Posted on 02/25/2016 9:53:40 AM PST by SeekAndFind
ISIS, perhaps more than any other multinational terrorist group, has become known for its ability to attract Westerners away from their comfortable lives in prosperous countries and into the dangerous world of violent jihad. Peter Bergen, who was the first journalist to interview Osama bin Laden on television and has written five books on terrorism, explored what attracts Americans to radical Islam in his new book, "The United States of Jihad."
There's no one-size-fits-all explanation for why Westerners join foreign terrorist organization, nor is there one common profile for an American jihadist.
"Each case is a little bit different, and in the same way, if you looked at anybody who murdered somebody, I think you'd find that each case, the more you know about it, the more particular it becomes, and in some ways the more inexplicable it becomes," Bergen told Business Insider.
"Evil acts are usually pointless and inexplicable."
Bergen described several common factors that might motivate Americans to join a terrorist group: "militant Islamic theology that they're attracted to, desire to belong to something bigger than themselves, objections to American foreign policy, and for some people, it's actually just sort of fun to be part of a jihadi group and that's exciting."
And the attraction to groups like ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh) or Al Qaeda aren't always specific to religion or Islam.
"In the 1970s, people attracted to this ideology might have joined the Weather Underground or the Black Panthers, or some other revolutionary ideological group that was using violence to achieve its ends," Bergen said. "It's exciting to join these organizations, you can be part of something that's bigger than yourself, and we're seeing some of that in these jihadi terrorist groups."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Shorthand: Islam.
Patty Hearst was kidnapped, kept in a closet, serially raped and abused, and brainwashed into submission. Not an accurate analogy.
Back in my younger days, while in radio, I interviewed both Rory Calhoun, and Jimmy Carter, but that doesn’t make me an expert on cowboy stars or Georgia governors...or the actions of their followers. I don’t even remember the specific questions I asked them.
This is just another reporter trying to matter.
Why? Because we have a lot of stupid ignorant people and a large portion of those stupid ignorant people are imports and low IQ.
The burning of the Symbionese Liberation house in Compton LIVE on TV was the first live TV spectacle that I recall.
Neither of the Kennedy assassinations applied as they were not live.
Waco was another.
The common thread is opposition to Western Civilization.
There.
Fixed it for ya.
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