How To Understand Iraq and ISIS in One Day! High Speed Global Traveler Series! ISIS and Iraq Who? Where? When? Why? What? The formation of ISIS in Syria and Iraq from A to Z! ISIS, Syria and United States! Iraq and ISIS! ISIS and the rest of the World! The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has garnered countless headlines across the globe. Their atrocities against religious minorities and effort to create an Islamic state in the Middle East have spurred international outrage as well as U.S. airstrikes. Below are four important points about ISIS, specifically its origins, military engagement, atrocities and denunciations from Muslim leaders. ISIS' beginnings can be traced to the Second Gulf War in 2003, when the U.S., along with a small coalition of other nations, invaded Iraq and toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Amongst the diverse insurgency fighting coalition forces and new Iraqi government was the extremist Islamic group al-Qaida in Iraq. ISIS was formed out of the al-Qaida affiliate in April of last year and led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a mysterious jihadist who is believed to have been born in Iraq in 1971. Initially centered on Iraq and known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), ISIS added the second S for Syria to its name.