First, I would say, is ideology. I have never spoken to any member of these groups, not just … - Rukmini Maria Callimachi

Same topic Authors

Quote of the day

People have suffered and become insane for centuries by the thought of eternal punishment after death. Wouldn't it be better to depend on blind matter. . . than a god who puts out traps for people, invites them to sin, and allows them to sin and commit crimes he could prevent. Only to finally get the barbarian pleasure to punish them in an excessive way, of no use for himself, without them changing their ways and without their example preventing others from committing crimes.

Rukmini Maria Callimachi

First, I would say, is ideology. I have never spoken to any member of these groups, not just ISIS, but also Al Qaeda, Shabab, etc. , who wasn't driven by the ideology. Beyond that, a lot of people are wounded in some way - they've fallen out of society in some manner. All of the ones I've spoken to seem to have veered off course from lives we consider acceptable and successful. Of course, there are others like Osama bin Laden, who was a wealthy and successful businessperson.

Isis, People, Qaeda, Shabab, Successful, Way

Same Author Quotes

The systemic failure in the media in covering ISIS is that the majority of reporters are doing it in a semaphore fashion.

Covering, Fashion, Isis, Majority, Media, Semaphore

[People who have left the ISIS] say that there comes a moment when the inconsistencies and apparent hypocrisies of their sheikh lets them down, and they begin rereading scripture and find ways that vouch for a nonliteralist reading of the Koran.

Isis, Koran, People, Reading, Sheikh

People who have left the group talk about how a religious inspiration took them to ISIS. It was their feeling of being marginalized as Muslims in the society where they were living, and then buying into the promise of a caliphate and of a Muslim land that is governed as in the time of the prophet. I have yet to meet anybody, or speak to anybody, who was not religiously motivated at some level.

Religious, Inspiration, Isis, People, Religiously

It seems to me that a 9
11-style attack is impractical.

Attack, Impractical, Seems, Style

They're implementing what was the strategy of Al Qaeda, which was to have attacks of different levels simultaneously. . . . So the idea is, on the one hand you have these spectacular attacks that take months to plan, and others like Reda Hame, a French national, who went to Syria and was there for about a week, given a couple of days of target practice and one day of encryption training, sent back and arrested almost immediately.

Couple, Hands, Ideas, Like, Practice, Take