Understanding ISIS (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Until they came bursting into Mosul last month with black flags and pick-up trucks, ISIS was – to most Americans – just part of a chaotic jumble of fighters in Syria.  The next thing we knew, they had taken over a huge swath of Iraq, declared themselves the Islamic State, and announced a new caliphate in the heart of the Middle East.  This weekend the self-proclaimed caliph of the caliphate – Abu Bakr al Baghdadi – purportedly stepped out of the shadows and spoke to the world.  They’re too brutal for al Qaeda.  They literally crucify.  And right now they rule.  This hour On Point:  ISIS and the Islamic State. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/07/07/understanding-isis-iraq-syria