Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over as leader of al-Qaeda after the liquidation of Osama bin Laden, has released an audio message accusing ISIS leader and self-proclaimed “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of “sedition” and declaring war against the Islamic State.ISIS, an offshoot of al-Qaeda once casually dismissed by President Barack Obama as its “junior varsity squad,” has far eclipsed its parent organization, carving out a durable terror state from chunks of Iraq and Syria. Baghdadi has declared his conquered territory to be the “caliphate,” the kingdom of Islam, with himself as the prophesied “caliph” who rightfully rules all true Muslims.
Almost everything ISIS does is saturated with this mythology. For example, its hideous magazine Dabiq is named after a town in Syria it controls, which is supposed to be the site of a final battle against the “crusaders” of the West, in which Muslims will prevail and usher in the end of history. (READ MORE)
