Monday, October 19, 2015

Enemy of Enemies: The Rise of ISIL (Part 1)




Al Jazeera explores the origins and evolution of the world's most feared and powerful insurgent group - ISIL.


The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been truly devastating to those it comes in contact with and bloody to those under its control.

Its sudden rise and expansion in 2014 has perplexed many. It has humiliated its enemies, including those in Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran and Washington. Armed with extensive weaponry, boasting an international fighting force and adept in the art of digital media propaganda, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has become the de facto authority across an area the size of Jordan.


This two-part series peels back the rhetoric to examine how a volunteer organisation managed to rise up from the ashes of post-invasion Iraq and defeat standing armies many times its size and capacity.

How did it begin? How did it grow so astonishingly quickly? And how is it being used by global and regional powers to change the geopolitical map of the Middle East?

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