ISIL: Winning Hearts and Minds, the Jihadist Way

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has an image problem. To much of the world ISIL, also called ISIS, is a ruthless terrorist organization committed to overthrowing Iraq’s government to establish a Sunni Islamist state. It seeks to impose a radical brand of Shariah law—no smoking, no drinking, no unveiled women in public—enforced by floggings and beheadings.

The group’s fighters are engaged in what RAND analyst Patrick Johnston describes as a “blitzkrieg” push toward Baghdad. Yet in Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, captured by ISIL in mid-June, leaders are also moving to put in place the rudiments of a functioning government bureaucracy. “What they’re doing now is laying the groundwork that would be required for them to establish control and power over the areas they’ve conquered,” Johnston says.

The insurgents have had some success winning over Mosul’s wary—and weary—public. Residents interviewed recently at a checkpoint on the city’s outskirts praised ISIL for removing the blast walls that had made traffic unbearable and putting an end to petty crime. “There’s no electricity,” said one man, Qusai, “but there’s no shooting. It’s so safe you can sleep on the street.”