Compare and Contrast Two Terrorist Groups-Essay Example

To kill the civilians intentionally just for the sake of political and religious benefits is known as terrorism. In this post, an example of a compare and contrast essay on two terrorist groups has been written by an experienced UK writer affiliated with an essay help provider company.

Al Qaeda and ISIS are two most famous terrorist groups.

The use of intentional violence against civilians for political purposes or religious purposes is known as terrorism. Terrorism is not acceptable in any form and at any level. There are different forms of terrorism like political terrorism, religious fundamentalist terrorism, criminal terrorism, and pathological terrorism, etc. Terrorism lasts lots of impacts on society like it can destroy the economic system of a country, it can increase uncertainty in the markets and it can also become a cause of terror for the residents of this society. There are lots of terrorist groups are found all around the world but Al Qaeda and ISIS are two most famous terrorist groups. Here, we will compare these two terrorist groups.

1) Structure

When we compare these two terrorist groups, first of all, we see a clear difference between their structures. The structure of ISIS is just like a conventional army whereas, the structure of Al Qaeda is just like an individual terrorist group. Al Qaeda is trying to seize territory after declaring his caliphate in Iraq and North Syria. In a similar way, ISIS is also using rifles and hand grenades to ensure his caliphate. The main aim of Al Qaida is to gain the attention of international media. That’s why it had also made some complex attacks in the world. Al Qaeda is trying to make the Islamic caliphate but this terrorist group is facing some resistance from the affiliates.

2) Brutality

If we compare these two terrorist groups on the basis of brutality, we come to know that ISIS is more brutal than Al Qaeda. Its reason is that ISIS is using extreme violence and brutality in order to gain the attention of the people and to increase their followers. According to Clint Watts (a famous researcher in Foreign Policy affairs) has written that ISIS is able to get the attention of young people. Lots of young people are joining them and they are using these young people to kill innocent civilians. After doing violence, the ISIS shares pictures of these violent activities on the social media and this group is able to get the attention of the international organizations. On the other hand, Al Qaeda is showing less brutality because their members don’t want to kill the majority of the Muslims. In other words, the terrorists of Al Qaeda are more strategic in their attacks than ISIS.

3) ISIS is more popular with young people

Due to the recruitment boom of the ISIS in Syria, this terrorist group is able to increase its followers. On the other hand, due to destruction, Al Qaeda has to face lots of losses. According to the intelligence reports, the followers of ISIS are almost 30,000. On the other hand, the number of followers of Al Qaeda is very small in numbers. The main reason for getting lots of young followers is that ISIS is working for the pursuance of the Islamic states. ISIS is also gaining lots of followers from social media. On the other hand, Al Qaeda is still using the general recruitment method.

4) Al Qaeda has attacked the US and ISIS has not

ISIS has shown its desire that they want to attack the US. On the other hand, Al Qaeda has already attacked the US. Its reason is that Al Qaeda was involved in the 9/11 attacks. Still, the US has more threats from Al Qaeda than ISIS. Its reason is that Al Qaeda has more specialized people than ISIS.

5) Funding

No doubt, both the terrorist groups require a huge amount of funding to run their activities. It is estimated that Al Qaeda is getting funding from the donors. On the other hand, ISIS is getting most of his funding from some illegal activities like by selling oil in the black market. According to experts, due to these illegal activities, ISIS is able to draw funds of almost 1$ to 2$ million in a day. It is also a fact that in order to stay relevant, these two terrorist groups are thinking about the attack on the West.

Conclusion

To kill the civilians intentionally just for the sake of political and religious benefits is known as terrorism. There are lots of terrorist groups but ISIS and Al Qaeda are two most famous terrorist group. There is a difference between these two terrorist groups. First of all, the structure of ISIS is just like a conventional army and the structure of Al Qaeda is just like an individual terrorist group. Secondly, Al Qaeda has attacked the US whereas ISIS is planning an attack on the US. ISIS is getting most of its funds by selling oil in the black market. On the other hand, Al Qaeda depends upon the donors.

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