Watch out everyone! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s ISIS!

They’re a new (well not so new) terrorist organization taking the Middle East and the world by storm. From June up until now ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has been kicking butts and taking names, literally.

With a membership of an estimated 20,000 to 31,500, these bad boys have taken the world by storm. They’ve gone through a bunch of names and battles staying true to their official motto: “remaining and expanding”.

ISIS is constantly making headlines these days but just because you’re now hearing about them doesn’t mean they’re brand new. In fact ISIS, as they now call themselves, has been with us since 1999.

Abu Musab al- Zarqawi and his militant forces founded what was then called the Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad. Zarqawi a Jordanian Salafi Jihadist (Salafi meaning ancestors, is a sect of Islam that believes the first three generations of muslims are the epitome of Islam) led his militants in the early years of the War on Iraq. Aside from the beheading of hostages, they are known for suicide bombings on civilians and flat-out attacking any and all opposing forces.

After joining Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda in 2004 they changed their name to match there new affiliation. They became known as simply Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Skip ahead to 2006, when the group went through another change. Under new leadership of a Egyptian militant named Abu Ayyub al-Masri, as the result Zarqawi being killed in a U.S. air strike. October 13th, 2006 AQI along with six other Sunni Arab governments declared The Islamic State of Iraq.

ISI – now ISIS – is a self established, albeit unrecognized state that currently encompasses almost all of Syria and most of Iraq.

Now here’s an interesting part the story.

The ISIS that we read about and see on today causing utter turmoil in the middle east hasn’t been part of Al-Qaeda since February of this year. According to a seized letter obtained by Al Jazeera apparently there was a struggle for power between two of the top dogs in ISIS over Syria.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani went back and forth for months over who should lead the Jihad in Syria. With Baghdadi’s creation of the al-Nursa Front guerrilla warfare trained militant group. Current al-Quaeda leader Ayman al-Zwahiri ordered that ISIS disband. Instead they disobeyed. Baghdadi took his al-Nursa Front and split and Jawlani stayed with ISIS.

Today ISIS is the richest jihadist group in the world after taking over the city of Mosul and with its central bank. With a worth of $2 billion it’s not hard to see why they’re moving so fast.

On the AIC campus, ISIS is not viewed in a good light.

Yaribeth Ruiz a member of student government, co-President of new club CNNM and a senior here at AIC had this to say.

“They say the fight for the people but only they’re fighting followers of the same sect within their faith and trapping and beheading everyone else,” Ruiz said.

“They are justifying violence and that should never happen,” she added.

AIC freshman Justin Raposa agreed.

“It’s not right, all the things that they’re doing over there being inhumane to those journalists,” Raposa said. “It seems like there is always something going on over there, but there just needs to be peace.”

Putting and end to such fighting and peace in the middle east, among many other things is what the world is hoping for.