I am a guy that has learned about this over a very brief period and my thoughts are this:I find isis' acts of violence deplorable, not just against people, but against historical artifacts as well. that's not the totality of my thoughts on the matter. in local articles What ISIS Really Wants, there is a basis in Islamic history for all of it and it's wishful thinking on the part of progressive Muslims to say otherwise. Islam doesn't only include my beliefs, it includes the beliefs of over a billion people. I don't have to agree with them to defend their right to make manifest their political goals. more than a religious movement, I see isis as a movement of national liberation for the desert people, which also has roots in the history of Islam. for some, this parallels Muhammad's fight against desert tribes, and then the Romans. (that's why they keep threatening to capture Rome) I think it's important to see the rise of isis in the context of the second Iraq war, a war of choice for america which took over five hundred thousand Iraqi lives. the rise of isis is unthinkable without this.my answer has been down-voted into non-being, but you can't just down-vote the past or the aspirations of Muslims to self-governance. when you try, they come back, and more violently each time.