The Islamic State uses terror to force obedience and frighten enemies. It has seized territory, destroyed antiquities, slaughtered minorities, forced women into sexual slavery and turned children into killers.
But its officials are apparently resistant to bribes, and in that way, at least, it has outdone the corrupt Syrian and Iraqi governments it routed, residents and experts say.
You can travel from Raqqa to Mosul and no one will dare to stop you even if you carry $1 million, said Bilal, who lives in Raqqa, the Islamic States de facto capital in Syria, and insisted out of fear on being identified only by his first name. No one would dare to take even one dollar.
Ahmed, who gave only his first name for fear of reprisals, has also lived under rule by the Free Syrian Army, or F.S.A., the rebel group that rose up in 2011 to fight the Syrian government. The F.S.A., he said, is like the regime. They are thieves.
Under the Islamic State, he said, life can be brutal, but at least it seems more stable for those who can avoid crossing the groups leaders. Here they are implementing Gods regulations, he said. The killer is killed. The adulterer is stoned. The thiefs hands are cut.
Lots, lots more at the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/w...nctioning-state-that-uses-terror-as-tool.htmlA recent study in Foreign Affairs focused on the groups evolving legal system, based on an austere interpretation of Islamic law and modeled on a system set down by the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. Andrew F. March, a professor of political science at Yale, wrote in the study that over time the Islamic State could become an increasingly normal state, in which the simplicity of rules and institutions plucked out of early Islamic history gives way to bureaucratic administration and positive law.
Hassan Abu Hanieh, a Jordanian authority on jihadist groups, said, The judiciary system is swift and effective. That is why locals find stability in ISIS, and wrongdoings such as bribes and corruption are barely heard of.
See guys, ISIS isn't all bad.
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