ISIL's outward expression of internal conflict.

• Author: O'Briain, Cathal
• Position: Worldview - Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

REPLACING SECULAR governments with religious governments is a common goal for most religions. Some American Christian organizations and ultraorthodox Jews view the Bible as the only true law that should govern society. The same idea is shared by Muslim jihadists in relation to the Koran. Terrorism does not have its origins in the Middle East. It is an age-old, worldwide problem. In the past, Christians have implemented capital punishment and the death penalty for crimes such as blasphemy, adultery, witchcraft, astrology, and, through a violent agenda, have wreaked havoc through the imposition of God's will in the early Crusades.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has a similar agenda to those earlier crusaders with regard to imposing Divine Law. Many of its terrorists, under examination, could prove mentally well-adjusted but, like wolves in a pack, are capable of the most brutal acts when under the influence and pressure of the group. What began as a small group of individuals with a relatively common extremist ideology has grown to become one of the largest and most barbaric terrorist organizations in the world, obtaining massive funding and weaponry from willing international donors, while successfully recruiting a new breed of Western foreign fighter through social media networks and daily news coverage.

This new breed of terrorist has an individual psychology, pledging allegiance to ISIL in order to make use of their life experience, qualifications, and skill sets to implement the Divine Law. They wish to help the organization fulfill its goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate which truly is rid of infidels once and for all. ISIL does not specifically set out, as other terrorist groups do, to encourage the disillusioned, vulnerable, or easily led individuals who cannot even pass a basic test in the Koran. In fact, those who comprise ISIL do not want this kind of person at all, as this type of character tends to back out--at the last minute--of traveling abroad to fight. They want the more ambitious, settled, educated, and well-seasoned foreign fighters to approach them, ready to join the ranks and contribute to the Islamic State. They now are perceived on social media as a group with a role and purpose for everyone, from builder to doctor, locksmith to engineer. The individual finds ISIL through contact with affiliate members. Many homegrown, handpicked recruits already come from families with existing ISIL members, or may know friends who have joined the fight. These contacts initiate the radicalized recruits into ISIL when they are rehearsed in the ideology, skills, and barbaric ways to implement Divine Law.

When a newly recruited Western foreign fighter broadcasts the group's ideology online, stating the Islamic State has a place for anyone seeking redemption and freedom, this sends a very powerful message from the Western world and, not as typically, from the Middle East. Through Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites, a message from ISIL may become global within a matter of moments, more collective in its reach than merely targeting the disillusioned pathology of certain impressionable individuals.

Those who follow the organization's movements via social media often look and click on any new links to footage as they appear, generating clicks from their phone, laptop, or device, but those who do not follow ISIL also tend look at the negative, promotional footage, simply out of curiosity, fear, and interest. There is a danger here. Those who watch these videos, whether fans or not, help ISIL recruit new members by generating millions of clicks, boosting the technological and psychological exposure of the extremist group to the masses. Watching a radicalized Western American fighter or British scholar talk about why he has joined ISIL encourages new foreign fighters to emerge from the shadows. Now they can see firsthand how it has changed the life of a person with whom they can relate to, someone who is just like they are.

Barbaric actions on videotape are a significant part of the recruitment process. They bring the viewer tension and anxiety on an unimaginable psycho-physiological scale, provoking the watcher into a state of fear that eventually forces that individual to take on the fight. The psychology behind shock and awe tactics is nothing new. The Bush Administration--father and son--used it in both Iraqi wars to...