MuAliAli

It's hard to make a definitive comparison, but I can tell you that ISIS is especially brutal. A few examples of how ISIS is operating --

ISIS makes a special point of targeting journalists. If they're local, ISIS tends to simply kill them. If they're international, they'll be used for ransom. They're generally looking for any foreigners to kidnap.

They have made an effort to specifically target doctors and hospitals. http://to.pbs.org/1eODGDc

Though ISIS says they want to support Sunnis in Syria, they use suicide bombs to kill civilians from every sect -- they seem to be willing to kill as many civilians as necessary to get power.

Honestly, this could go on for a very, very long time. It's very hard to see the endgame from where I sit. This may end up being more comparable to something like the Israeli-Palestiniane conflict than a war, with a beginning and end.

I don't think Americans see what Syrians' daily lives are like. They may hear about the big battles, but Syrians have to fight to survive every single day -- to get food, to find shelter, to make it through the next round of endless shelling, to pull themselves together enough to not give up.

For me, I've become somewhat numb to it on the surface. I've seen someone beheaded in front of me. I've seen so many people shot, killed. Nothing surprises me anymore - my emotions are just burned out. I'm sure it all affects me.

Every day I am checking in with members of my own family to be sure they're still alive.

Family life in Syria is destroyed -- just about everyone has lost family members.

And the toll on children is especially horrific. There are no schools. Watch "The Children of Aleppo" to get a sense of it:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/syrias-second-front/witnessing-syrias-war-through-the-eyes-of-its-children/

In an ISIS controlled area, women:

-Must stay in their homes --- they are not allowed to appear in public. -If they must leave their homes, they have to cover everything. -They are only allowed to care for children inside the home. They cannot hold jobs. -If they don't follow these rules, they're tortured or killed.

To reveal the truth, and to help people by showing what is really happening in Syria. As long as people are asking me to cover their stores in this war, I'll go. But believe me, I'd love a vacation.