Here is the story of clairmont.
Chris Boudreau, a grieving mother from Canada, traveled to Europe this last week to learn about ways to spare other families whose children risk the same fate as her son. Damian Clairmont died in January at age 22 while fighting for the jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria. Clairmont, Boudreau said, converted to Islam to help him recover from depression after he attempted suicide when he was 17. He eventually told his mother he was leaving for Egypt to learn Arabic and study as an imam.
Clairmont’s story is not rare. The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at King’s College London says that jihadists in Syria have enticed as many as 11,000 recruits since 2011.
Why do young men get attracted to Islamism? I always ask this question. Burkhard Freier, chief of North Rhine-Westphalia’s intelligence service, says “Salafism is a lifestyle package for young people because it offers them social warmth, a simple black-and-white view of the world, recognition by their peer group–basically everything they lack in real life.”
Anne Speckhard, author of Talking to Terrorists, spoke to the psychology of radical Islam in an interview with WORLD News Group. “It gives a course of action, it gives a rationale for revenge, and it gives an out,” she said, adding that jihadists tend to feel extreme calm and endorphin-driven euphoria after swearing to kill infidels or even themselves. “I call it short-term psychological first aid,” Speckhard said. She interviewed more than 400 detained terrorists in Iraq between 2005 and 2007.
Speckhard said, “understanding radical Islam as an emotional crutch for aimless men or depressed youth like Clairmont is important: “No one just adopts a militant ideology out of the blue.”
A Malaysia man fought with Afghan jihadists against the Soviets. He said, “I was a very young man, I was bored in this small village, and it was a chance to see the world.”
True for some people, but I think all jihadists do not become jihadists only because they are depressed. 9/11 terrorists were rich, and successful. They were not aimless dudes. I never heard Osama Bin Laden was a depressed man. He had money, followers, women. Is Abu Bakr al Baghdadi depressed? I doubt it. They were indoctrinated with Islam since chilhood.
There are many reasons for young men to join terrorist organizations. Some to get rid of loneliness, depression, fucked- up life. Some to take revenge. Some definitely find violence exciting. Most terrorists, I believe, become terrorists, because they believe Islam is the only true religion and it is their religious duty to kill enemies of Islam and make the world the land of Islam. They of course think by doing this they will be rewarded in heaven. Political terrorists do the same, they believe their political ideology is the best ideology, and it is their political duty to kill their opponents, and then rule the country without any problem. Political terrorists also get rewarded by powerful politicians. Killing for an ideology is very common, either for political ideology or for religious ideology. However much we say that religion should be a personal matter, but it is almost impossible to make it a personal matter. Politics is hardly personal.
Ask that from Palestinians that why young men are becoming terrorists.
If a person has spent their life in an environment where violence in the name of Islam or some other ideology and willingness to die is completely normalized, then I wouldn’t see a need to consider their personal psychology. But many terrorists come from an environment where they are exposed to jihadist propaganda, but it is scarcely their only option or something universally approved of in their community.
When the person had options and multiple influences but chose this path it is reasonable to question why they did–why this particular individual made the decision they did. This is especially true in a situation where ideological violence had little or no mainstream support, but they sought out this kind of material anyway. If they were Muslim, they stopped going to their conventional mosque and were drawn to a little clique of fanatics. If not Muslim, they converted and then were immediately attracted to the worst elements within Islam.
Someone desperately searching for meaning may see the life and death of a martyr as a tidy packaged deal. No decisions to make once the choice is made. Nothing but following orders and copying the thousands of others who have done the exact same thing, yet still a sense of deep significance. Add depression or any other condition that makes suicide appealing and the draw of suicide bombing is even easier to understand. End the life that is a burden anyway and become an instant hero and saint.
Obviously there are many terrorists who act out of little except straightforward belief in the righteousness of their cause. But there is a common theory that we are guided more by our passions than reason and that many self-explanations including statements of belief are rationalizations. People seek environments and activities that fit who they are inside.
Again, I would not use this reasoning for people conditioned from childhood or living their whole lives in a war zone.
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… you do realize the website you linked to is wackily right wing?
What really, really disturbs me is that TEENAGE girls who have been wooed and brainwashed into by ISIS men online are going (or trying to go) to Syria to marry these evil men! These men paint an unrealistic picture of what life is like, and will be for them if they journey over to Syria and MARRY them! Young minds can easily be manipulated, and that is exactly what these men are doing to these young girls. Maybe the girls are bored, naive, angry and rebellious as it is, and are looking for a way “out” of their empty lives. Enter Muslims. No one seems to talk about this, and I feel it is extremely important to do so.
Though Osama bin laden had money and women both but still reasonable employment opportunities and a woman might be enough to keep crimes at minimum level. Moreover GOD would never be able to afford crime free planet because number of employed person in judiciary might be thousand time more than the number of criminals.