IS (Organization) - Shatter the nations: ISIS and the war for the Caliphate

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Alawites: A religious group that broadly identifies with the Shia branch of Islam. Alawites makes up a minority of the population in Syria but hold much of the power. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is an Alawite.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI): The insurgent and terrorist group that fought U.S. troops during the Iraq War. The predecessor to ISIS. AQI was founded by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and eventually pledged loyalty to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaedas global leadership. Many ISIS members and especially its leaders are AQI veterans.

The Coalition: The collection of local and international forces fighting ISIS. The Coalition is led by the U.S. but includes countries such as France, Britain, Germany, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, along with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The Coalition also includes local partner forces that are essential to the battle in Iraq and Syria.

dishdasha: A traditional robe.

emir: A local ISIS leader; the word translates to prince.

EOD: Explosive Ordnance Disposal. The technicians who work to defuse bombs.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA): The moderate rebel alliance featuring many defected military officers and soldiers that received U.S. backing in the Syrian civil war.

hookah: A large water pipe used for smoking tobacco. Also known in the region as narghile or shisha.

IED: Improvised-explosive device, often a hidden explosive or roadside bomb.

Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Force (ICTF): The most elite battalion of the Iraqi special operations forces, which was created to work with U.S. commandos during the Iraq War and leads the war against ISIS in Iraq.

Iraqi special forces: See entry below. This term is used in this book to refer to ISOF.

The Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF): The overall division of Iraqi special forces, who are the most effective soldiers in the anti-ISIS fight. They are also commonly known as the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) and the Golden Division. To avoid over-using acronyms, I often refer to ISOF simply as the Iraqi special forces or the special forces. Though there were other Iraqi military units that called themselves special forces, any reference to Iraqi special forces in this book refers to ISOF.

Iraq War: The war that began with the 2003 U.S. invasion of Baghdad and formally ended in December 2011.

ISIS: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Istanbullu: An Istanbul native or resident.

Kurds: An ethnic group that traces its roots to ancient kings in Iran and makes up a suppressed minority in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. Many Kurds dream of carving out their own state.

MRAP: Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected. A heavy armored vehicle that can sometimes withstand the blasts of IEDs and other explosives.

mujahideen: A holy warrior. The term is often used to refer to foreign fighters.

mukhabarat: The secret police in many Arab countries.

The Muslim Brotherhood: The political and Islamist movement across the Middle East that is the most powerful opposition faction in Egypt during the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.

The Nusra Front: The Syrian rebel group that eventually became the official branch of al-Qaeda in the country. Nusra and ISIS worked together until 2014, when they formally split as part of a larger rift between al-Qaeda and AQI.

peshmerga: The soldiers who control and defend the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. The name means those who face death.