All of the mainstream media I&#x27;ve read on the subject identify the Iraqi camps (Camp Bucca in particular) as the modern origins of ISIS and attribute the camps to facilitating networking and radicalization, without which ISIS would not have been able to spread the way it did. [1] [2] [3] [4] I&#x27;m not an expert on the subject, that is just what I&#x27;ve gathered from mainstream sources.<p>I was able to find a profile on the Islamic State by the Brookings Institute [5] that corroborates the earlier roots:<p><i>Although currently centered within Syria and Iraq, IS’s roots lie in Jordan and Afghanistan and date back to at least 1999. However, IS has evolved considerably since then, transforming from a small and loosely structured body with broad international ambitions to a vast organization focused on governing as an Islamic state across nation state boundaries.<p>Throughout this 15-year period, IS and its various predecessors have undergone a significant process of operational and organizational learning. While a first attempt at Islamic state building in 2006-2008 proved overzealous and alienating, a second attempt from 2013 onwards has proven more sustainable, although concerted international intervention begun in 2014 will pose a serious challenge to its success. Nevertheless, through its impressive advances across large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2013 and 2014, IS has arguably proven a more successful organization than al-Qaeda.</i><p>[1]: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;world&#x2F;2014&#x2F;dec&#x2F;11&#x2F;-sp-isis-the-inside-story" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;world&#x2F;2014&#x2F;dec&#x2F;11&#x2F;-sp-isis-the-in...</a><p>[2]: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cbsnews.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;the-origins-of-isis-finding-the-birthplace-of-jihad&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cbsnews.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;the-origins-of-isis-finding-the-...</a><p>[3]: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;world&#x2F;middle-east&#x2F;camp-bucca-the-us-prison-that-became-the-birthplace-of-isis-9838905.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;world&#x2F;middle-east&#x2F;camp-buc...</a><p>[4]: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dailymail.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;article-3104859&#x2F;US-Prison-camp-Iraq-accidentally-formed-ISIS-housing-radial-jihadists-allowing-organize-terror-group.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dailymail.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;article-3104859&#x2F;US-Prison-ca...</a><p>[5]: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.brookings.edu&#x2F;~&#x2F;media&#x2F;Research&#x2F;Files&#x2F;Reports&#x2F;2014&#x2F;11&#x2F;profiling-islamic-state-lister&#x2F;en_web_lister.pdf?la=en" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.brookings.edu&#x2F;~&#x2F;media&#x2F;Research&#x2F;Files&#x2F;Reports&#x2F;2014...</a>