I don't want to disturb the Three Pillar explanation which I'm confident is part of a PowerPoint Presentation, however:

1. First Pillar " the concept of operations and organizational structure" seems to inextricably overlap Second Pillar "ethnic cultural influence of interrelated group loyalty and honor". If you are a lad (say in Melbourne) you may well be influenced by IS's (First Pillar) internet campaign of encouragement and how-to (in a technical sense) be an effective home-grown terrorist. All this happens in a Second Pillar "ethnic cultural group loyalty sense" Muslim? Arab background? 18-30 years old? male? know some charismatic local activist?

2. First Pillar seems more like a monolithic, military type, authoritarian structure which seems at odds with Second Pillars typically Arab tribal, decentralised, amorphus loyalty style.

3. Paragraph 6 - "Although the Islamic State seems to limit its terrorist operations to Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, it has reportedly utilized its network of individuals to conducted attacks in Lebanon and Turkey." This seems quite Wrong. IS began in Syria. As well as some Iraqi cities IS has crept along major rivers (with much population) and along major roads where there are towns. This is particularly true of IS's recent gains in Iraq's very large Anbar Province.

4. The Three Pillar PowerPoint model also doesn't touch the overtly Sunni nature of IS. In many cases IS might be seen as a defensive Sunni militia within a moderate Sunni population in many Iraqi towns and cities. Within those towns and cities there are frequently Iraqi Government-Shiite army units and also Iranian-Iraqi led Shiite militia units who are notoriously giving non-Shiites a hard time.

5. Iraqi Oil explains why the West is spending $Billions stabilising Iraq but not more needy, but less oil blessed, African countries.

So in Iraq things are much more complex politically, militarily, economically and in terms of equity than the Three Pillars.

Plantagenet, excellent response to the 'powerpoint presentation'. That made me laugh.

Most Westerners, and certainly here in Australia, have no idea about the deep animosity between the 2 main streams in Islam: Shia and Sunni. And the virulence of some of the strains within Sunni Islam. Also directed towards other Sunni Muslims.

Thanks yvonne

People certainly read things more if the wording is amusing - even if the situation itself is pretty tragic.

Cheers

Pete

It is certainly a work of some significant genius that a situation as complex as the present-day politics of Islam and the Middle East can be covered in a single page.

And to think, all those armies of analysts in the various governments and agencies around the world, working their little butts off trying to fathom it out, and here it all is - in three short paragraphs.

Australia, the thinking country.

I don't know how it would be possible to not know by now that there is a division in Islam between Shia and Sunnis; and that they basically hate each other, unless of course one doesn't own a TV or a computer.

You left out the wireless!!