Islamic State militants: Who are they and why haven’t they been stopped?

The Heat

This file image posted on a militant website in January 2014, which is consistent with AP reporting, shows a convoy of vehicles and fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq’s Anbar Province. (AP/Photo)

Islamic State (IS) militants have seized Syrian and Iraqi towns, brutally murdering and kidnapping hundreds of people. Who are these militants? And why haven’t U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers been able to stop them?

IS militants have been accused of killing at least 80 members of Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority, as well as 700 tribesmen who oppose them in Syria. CCTV’s Jessica Stone reports.

To discuss the Islamic State insurgency in the Near East, CCTV America’s Anand Naidoo interviews Robert McFadden, a veteran U.S. intelligence analyst; and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

For a discussion on the importance of distinguishing between the conduct of Islamic State radicals and the teachings of Islam, CCTV America’s Anand Naidoo interviews Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, Executive Director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, D.C.