With the U.S. and allied nations now heavily involved in airstrikes against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, you may have a lot of unanswered questions about exactly who this terrorist organization is.
To help, The Last Word web team sat down with Middle East expert and frequent show guest Laith Alkhouri, an analyst with Flashpoint Global Partners, to get his take on these pressing questions.
1. What is the ultimate goal of ISIS?
2. What is a caliphate?
3. Why are there so many names for the same group?
4. Khorasan vs. ISIS: what’s the difference?
5. Why bomb ISIS-controlled oil refineries?
6. What causes radicalization?
7. Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?
Nick Ramsey
Nick Ramsey is a senior producer with MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.”