Marrakech – Experts say that ISIS (or ISIL) is not as serious a threat to the United States as Al Qaeda.
“Certainly al Qaeda, no question” is a greater threat to the US, stated Will McCants, a fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy and director of the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution.
As quoted by the congressional new site The Hill, McCants notes that ISIS is still not focused on directly attacking the Middle East. “They’re still laser focused on attacking the United States. They still have people in Yemen capable of making those diabolical crafted bombs,” he added.
Al Qaeda is still dependent on funds from donors, while ISIS has oil wells in Syria and Iraq and all the financial institutions of a state. They impose taxes while also engaging in drug trafficking and hostage taking for ransoms. In fact, they get into any illicit activity they can, including human trafficking. “ISIS started out with a massive set of criminal enterprises,” said Watts.
On the other hand, al Qaeda is more selective in its targeted attacks and has never tried to set up its own state; instead, it seeks to blend into different countries where chaos and armed confrontation reign, such as Libya, Somalia, and Lebanon. Unlike ISIS, it does not have a standing army that engages ground forces directly in the region.
However, ISIS is beginning to draw donations due to itssuccess. Experts say ISIS draws in $1 to $2 million per day. It is now in direct competition with al Qaeda and is drawing support away from it in Algeria and other Maghrebian countries where Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has so far dominated the terrorist scene.
ISIS is concentrating on the creation of a caliphate that goes back to the original borders: pre-1492, when Andalusia was under Islamic rule. Unlike al Qaeda, it fights like a conventionally equipped standing army and wants to return to a radical reformist version of Islam to conquer territory. Al Qaeda, on the other hand, has never sought to conquer territory as an end in itself.
The main danger ISIS presents at the moment for the West and countries like Morocco is returning jihadis who want to overthrow their government: they regard their home governments as betraying the radical Islam they think they represent. Indeed, ISIS has said it wants to strike the United States, but seems to be biding its time.
Al Qaeda, however, depends on striking complex, high-profile targets—such as civilian airlines, government installations, or targets like the Westgate Mall in Kenya—to kill the maximum amount of people possible. Careful targeting of an attack to inflict maximum casualties and economic damage is an Al Qaeda hallmark.
Many consider ISIS to be crueler in the way it kills ordinary Muslim men, women, and children; they aim to strike fear into the Syrian and Iraqi populations it is trying to conquer. Al Qaeda certainly wants to overthrow the West and its allies like Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, and Morocco, but it tends to strike high-profile targets through covert means. Both al Qaeda and ISIS, however, use suicide bombers to inflict maximum casualties.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy
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