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Global Classrooms

International Model United Nations

Middle School Conference

Security Council (SC)

ISIS: Countering Violent Extremism

“LIVE DIVERSITY”

March 31 - April 2 2016

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Description of the Committee

The UN Security Council (UNSC) was established in 1947 as an

original organ of the UN Charter. Its primary focus is the maintenance of

peace and security, which is often carried out through the implementation

of sanctions, authorization of peace keeping troops, airlifting supplies to

civilians affected by conflict, and many other methods.

The world turns to the UNSC when determining what constitutes a threat

to peace and security. The UNSC calls upon the involved parties to settle their dispute through peaceful means and recommends terms of a

possible settlement. In the worst cases, the UNSC can authorize the use of force should the parties not reach an agreement and the situation

continues to deteriorate.

The UNSC is comprised of fifteen member nations, five of which hold

permanent seats, and the other ten nations are elected to a two-year

term. The five permanent member nations of the UNSC are the United

States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The

People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and France.

History of Topic

Much of Iraq’s sectarian violence and terrorism can be traced back to a

thousand years of religious strife and conflicts that have scarred it till

these days. The Safavids of Iran and the Ottomans of Turkey fought over

Iraq for centuries as a buffer state that would prevent the Shia faith from

moving westwards. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was forced

to let go of Iraq, along with other Middle Eastern territories, to the United

Kingdom. The UK began to impose boundaries which did not reflect the

ground reality of the many tribes that inhabited these territories. A

Hashemite monarch assumed power and rule over Iraq. A Sunni Arab

authority took over and dominated during the monarchy and Saddam’s

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rule, and the Kurds and Shia have long fought for independence from this

Sunni rule.

Iraq had not been the most peaceful in its foreign policy before the 2003

US-led invasion of Iraq. However, the government had been careful and

cautious to limit the objectives of its “terror” and controversial

projects. Iraq had supported several rebellious, “terrorist” or extremist

groups in the past. Iraq also helped form the Abu Nidal Organization that

was responsible for assassinating Syrian and Palestinian leaders as

Baghdad also housed groups like the Palestinian Liberation Front.

Additionally, Iraq aided anti-Iranian group Mujahedine Khalq and the

anti-Turkey group Kurdish Workers Party. Both groups established safe

havens and planned terrorist and unconventional attacks. Iraq provided

help for these groups in the form of bases, training and supplies.

Nonetheless, support remained limited in comparison to the support

provided by its neighbor, Iran, to “terrorist” organizations. Iraq’s ties to

these two groups declined in the 1990s. Saddam avoided close

association with independent terrorist groups and preferred to work with

organizations he could exert more domination on, exerting control over

the Abu Nidal Organization and the PLF while forgoing relationships

with Fatah, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Iraq’s support for “terrorist” groups was based on their degree of support

for the Saddam regime rather ideology. For instance, Saddam’s

government developed links with Christian and Islamic fundamentalists,

Persians, Kurds and Ba’thists. Saddam commissioned several failed

“terrorist” and violent attacks on US facilities during the First Gulf War,

and Iraq was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by the US State

Department. Under Saddam, Iraqi “terrorist” operations were famously

inept. Former director of the CIA, William Webster, noted and issued that

Iraqi intelligence officers used sequentially numbered passports during

the First Gulf War. A 1993 Iraqi assassination team used explosives in

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Kuwait which were similar to those used in previous Iraqi operations and

had lax phone security, allowing the US to easily trace the plot’s origins

and identify its roots.

Detailed Description

In March of 2003, the US government declared war on Iraq. Initially, the

war was allegedly waged due to the need to remove Saddam and his

regime who were apparently building and hiding weapons of mass

destruction. The US government had claimed that they have proof to

validate the existence of these weapons. Bush cited the invasion of

Iraq as an integral and essential part of the larger war on terror,

despite the lack of global support, and especially after the 9/11 attacks

that were a major turning point in the US foreign policy. Later, the

Bush administration claimed that the US invasion aimed to bring

about democracy and stability to Iraq and would hence set an example for

other autocratic states and regimes in the Middle East.

A Sunni insurgency erupted in Iraq soon after the US invasion. Abu

Masab al-Zarqawi founded Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a Sunni terrorist

group that sought to establish an Islamic caliphate and defeat the US-led

coalition forces in Iraq. Zarqawi joined with Ansar al-Islam, an al Qaeda

affiliate group of Islamic Kurds, under the name of Jama’at al-Tawhid wa

al-Jihad. In 2004, Zarqawi changed the name of the group to Al Qaeda

Jihad Organization in the Land of Two Rivers, more commonly referred

to as al Qaeda in Iraq. AQI was very active in Anbar, a relatively large

province in the west of Baghdad. Anbar is home to the cities of Fallujah

and Ramadi. US marines besieged Fallujah for six weeks from March to

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May 2004. Then, the US turned over the control of the city to its local

leaders, who in turn developed a broader-based insurgency in collision

with al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi established the headquarters of AQI in Fallujah

and exported and spread violence to the rest of Iraq. In November and

December of 2004, US Marines attacked the city once again and cleared

it of the insurgents. Zarqawi and the core members of AQI’s leadership

escaped before the attack.

There was an upsurge in violence in 2006 as the insurgency rebounded.

The number of terror incidents in Iraq skyrocketed and escalated

drastically from 2005 to 2006, with a stunning rise of 91% in terrorist

attacks taking place. Of 14,338 reported terrorist attacks worldwide in

the year of 2006, 45% took place in Iraq and around 65% of global

facilities stemming from terrorism occurred in Iraq. There were three

main groups involved- Sunni Nationalists (who were initially a large

portion of the insurgency), moderate Sunni Islamists and the Salafists

(including AQI). In an attempt to unify the many different Sunni

insurgent troops and groups in Iraq, AQI formed the Mujahideen Shura

Council in January of the year 2006. Zarqawi then arranged the bombing

of the Samarra Mosque in February of that same year. As a result, large-

scale sectarian conflict broke out causing unrest and turbulence. Zarqawi

along with other AQI leaders set up base in Baqubah, Diyala

Province while others relocated to Ramadi, Anbar Province. AQI was

supported by many local leaders, and the insurgency in Anbar resumed

in spring of 2006. AQI operated under the umbrella organization until

Zarqawi was killed by a US airstrike in June 2006.

In October of the same year, al-Muhajer, Zarqawi’s successor as the

new leader of the AQI, established the Islamic State of Iraq, a coalition of

Sunni extremist groups in Iraq that replaced the Mujahideen Shura

Council and continued to carry out AQI’s main goal of establishing an

Islamic caliphate. The Islamic State of Iraq was led by Abu Omar al-

Baghdadi, who later became the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and

Syria/al-Sham (ISIS). Violence then increased in Baghdad where US

forces shifted its decisive operations from the provinces, particularly

Anbar, to the capital city. However, Ramadi became increasingly hostile

to AQI. In February and March of 2007, the continued US and ISF

operations in Anbar province disrupted AQI’s operations in Baghdad.

Local Sunni populations then separated themselves from AQI due to the

group’s intimidation tactics to enforce allegiance and to impose strict

Islamic codes. Many people undermined their actions as un-Islamic.

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It is very important to note that Iraq’s geography was a catalyst to every

event as a strategic and easy operation base for terrorist operations. Iraq’s

geography tends to facilitate terrorist groups’ operations within. Anbar

province shares borders with Syria and Jordan and many foreign fighters

have crossed these borders to participate in terrorist activities conducted in

Baghdad. The Euphrates River valet contains a string of cities and

settlements, some of which are hubs for the road network in Anbar. Roads

from Syria and western Iraq converge in the town of Al Qaim, near the

border of Syria. Al Qaim, Rutba, Rawa and Haditha are common entry

points for foreign fighters. Many of these fighters follow these road hubs to

Fallujah and/or Baghdad. Fighters can also bypass towns by taking the

many desert roads through the cities. During the Saddam era, the Euphrates

River Valley was used as an ordnance dump, and Habbaniyah airfield and

the former Republican Guard compound east of Fallujah were stocked with

munitions. It is now evident that much of this explosive material was

stolen from these facilities before the US and Iraqi forces could seize

control over that area.

Although Ramadi had been a stronghold for AQI, the group’s brutal

terror activities motivated Anbar Province’s sheiks to actively cooperate

with US forces, to oppose terrorism, to support the Iraqi security forces

(ISF), to form an effective city government and to strengthen the

provincial council. This was referred to as “The Awakening”. As a result

of the joint efforts by the US and ISF in late 2006 and early 2007, al

Qaeda was forced to relinquish control of Ramadi and Fallujah. By

February of 200, U.S. and Iraqi forces were pushing the enemy from the

other cities into the province and cleared, controlled and retained cities in

the Euphrates River Valley, despite AQI’s use of suicide bombs and car

bombs to dissuade the local population in order to refrain from

participating in the Awakening. The Awakening deprived the AQI of its

most secure base in Iraq, and the terrorist group soon felt pressure from

U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad. In February and March of 2007, AQI

counterattacked in Baghdad and Ramadi, and shifted their bases to

different locations. AQI used bases in western Baghdad to instigate

violence in Shi’a and mixed neighborhoods while AQI and Sunni

extremists regrouped in Diyala Province, from which they launched

attacks in northern Iraq to incite sectarian violence.

Emergence of ISIS

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Syria/al Sham (ISIS/ISIL) is a

jihadist group active in Iraq and Syria and is the main perpetrator of

violence in Iraq today. ISIS was formed in April 2013 as an off-shoot of

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AQI. It has been disavowed by the global al Qaeda network. It is one of

the main jihadist groups rebelling against the Assad regime in Syria and

is also seizing large portions of territory in Iraq. The size of the group is

unclear, but is widely thought to comprise of thousands of fighters. Many

of whom are foreign jihadists. ISIS is led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who

was born in Samarra, north of Baghdad. He joined the insurgency in 2003

and emerged as the leader of AQI in 2010. He is regarded as a battlefield

commander and tactician, which is a draw to young jihadists. An

estimated 80% of western fighters in Syria have joined ISIS, which

claims to have fighters hailing from the UK, France, Germany as well as

the U.S., other Arab states, other European countries and the Caucasus.

ISIS purports to establish an Islamic emirate that includes Syria and Iraq.

Since its inception, the group has had significant military successes.

Although Iraq is the subject of discussion, ISIS’ successes in Syria cannot

be ignored. In March of 2013, ISIS seized Raqqa, the first Syrian

provincial capital to fall under rebel control. ISIS has been operating

independently of other jihadist groups in Syria. Jabhat al-Nusra (also

known as al-Nusra front) is the official al Qaeda affiliate in the country and

maintains a tense relationship with ISIS and other rebel groups. Baghdadi

has attempted to merge ISIS with al-Nusra, but the latter has rejected all

overtures so far and the groups continue to operate separately. Zawahiri,

the leader of the global al Qaeda network, has stated previously that ISIS

should focus on Iraq and let al-Nusra battle for Syria. Despite that, ISIS

has continued to ignore these calls and has continued its fight in Syria. In

January of 2014, a joint force of Western-backed and Islamist rebel groups

launched an offensive attack against ISIS in order to drive its foreign

fighters out of Syria.

Escalation of the Situation

In January of 2014, ISIS seized Fallujah and Ramadi in Anbar

Province. An estimated 500,000 Iraqis fled in the subsequent months,

although ISF forces were able to retake Ramadi. In April, ISIS closed the

Fallujah dam, flooding areas west of Baghdad and preventing water from

reaching Iraq’s southern provinces. On 10 June 2014, ISIS took Mosul,

Iraq’s second city, sending shockwaves around the world. ISIS has seized

large amounts of resources, especially cash from the city. Before the

seizure of Mosul, ISIS had cash and assets worth 900 million dollars. The

group is now in hold of 2 billion dollars in assets, most of which came

from the millions of dollars they seized from Mosul’s branch of Iraq’s

central bank. On 11 June, ISIS took Tikrit, the capital of Salahaddin

province.

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ISIS gunmen also stormed the Turkish consulate and kidnapped 48 staff members. Soon after, the Kurdish Pashmerga forces took over Kirkuk, the seat of oil fields in Iraq, and stated their goal of including the city as part of the Kurdish autonomous region. On the 15th of June ISIS seized al- Adhim city, but was repelled by the Baquba on the 17th of June On 19 June, President Obama announced that the U.S. was sending 300 military advisors to Iraq while the ISF gained control of the strategic Baiji oil refinery after a massive clash with ISIS. ISIS continued to seize towns in Anbar province including Tal Afar, a Shi’s majority town which sits on the al-Waleed border crossing with Syria. On 28 June, the Iraqi military began its offensive to retake the Tikrit. On 29 June, ISIS declared itself a caliphate and renamed itself the Islamic State. This move attracted international attention, including other terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda that condemned the move. On 30 June, ISIS shot mortars at the al-Askari mosque in Samarra, one of the most holy Shi’a sites. On the same day, Obama deployed 200 additional American military personnel, bringing the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq to 800. On 10 July, ISIS scared the international observers when it was reported that they were in possession of nuclear materials taken from Mosul University. Two days later, Human Rights Watch reported that the Iraqi government illegally executed 255 Sunni prisoners in its campaign against ISIS. On 23 July, reports emerged that ISIS had expelled the Christian population of MOSUL in a brutal act of forced conversion or exile. On 4 August, ISIS took control of Sinjar district which caused hundreds of families to flee to Sinjar Mountain. On 5 August, the President of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani argued that the Peshmerga would not be on the offensive rather than the defensive, which had been the Kurd’s position since the fall of Mosul. He announced that he would also coordinate with the U.S. to fight ISIS. On 7 August, US president Obama authorized airstrikes by the U.S. military, resulting in an immediate halt of ISIS’ advance. On the 8th of August, two F-18 planes dropped 500-pound laser guided bombs on mobile artillery that ISIS was using to attack the Peshmerga at Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish territory. Another U.S. airstrike targeted ISIS at Sinjar. However, Mosul Dam, a strategically important location, was seized by ISIS.

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On the whole, Kurdish forces have proven to be relatively successful

at countering ISIS in northern Iraq when paired with US airstrikes. The

Peshmerga re-took Gwer and successfully defended Erbil from ISIS.

The US sent 130 more military advisers to northern Iraq to help plan

the evacuation of displaced Yazidis trapped in Mount Sinjar. The

Yazidis were trapped on these mountains without food or water

while fleeing ISIS that has threatened to exterminate them. These Yazidis

are a religious minority who were the target of ISIS for being apostates.

20,000 of the 40,000 trapped Yazidis fled to Syria while another 7,000

Yazidi refugees resided into the Norouz Refugee Camp in Qamishli city.

European countries announced further humanitarian aid for Iraq and also

pledged to supply arms to the Kurdish forces. After days of heavy

airstrikes and clashes, U.S. airstrikes and a Kurdish assault broke

ISIS’ siege on Mount Sinjar on 14 August, allowing thousands of the

trapped Yazidis to escape. However, the U.S. elicited condemnation

by Yazidi leaders and the UN or cancelling its plan to use ground

troops to rescue the remaining 5,000 or so Yazidis stranded on Mount

Sinjar by an ISIS assault.

On 15 August, ISIS clashed with the Promised Day Brigade, the

military wing of the Sadrist movement, in Samarra. On 18 August, Iraqi

and Kurdish forces retook Mosul Dam, a strategically important location,

following two days of converted air assault by the US military. ISIS

militants fell back on several fronts following the retaking of the dam.

International outrage occurred after US journalist James Foley was

executed on camera by an ISIS militant after having been kidnapped in

Syria two years prior with, needless to say, having to endure brutal

treatment. He was cold-bloodedly beheaded in a video that was widely

shared on social media.

On that same day, the United Nations announced that it will coordinate a project to send aid to 500,000 Iraqis who have been displaced by ISIS making this operation the largest refugee effort done by the UN in recent years. On 21 August, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that ISIS could not be defeated except if the US or its partners take on the Sunni fighters in Syria. On 22 August, dozens of Sunni worshippers were killed during a militant raid on a rural mosque near Hamreen Lake in Diyala Province. On the 25th of August, Qatar rejected that it had been supporting ISIS. On 27 August, the Obama administration declared that the U.S. has started mobilizing a broad coalition of allies behind potential U.S. military action in Syria and in northern Iraq.

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On the very national level, and in April 2014 when parliamentary

elections were due to take place in Iraq, Prime Minister Maliki’s party

won the biggest number of seats but fell short of a majority. Later this

year, the Iraqi government failed to form a unity government which

included Shi’as, Sunnis and Kurds. After pressure and several talks, Iraqi

lawmakers nominated Haider al-Abadi to replace al-Malki as prime

minister. However, al-Maliki rejected this move threatening to go to court

and even using fire if he finds it necessary. On 11 August, Mailiki

deployed ISF forces in strategic areas in Baghdad in what primarily

appeared to give an impression of a coup. Later, Maliki announced that

he would indeed challenge this move and decision in courts and would

not turn to the army. Later on, he agrees to step down and be replaced

by al-Abadi who was to form a government.

Previous Actions

The UN has been significantly active in Iraq in the past years. Below is a

list of the most important UN actions on Iraq in recent years:

September 2002: US President George W. Bush tells world leaders at

the UN General Assembly to confront the “grave and gathering danger

of Iraq or to allow the US to act”.

28 March 2003: UN Security Council Resolution 1472 gives the

UN more authority to administer the “oil for food” program for the next

45 days.

March 2003: UN Chief Weapon’s inspector, Hans Blix, reports that

Iraq has accelerated its cooperation but says inspectors need more time

to verify Iraq’s compliance.

22 May 2003: UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1483 lifts non-

military sanctions against Iraq.

3 July 2003: UN Security Council Resolution disbands the UN Iraq-

Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM) and removes the demilitarized

zone between Iraq and Kuwait.

16 October 2003: UNSC Resolution 1511 increases US presence in Iraq

in terms of weapons inspections.

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24 November 2003: UNSC Resolution 1518 established a committee to

identify resources which should be transferred to the Development

Fund of Iraq.

15 December 2010: UNSC Resolution 1958 terminates residual

activities of the Oil-For-Food Program.

15 December 2010: UNSC Resolution 1957 terminated all

measures under previous resolutions by which Iraq was requested

to destroy all weapons of mass destruction and long-range ballistic

missiles and not to require any nuclear weapons.

Recommendations/ Questions

What are the main reasons for ISIS emergence?

Are other states funding ISIS?

Would peacekeeping troops be efficient?

Is waging war on ISIS the solution? What’s the aftermath of this?

Would splitting Iraq into 3 states be a proper solution?

Are the ISF and Peshmerga forces enough to defeat ISIS?

What can the Security Council do to tackle ISIS crisis and to deal

with the refugees?

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Citations

http://www.cfr.org/iraq/islamic-state-iraq-syria/p14811

http://www.cfr.org/counterterrorism/confronting-isis-requires-bigger-

plan/p33426

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-origins-of-isis-finding-the-birthplace-

of-jihad/

http://www.hudson.org/research/10584-on-the-origin-of-isis

http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11520.doc.htm

http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/syria/

http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/iraq/

http://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/the-european-unions-role-in- the-fight-

against-isis_1955.html http://eeas.europa.eu/top_stories/2014/240614_fac_en.htm