Journalism of Courage
The "caliphate" declared by the Islamic State a year ago, demands obedience. Untold numbers have been killed because they were deemed dangerous to the IS, or insufficiently pious; 5-8 million endure a regime that has swiftly turned their world upside down, extending its control into every corner of life to enforce its own radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah.
In this photo released on April 30, 2015 by a militant website, which has been verified, new recruits of the Islamic State train in Mosul, northern Iraq. (Militant website via AP)
In this photo released on March 7, 2015, a member of the Islamic State group holds the IS flag as he dismantles a cross on the top of a church in Mosul, Iraq. (AP Photo)
The Islamic State is a place where men douse themselves with cologne to hide the odor of forbidden cigarettes; where taxi drivers or motorists usually play the IS radio station, since music can get a driver 10 lashes; where women must be entirely covered, in black, and in flat-soled shoes; where shops must close during Muslim prayers, and everyone found outdoors must attend.
In this photo released on January 31, 2014 women in niqabs - enveloping black robes and veils that leaves only the eyes visible - sew niqabs, which are required for women in Islamic State-held territory, in a factory in Mosul, Iraq. (Militant website via AP)
In this photo released on May 4, 2015, people stand at the window of a media distribution point to receive CDs from Islamic State militants, right, in Mosul, Iraq. (AP Photo)
There is no safe way out. People vanish — their disappearance sometimes explained by an uninformative death certificate, or worse, a video of their beheading.
In this Sunday, May 17, 2015 photo, Sheikh Abdullah Ibrahim poses with his son while holding an Islamic State group-issued death certificate - all that he has left of his wife, Buthaina Ibrahim, an outspoken human rights activist and official, in the village of Eski Mosul, northern Iraq. (AP Photo)
Armed members of the Hisba patrol the streets, cruising in SUVs and wearing Afghan-style baggy pants and long shirts. They sniffed people for the odor of cigarettes, and chastised women they considered improperly covered or men who wore Western clothes or hair styles.
In this photo released on May 3, 2015, members of the Islamic State group's vice police Hisba, prepare to burn cigarettes and alcohol, in Homs Province, Syria. Iraqi civilians currently living under IS rule in Mosul say that the militants actually control the cigarette black market, banning smoking in public while privately controlling the sale of cigarettes at an inflated price. (AP Photo)
The picture they paint suggests the Islamic State's "caliphate" has evolved into an entrenched pseudo-state, based on a bureaucracy of terror.
In this photo released on April 17, 2015, a member of the Hisba, as he patrols a market in Raqqa City, Syria. (AP Photo)
