By 2014, ISIL was increasingly

By 2014, ISIL was increasingly being viewed as a militia rather than as a terrorist group.⁴⁰⁸ As major Iraqi cities fell to ISIL in June 2014, Jessica Lewis, a former US army intelligence officer at the Institute for the Study of War, described ISIL as "not a terrorism problem anymore", but rather "an army on the move in Iraq and Syria, and they are taking terrain. They have shadow governments in and around Baghdad, and they have an aspirational goal to govern. HP Pavilion DV8310CA Laptop Keyboard

I don't know whether they want to control Baghdad, or if they want to destroy the functions of the Iraqi state, but either way the outcome will be disastrous for Iraq." Lewis has called ISIL "an advanced military leadership". She said, "They have incredible command and control and they have a sophisticated reporting mechanism from the field that can relay tactics and directives up and down the line.  Lenovo 0A62039 Laptop Keyboard

They are well-financed, and they have big sources of manpower, not just the foreign fighters, but also prisoner escapees."⁴⁰⁸

While officials^which? fear that ISIL may either inspire attacks in the United States by sympathisers or by those returning after joining ISIL, US intelligence agencies find there is no immediate threat or specific plots. DELL Vostro 3450 Laptop Keyboard

Former US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sees an "imminent threat to every interest we have", but former top counterterrorism adviser Daniel Benjamin has derided such alarmist talk as a "farce" that panics the public.Some news commentators, such as international newspaper columnist Gwynne Dyer,⁴¹⁰ and samples of American public opinion, such as surveys by NPR,have advocated a strong but measured response to ISIL's recent provocative acts.  TOSHIBA Mini NB 505-SP0160 Laptop Keyboard

Conspiracy theorists in the Arab world have advanced rumours that the US is secretly behind the existence and emboldening of ISIL, as part of an attempt to further destabilise the Middle East. After such rumours became widespread, the US embassy in Lebanon issued an official statement denying the allegations, calling them a complete fabrication.⁴¹²  Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 Laptop Keyboard

Others^which? are convinced that ISIL leader al-Baghdadi is an Israeli Mossad agent and actor called Simon Elliot. The rumours claim that NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveal this connection. Snowden's lawyer has called the story "a hoax."ISIL's expanding claims to territory have brought it into armed conflict with many governments, militias and other armed groups.  HP G61-400SP Laptop Keyboard

International rejection of ISIL as a terrorist entity and rejection of its claim to even exist have placed it in conflict with countries around the world.Turkey has been accused of supporting or colluding with ISIL, especially by Syrian Kurds. According to journalist Patrick Cockburn, there is "strong evidence for a degree of collaboration" between the Turkish intelligence services and ISIL, although the "exact nature of the relationship ... remains cloudy".⁴COMPAQ Presario CQ40-133TU Laptop Keyboard

⁹³David L. Phillips of Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights, who compiled a list of allegations and claims accusing Turkey of assisting ISIL, writes that these allegations "range from military cooperation and weapons transfers to logistical support, financial assistance, and the provision of medical services".⁴⁹⁴HP 317443-001 Laptop Keyboard

Several ISIL fighters and commanders have claimed Turkey supports ISIL.^495496497 Within Turkey itself, ISIL is believed to have caused increasing political polarisation between secularists and Islamists.⁴⁹⁸

Turkey has been further criticised for allowing individuals from outside the region to enter its territory and join ISIL in Syria.⁴⁹⁹⁵⁰⁰ HP HDX18-1200 CTO Laptop Keyboard

With many Islamist fighters passing through Turkey to fight in Syria, Turkey has been accused of becoming a transit country for such fighters and has been labelled the "Gateway to Jihad".⁵⁰¹ Turkish border patrol officers are reported to have deliberately overlooked those entering Syria upon the payment of a small bribe.⁵⁰¹ A report by Sky News exposed documents showing that passports of foreign Islamists wanting to join ISIL by crossing into Syria had been stamped by the Turkish government.⁵⁰² DELL Vostro 1014 Laptop Keyboard

An ISIL commander stated that "most of the fighters who joined us in the beginning of the war came via Turkey, and so did our equipment and supplies",⁴⁹⁷⁵⁰³ adding that ISIL fighters received treatment in Turkish hospitals.

Although Saudi Arabia's government rejected these claims,⁵⁰⁴ the Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki accused Saudi Arabia of funding ISIL.⁵⁰⁵ SONY Vaio PCG-K215S Laptop Keyboard

Some media outlets likeNBC, BBC, and The New York Times and the US-based think tank Washington Institute for Near East Policy have written of individual Saudi donations to the group, and the Saudi state's decade long sponsorship of Salafism around the world, but have concluded that there is no evidence of direct Saudi state support for ISIL.  Lenovo 45N2141 laptop keyboard

During the Syrian Civil War, multiple parties in the conflict have accused the Syrian government of collusion with Isil to some degree. Several sources have claimed that Isil prisoners were strategically released from Syrian prisons at the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.⁵¹¹ The Syrian government has bought oil directly from ISIS,⁵¹²HP Pavilion dv6-2133ee laptop keyboard

and in March 2015 a European Union report brought to light that the Syrian government and ISIL jointly run a HESCO gas plant in Tabqa, central Syria; the facility continues to supply government-held areas, and electricity continues to be supplied to ISIL-held areas from government-run power plants.⁵¹³HP COMPAQ NX6320 laptop keyboard

United States Secretary of State John Kerry has stated that the Syrian government has tactically avoided Isis forces in order to weaken moderate opposition such as the Free Syrian Army,⁵¹⁴ as well as "even purposely ceding some territory to them ISIS in order to make them more of a problem so he can make the argument that he is somehow the protector against them".⁵¹⁵ ASUS X85S laptop keyboard

A IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center database analysis confirmed that only 6% of Syrian government forces attacks were targeted at ISIL in Jan 1–Nov 21, 2014, while in the same period only 13% of all ISIS attacks targeted government forces.⁵¹⁰ The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has stated that the Syrian government has operatives inside ISIS,⁵¹⁶ as has the leadership ofAhrar ash-Sham.⁵¹ASUS X53S laptop keyboard

⁷ ISIS members captured by the FSA have claimed that they were directed to commit attacks by Syrian government operatives.

Rand Paul, the junior Senator from Kentucky, accused the US government of allying with ISIL in the Syrian Civil War by arming their allies and fighting their enemies in that country.⁵¹⁹⁵²⁰   LENOVO AEQA1STU010 laptop keyboard

Abu Yusaf, a commander of the ISIL, said in August 2014 that many of the Free Syrian Army members who had been trained by United States' and Turkish and Arab military officers were now actually joining ISIL.⁵²¹ In September 2014, some US-backed Syrian rebels and ISIL signed a "non-aggression" agreement.A UN report estimated a total of 15,000 fighters from over 80 countries in ISIL's ranks as of November 2014.⁵² Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 laptop keyboard

⁴ US intelligence estimated an increase to around 20,000 foreign fighters in February 2015, including 3,400 from Western countries.Statistics gathered by nation indicate up to: 3,000 from Tunisia,⁵²⁶⁵²⁷ 2,500 from Saudi Arabia,⁵²⁶⁵²⁷ 1,700 from Russia,⁵²⁸1,500 from Jordan,⁵²⁷ 1,500 from Morocco,⁵²⁷ 1,200 from France,⁵²⁷ 1,000 from Turkey,⁵²⁹ 900 from Lebanon,⁵²⁷COMPAQ Presario CQ40-133TU laptop keyboard

650 from Germany,⁵³⁰ 600 from the United Kingdom,⁵²⁶⁵²⁷ 600 from Libya,⁵²⁷ 500 from Uzbekistan,⁵²⁷ 500 from Pakistan,⁵²⁷ 440 from Belgium,⁵²⁷ 360 from Turkmenistan,⁵²⁷ 360 from Egypt,⁵²⁷ 350 from Serbia,⁵³¹ 330 from Bosnia,⁵²⁷ 300 from China,⁵³² 300 from Kosovo,⁵³³ 300 from Sweden,⁵³⁴ 250 from Australia,⁵³⁵ 250 from Kazakhstan,⁵²⁷ Lenovo 3000 Y500 laptop keyboard

250 from the Netherlands,⁵²⁷ 200 from Austria,⁵³⁶ 200 from Algeria,⁵²⁷ 190 from Tajikistan,⁵²⁷ 180 from the United States,⁵²⁵ 150 from Norway,⁵³⁷ 150 from Denmark,⁵²⁷ 140 from Albania,⁵³¹ 130 from Canada,⁵³⁸ 120 from Israel/Palestine,⁵²⁷ 110 from Yemen,⁵²⁷ 100 from Sudan,⁵²⁷ 100 from Kyrgyzstan,⁵²⁷ 100 from Spain,⁵³⁹ 80 from Italy,⁵²⁷ HP Mini 110-3519la laptop keyboard

70 from Somalia,⁵²⁷ 70 from Kuwait,⁵²⁷ 70 from Finland,⁵²⁷ 50 from Ukraine,⁵²⁷ 40 from Switzerland,⁵²⁷ 30 from Ireland,⁵²⁷ and 18 from India.ISIL relies mostly on captured weapons. Major sources are Saddam Hussein's Iraqi stockpiles from the 2003–11 Iraq insurgency⁵⁴¹ and weapons from government and opposition forces fighting in the Syrian Civil War and during the post-US withdrawal Iraqi insurgency. HP COMPAQ 486654-001 laptop keyboard

The captured weapons, including armour, guns, surface-to-air missiles, and even some aircraft, enabled rapid territorial growth and facilitated the capture of additional equipment.

The group has a long history of using truck and car bombs, suicide bombers, and IEDs, and has used chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria. TOSHIBA Satellite L755-S5357 laptop keyboard

ISIL captured nuclear materials from Mosul University in July 2014, but is unlikely to be able to turn them into weapons.ISIL is known for its extensive and effective use of propaganda.⁵⁴⁵⁵⁴⁶ It uses a version of the Muslim Black Standard flag and developed an emblem which has clear symbolic meaning in the Muslim world.⁵⁴⁷SONY N860-7676-T101 laptop keyboard

In November 2006, shortly after the group's rebranding as the "Islamic State of Iraq", the group established the al-Furqan Institute for Media Production, which produces CDs, DVDs, posters, pamphlets, and web-related propaganda products.⁵⁴⁸ ISIL's main media outlet is the I'tisaam Media Foundation,⁵⁴⁹ which was formed in March 2013 and distributes through the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF).⁵⁵⁰ DELL E141395 laptop keyboard

When ISIL announced it's expansion to other countries in November 2014 it established media departments for the new branches, and it's media apparatus ensured that the new branches follow the same models it uses in Iraq and Syria.In 2014, ISIL established the al-Hayat Media Centre, which targets a Western audience and produces material in English, German, Russian and French.⁵HP 518965-001 laptop keyboard

Also in 2014, ISIL launched the Ajnad Media Foundation, which releases jihadist audio chants.⁵⁵⁴ In December 2014, FBI Director James Comey stated that ISIL's "propaganda is unusually slick. They are broadcasting... in something like 23 languages".From July 2014, al-Hayat began publishing a digital magazine called Dabiq, in a number of different languages including English. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard

According to the magazine, its name is taken from the town of Dabiq in northern Syria, which is mentioned in a hadith aboutArmageddon.ISIL's use of social media has been described by one expert as "probably more sophisticated than that of most US companies".⁵⁴⁵⁵⁵⁷ It regularly takes advantage of social media, particularly Twitter, to distribute its message by organising hashtag campaigns, encouraging Tweets on popular hashtags, LENOVO IdeaPad S10 20015 laptop keyboard

and utilising software applications that enable ISIL propaganda to be distributed automatically via its supporters' accounts.⁵⁵⁸⁵⁵⁹ Another comment is that "ISIS puts more emphasis on social media than other jihadi groups... They have a very coordinated social media presence."⁵⁶⁰ In August 2014, Twitter administrators shut down a number of accounts associated with ISIL. DELL Inspiron N4050 laptop keyboard

ISIL recreated and publicised new accounts the next day, which were also shut down by Twitter administrators.⁵⁶¹ The group has attempted to branch out into alternative social media sites, such as Quitter, Friendica and Diaspora; Quitter and Friendica, however, almost immediately worked to remove ISIL's presence from their sites.⁵⁶²HP Mini 1151NR laptop keyboard

In a switch from its former practices, ISIL's media arm imposed a social media blackout on 27 September 2014, fearing that tweets and posts would give away military positions.⁵⁶³ ISIL has also attempted to present a more "rational argument" in its series of "press release/discussions" performed by hostage/captive John Cantlie and posted on YouTube.  SONY KFRMBA220A laptop keyboard

In one "Cantlie presentation", various current and former US officials were quoted, such as US PresidentBarack Obama and former CIA Officer Michael Scheuer.

In 2014, the RAND Corporation carried out a study of 200 documents — personal letters, expense reports and membership rosters — which had been captured fromIslamic State of Iraq (al-Qaeda in Iraq).⁵⁶⁵ HP Pavilion DV7-3078nr laptop keyboard

It found that from 2005 until 2010, outside donations amounted to only 5% of the group's operating budgets, with the rest being raised within Iraq.⁵⁶⁵ In the time period studied, cells were required to send up to 20% of the income generated from kidnapping, extortion rackets and other activities to the next level of the group's leadership. Higher-ranking commanders would then redistribute the funds to provincial or local cells that were in difficulties or needed money to conduct attacks.⁵⁶Toshiba Satellite L550-20W CPU Fan