The ISIS Threat

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Air Date: September 2, 2014

Host: Jim Schneider

Guest: Dakota Wood

Dakota Wood is a senior research fellow for defense programs at the Heritage Foundation. He’s retired from the U.S. Marine Corps having served for two decades and attaining the rank Lieutenant Colonel. After retiring, he helped to organize and operationalize the National Bio-Surveillance Integration System, a Department of Homeland Security effort intended to provide national leadership with the earliest indications of a potential biological threat to the United States. His research and writing at the Heritage Foundation focuses on programs, capabilities, operational concepts and strategies of the U.S Department of Defense and military services to assess their utility in ensuring the United States has the ability to protect and promote its critical national security interests.

According to Dakota, ISIS can be traced back to the 90’s although they have evolved and taken different names. They comprise a very ultra-orthodox sect on the Sunni side as they seek to embrace teachings from the first 3 generations of Islam following the death of Mohammed.

ISIS initially aligned with Al Qaeda through the early 2000’s. ISIS is so extreme in their Islamic interpretation that it caused friction. Eventually ISIS broke away and today they’ve gained operational experience and recruits through the Syrian conflict. Over the last six months or so they’ve come back into Iraq and have declared an Islamic caliphate headed by Caliph Ibrahim.