What's interesting is that "terrorism talk" is macho stuff in Middle Eastern cultures. Way back when ISIS wasn't even a thing, back when it was just Al Qaeda, I remember listening to interviews with authors and cultural experts about how they recruit people. They did it through soccer clubs.
Soccer's this macho sport, there. Rough-and-tumble, you take some hits and keep on playing. It's a manly thing. These young guys - and it's all guys, very male-centric - are together egging one another on, applying social pressure to be macho, tough dudes.
Some guy hangs out, bros out with them, and then starts talking about the West. Haha, wouldn't it be great if they all just went away? Anyhoo, how's your family doing?
Slowly - too fast and it'll scare 'em off - they get more extreme. The laughter comes out thin and way too late. This guy is serious about killing people and strapping bombs to one another. And some of the other guys are getting into it. All this talk about death and glory. Fighting for what's right, for the future of our people, for a land free of interference from invaders who just Do Not Get us.
And everyone keeps egging one another on. Applying social pressure. Before you know it, you're taking a trip to a training camp. Not a hardcore bootcamp, but maybe just shooting some guns in the desert. Camping under the stars. Bro stuff. Macho stuff. More talks around the fire at night about how things used to be awesome, how people could defend themselves and their families and countries without being called a "terrorist". Without being vilified.
A few more trips. Deeper shit. Egging one another on - you don't want to pussy out in front of your friends, yeah? These guys aren't killing bad people - that's just propaganda. That's what The Man is telling you.
It's slow. But it happens. And it happens within this cocoon of weird macho bullshit.
'via Blog this'