Jun 3, 2016 06:41 PM
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Scienti...-to/236521
EXCERPT: . . . [Scott] Atran’s paper, however, stood out from the slew, and so far has been cited more than 700 times, an impressive total. He wrote that researchers should endeavor to uncover "which configurations of psychological and cultural relationships are luring and binding thousands, possibly millions, of mostly ordinary people into the terrorist organization’s martyr-making web."
In the chin-stroking world of academic research, it is perfectly respectable, even advisable, to raise provocative questions and then tiptoe away, leaving the hard labor of answering them to others. Likewise, you can write volumes on human conflict and never venture beyond your book-crammed campus sanctuary.
[...] In the past decade or so, he has listened to the distraught mother of a young Palestinian suicide bomber read a letter congratulating her on her son’s valorous death. In Pakistan he slept in a rotting, abandoned mosque in order to avoid government agents he had heard were pursuing him. He once asked a veteran of Al Qaeda training camps, a man with whom he had established an amiable rapport, a simple question: "Would you kill me for jihad?" The man replied simply as well: "Yes, I would kill you."
[...] While the fearsome, cultivated mystique of ISIS fascinates, if you wish to comprehend what makes ordinary people go beyond themselves, you could do worse than the Peshmerga, who patrol the edges of Kurdish-controlled territory and cope with constant threat. They are fighting under conditions that would undermine the morale of a less ardent army, and yet there are no reports of revolt or outward indicators of dissatisfaction. That’s why Scott Atran and company are here, to test the mettle of the Kurds compared with ISIS. The team’s plan is to stop by the main base, then continue on to a forward outpost, a few kilometers away. The base is a semicomfortable distance from the enemy. The outpost is not. Someone suggests sending an armed escort to lead the way. Thus reassured, everyone piles back into the car for a short, stressful drive. "If you continued down this road, you would go straight into the Islamic State," Atran says, a comment that calms no one’s nerves.
[...] The questions become progressively more personal. The colonel is asked to rank, in order of importance, his country, his family, and his religion. He puts Islam and country above kin. "If I lose my soul, what use is my family?" he says. He is, like the majority of Kurds, a Sunni Muslim. ISIS is also Sunni. Most Kurdish Muslims adopt a tolerant attitude toward other religions, including Christianity and Judaism. ISIS considers people who do not subscribe to its own gloss on Islamic teaching to be hell-bound heretics, including fellow Sunnis. The colonel’s view of Islam takes torture off the table. ISIS is only too glad to torture. The colonel’s faith forbids targeting women and children. ISIS regularly slaughters them. The colonel rules out suicide missions as a battle tactic. ISIS has no such qualms.
The researchers press him on suicide, a key dividing line. The willingness of ISIS fighters to, for example, drive a fuel truck rigged with explosives into a checkpoint, as happens frequently near Makhmur, gives the group an intimidating edge. Wilson asks the colonel what he would do if presented with the opportunity to kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State. Would he kill Baghdadi if he knew, for certain, that he would lose his own life? Would he, in other words, embark on a suicide mission if the payoff was substantial? The colonel doesn’t hesitate. He shakes his head. "Kurds don’t do that," he says, the disapproval evident in his tone....
EXCERPT: . . . [Scott] Atran’s paper, however, stood out from the slew, and so far has been cited more than 700 times, an impressive total. He wrote that researchers should endeavor to uncover "which configurations of psychological and cultural relationships are luring and binding thousands, possibly millions, of mostly ordinary people into the terrorist organization’s martyr-making web."
In the chin-stroking world of academic research, it is perfectly respectable, even advisable, to raise provocative questions and then tiptoe away, leaving the hard labor of answering them to others. Likewise, you can write volumes on human conflict and never venture beyond your book-crammed campus sanctuary.
[...] In the past decade or so, he has listened to the distraught mother of a young Palestinian suicide bomber read a letter congratulating her on her son’s valorous death. In Pakistan he slept in a rotting, abandoned mosque in order to avoid government agents he had heard were pursuing him. He once asked a veteran of Al Qaeda training camps, a man with whom he had established an amiable rapport, a simple question: "Would you kill me for jihad?" The man replied simply as well: "Yes, I would kill you."
[...] While the fearsome, cultivated mystique of ISIS fascinates, if you wish to comprehend what makes ordinary people go beyond themselves, you could do worse than the Peshmerga, who patrol the edges of Kurdish-controlled territory and cope with constant threat. They are fighting under conditions that would undermine the morale of a less ardent army, and yet there are no reports of revolt or outward indicators of dissatisfaction. That’s why Scott Atran and company are here, to test the mettle of the Kurds compared with ISIS. The team’s plan is to stop by the main base, then continue on to a forward outpost, a few kilometers away. The base is a semicomfortable distance from the enemy. The outpost is not. Someone suggests sending an armed escort to lead the way. Thus reassured, everyone piles back into the car for a short, stressful drive. "If you continued down this road, you would go straight into the Islamic State," Atran says, a comment that calms no one’s nerves.
[...] The questions become progressively more personal. The colonel is asked to rank, in order of importance, his country, his family, and his religion. He puts Islam and country above kin. "If I lose my soul, what use is my family?" he says. He is, like the majority of Kurds, a Sunni Muslim. ISIS is also Sunni. Most Kurdish Muslims adopt a tolerant attitude toward other religions, including Christianity and Judaism. ISIS considers people who do not subscribe to its own gloss on Islamic teaching to be hell-bound heretics, including fellow Sunnis. The colonel’s view of Islam takes torture off the table. ISIS is only too glad to torture. The colonel’s faith forbids targeting women and children. ISIS regularly slaughters them. The colonel rules out suicide missions as a battle tactic. ISIS has no such qualms.
The researchers press him on suicide, a key dividing line. The willingness of ISIS fighters to, for example, drive a fuel truck rigged with explosives into a checkpoint, as happens frequently near Makhmur, gives the group an intimidating edge. Wilson asks the colonel what he would do if presented with the opportunity to kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State. Would he kill Baghdadi if he knew, for certain, that he would lose his own life? Would he, in other words, embark on a suicide mission if the payoff was substantial? The colonel doesn’t hesitate. He shakes his head. "Kurds don’t do that," he says, the disapproval evident in his tone....