government, Russia & Iran. Even the US seems to get a mostly free pass for the blame of invading Iraq and strengthening AQI, which lead to ISIS creation with Saudi support. They also don't seem to question how 80% of AQ & ISIS managed to freely cross the Turkish border into Syria. This book needs to be placed in the Fictional section, very badly researched, or worse, deliberate propaganda.

This book is marketed as " revised & updated"It was reprinted in 2020. However there is no new information in this book after 2016 ? So what revision did the authors do in 4 years since it's last reprint in 2016 ????Misleading marketing scam. Amazon should be ashamed.

Carefully researched and written with apparent authority, 'ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror' offers the reader solid and remarkable insights into the history, development and day-to-day reality of life within and around this terrorist caliphate. The writing of this fine and memorable book must have been incredibly laborious and immensely time-consuming. Shocking and unforgettable.

Yes, if you want to know more about this radical groups and where there army, support and momentum springs from then look no where else.

Exactly as described, Very prompt and efficient,