Syrians inspired by the rebellions in Egypt and Tunisia voiced their unhappiness and were advocating for democratic reforms. The government responded to these protest with extreme measures such as torture, kidnapping, and killings of protesters. After government troops began opening fire on civilians, Syrians organized and began arming themselves to protect themselves from government violence. Various volunteer fighters came to the aid of Syrian rebels in their cause such as ISIS. Tribes and rebel fighters are constantly recruited by ISIS who supply them with basic needs such as food, money, equipment that they don't receive from its government. ISIS is able to support Syrians through its key source of income, oil from territories captured in Syria Deir al-Zour and Raqqa and the province of Nineveh in Iraq which ISIS uses to court tribesmen in the Iraqi-Syrian border. .
Other means of revenue for ISIS is taxation as well as kidnapping of foreigners and wealthy Syrians for ransom. President Bashar al-Assad has slaughtered, gassed and killed "1,429 people, including 426 children " as stated in an article written by Alisa Wiersema of ABC NEWS, while the rest of the world has done nothing to stop him. It's no wonder why with ISIS caliphate in Raqqa gives Sunnis a feeling of security and a sense of justice and hope from the Syrian led regime ran by President Assad. ISIS feeds on the suffering of Syrians as a way of recruiting and spreading its ideology through high quality recruitment videos, which promises the reward of having purpose and playing an important role in something larger than yourself.
What separates ISIS from other terrorist groups as stated by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "as sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen beyond anything we have seen. " ISIS operates as an army due to its military council being made up of former officers from Saddam Hussein's army and have been known to launch serious military strikes against Iraqi and Syrian military bases and police stations from Mosul to Nineveh, and parts of Diyala provinces with astonishing success.