| Popis: |
By leveraging data collected in the years between 2012 and 2018, this chapter seeks to explain why Iraqis came to join and otherwise participate in ISIS. The data used in this chapter come from interviews with captured ISIS foot soldiers and leaders, as well as dozens of focus group interviews with Iraqis who lived in ISIS-occupied areas of Iraq and witnessed firsthand how Iraqis they knew, some from their own families, were drawn into ISIS. The data will show that there was no single path into ISIS for the Iraqis who participated in the organization. The data show that ISIS was a means for Iraqis who joined it to meet needs they faced at the time, be it for security, sustenance, or significance. What is clear is that most Iraqis did not join ISIS out of religious zealotry. |
