system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is ISIS battling for territory and land? Wouldn't it be more effective to keep building army and not trying to take over key areas, ultimately exposing yourself?
gpt
They want to establish a nation-state. They need people to tax, draw soldiers from, and from an ideological perspective, validate their other actions. If you were a general, you wouldn't necessarily want to expose your army, but if you're the entire entity of ISIS, your existential purpose involves capturing and retaining population centers.