ISIS Recruitment
House Committee on Homeland Security
Background
The rampant terrorist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant is a
widespread name internationally. This group, also known as ISIS, grew out of a previous radical
Islamic organization named Al-Qaeda, which was lead by the equally infamous Osama Bin Laden.
Led by battlefield commander and tactician, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group became independent
in April 2013. It was the source of a new light for all jihadists to follow. Since then, the group has
been responsible for many if not all terror events responsible across the globe.
The Department of Homeland Security was created in order to counteract terrorism. While
terrorism still persists, it has built a strong defense against it and has made impeccable progress since
2001. Homeland Security has given approximately $31 billion dollars since 2003 in grants to help
prepare the country and defend it against terrorism. Similarly, it has forced a technological advance
in our national security. Before the attacks, airport security was quite lax and was unable to find
potential criminals or weapons/explosives. Now, all airports have been fully equipped with the latest
screening technology and are able to thoroughly check every nook and cranny of a bag and search
for explosives. The documenting process was evolved alongside the screening process, and is a
multi-step complex process that requires complete verification before being granted access to fly. All
of these precautions are viewed as tedious, but it has identified and kept thousands of people who
didn’t meet criteria out of the country, and prevented dozens of potential terrorist attacks.
With all the new screening processes put into place, biological, radiological, nuclear, and
cyber threats are not as alarming anymore. However, this seemingly airtight security can only do so
much. Regardless of the security, ISIS attacks are still prevalent, which begs the question of why.
Even with such a lockdown on security, ISIS still manages to recruit an abundance of people to fight
for their cause that are able to pass every background check that is thrown upon them. ISIS
primarily utilizes social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, to spread their
propaganda to recruit certain individuals to fight for them. Some of these individuals are perfect
examples of those who appear to be normal on the surface. Almost everyone in the world is
affiliated with a social media platform. There are those who come from troubled origins and have
developed personal issues from them. Many of these people feel inadequate and disrespected. They
had many dreams which they aspired to, but never achieved. From this, these people are left with
pent up anger towards seemingly real or perceived injustices against them, and are radicalized to
fight for the Islamic cause because of said problems. They are lured in with professionally produced
videos that tailor to the potential recruit’s ambitions. It makes an appeal to the person and gives
them the false sense of correcting the injustices by fighting for the cause.
The most prominent form of recruitment right now is considered to be the online internet
recruitment, as it makes somewhat functional members of society to defect and fight for ISIS. There
are several other forms of recruitment, but none rival the danger that internet recruitment poses.
While many join the cause because they are paid mercenaries, some join as defectors from other
organizations like the Syrian army, simply because of the religious motivation and sense of adventure
that is constantly given from the group. Because of this, the cause is transformed into something
that it is not. For those that struggle with their own life, the simplistic good vs. evil ideal that is
provided by ISIS makes the decision easy for most. This clear and defined vision fills the void in
their life and is responsible for the disconnect that some fighters were rumored to have with their
families before a tragedy occurred. For this sole reason, ISIS is capable of inflicting wounds on even
the strongest of countries. Similarly, since the displacement of millions of refugees in the
Middle-East, their pool of options has only increased. This allows them to use that same social
media propaganda to convince displaced refugees to fight for them and sending them through
immigration channels to deal severe damage to countries.
History
Terrorism has existed in this world for decades, but not much attention was ever given to it.
This ignorance quickly changed on September 11, 2001, when the entirety of America went through
a nightmare and was forced to recognize the threat of terrorism. The series of attacks woke up the
U.S. and gave the citizens a common enemy to band against. However, the group responsible for
this terrorism predates the 9/11 attack. It stems from a group known as Al-Qaeda. Ever since the
formation of Al-Qaeda in 1989 by Osama bin Laden, the U.S. has constantly been at odds with the
values of the Muslim extremists. In the eyes of radical Islam, the U.S. was widely regarded as an
“infidel”, and as a result, a jihad, or holy war, was declared against the West as a whole. This
prompted a full-out invasion of Afghanistan in order to seek out the ones responsible for the grief
of America. This war in Afghanistan raged on for 13 years from 2001 to 2014, and was dubbed the
“war on terror”. When Osama Bin Laden, the ringleader of Al-Qaeda, was killed, the problem at
hand was thought to be solved. Instead, Al-Qaeda replaced Bin Laden with a new leader, and to the
U.S’ dismay, a new extremist group emerged out of the distraught Al-Qaeda that is now known as
ISIS. Although the group was intended to serve as a front against the Soviet Union during the
Afghan War, it continued to thrive even after the war was considered to be over. It merged with a
number of other militant Islamist organizations and established training camps for thousands of
Muslims who wanted to fight for their religion. These camps trained the participants to be proficient
with paramilitary procedures, and produced many of those who are responsible for terrorist attacks,
including the 19 who were involved with the 9/11 attacks.
Recent Developments
Currently, there are actions being taken against ISIS’ mass propaganda, but no real solution
has been found to prevent their recruitment of individuals in our nation. The Department of
Homeland Security’s only line of defense to find those is a terrorist watchlist that several hundreds
of people are put on in order to be investigated for any potential criminal activities that may pin
them as a terrorist. This, and instant banning of alleged terrorist social media accounts are the
primary methods that are being utilized in America. Nevertheless, attacks still continue to happen
across the globe.
The most prominent attack that took place in America was the Orlando nightclub shooting
that took place on June 12, 2016. This was the biggest terrorist attack since the September 11
attacks, but unlike those attacks, this attack was the work of one man: Omar Mateen. Twenty-nine
year old Omar Mateen was armed with an assault rifle and a pistol that were legally bought from gun
stores and walked into the Pulse nightclub, a gay club located near the residence of Mateen. At the
end of this tragedy, 49 were determined to be dead, and 53 were injured. The initial thought was that
Mateen was a homophobe who managed to get his hands on weapons. This thought quickly
dissipated as sources confirmed that Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS before the shooting
occurred. Asides from a short stint on the terror watch list, Mateen appeared to be a normal citizen..
Upon closer investigation, Mateen was said to have quite a troubled past and was described
as “always agitated and angry”. The characteristics of Mateen coincide with the theory of how ISIS
internet recruitment works. Unfortunately, this is just purely coincidental, as the CIA confirmed that
Mateen had no direct ties to ISIS. Mateen appears to have supported radical Islamic regimes,
specifically ISIS, as he just declared himself as part of that regime. However, this does not deny nor
confirm the theory of internet recruitment. As previously highlighted, Mateen was a functional
citizen in society. He underwent a thorough investigation to determine whether or not he had
terrorist affiliations, but the investigation had no major results, leading him to be taken off the watch
list.
In another terrorist attack in San Bernardino which left 14 dead and 22 critically injured, the
perpetrators, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik shared a few similarities with Mateen. Farook
was a legally born U.S. citizen who brought his wife, Malik, over on a fianc​é visa. In order to do so,
Malik had to go through a series of extensive background checks and both had to prove that they
met each other 2 years prior to the application of the visa. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services stated that nothing abnormal was found via the checks. Because of this, Malik was allowed
to come to the states and months later, the attack occurred. Unlike Omar Mateen, the wife of
Farook, Malik, was believed to have been radicalized within a small group of friends while she was in
Pakistan. Many failsafes are put in place to make sure these sorts of terrorist attacks are blocked,
and while the majority of them are prevented, some still unfortunately occur.
Omar Mateen may have suffered from the effects of ISIS internet radicalization, but
Tashfeen Malik was radicalized because of her surrounding environment, and in turn was suspected
to be the reason behind why her husband converted to the Islamic regime. While Omar Mateen’s
case could have been prevented, Malik had a clean slate in the unsuspecting eyes of our government.
Cases such as Malik’s are unexpected but do occur due to some sort of self-radicalization through
ISIS propaganda, whether it be through social media or just straight from one of their recruiters.
Another example of this self radicalization is the Boston Marathon Bombing. On April 15th, 2013,
the Tsarnaev brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan, set off two pressure cookers bombs that killed 3
and injured 264 others. This stopped the historic race and caused extreme damage to surrounding
buildings. Investigations found out that Dzhokhar was radicalized by his older brother and that both
were attempting to seek the highest level of Jannah, the Islamic paradise that Muslims go to after
death. There are a variety of ways one can ascend the levels of heaven, but a shortcut to the highest
level is by becoming a martyr. These brothers who were both normal people that had declining lives,
were desperate for something to go right in their lives, and turned towards the religious motivation
that ISIS provides. As a result, they were radicalized and dedicated themselves to becoming martyrs.
Months later after their radicalization, they left a deep wound in the city of Boston that is still
hurting as of now.
Democratic Point of View
While both parties share the common belief that terrorism needs to be stopped, each party
has its own ideal way of putting an end to the terror. Democrats strongly feel that the war on terror
needs to lie between the intelligence agencies and less on the warfront. They believe that the military
should not be used in many situations, and dislike the overuse of military as it may lead to animosity
between countries. In regards to preventing further recruitment, Democratic presidential nominee,
Hillary Clinton, has stated that she will stop terrorism by ending the radicalization online, through
shutting down any ISIS-inspired Facebook and Twitter profiles as well as completing removing any
terrorist content. She plans to do by creating stronger relationships between security companies and
the government, in order to monitor even the dark web, an encrypted network that completely
masks user identity. This allows for potential recruits to be radicalized completely without detection
by the government. On the surface though, Clinton aims to create stricter background checks for
those who are attempting to enter U.S. borders from countries that are known to be terrorist
hotbeds.
Republican Point of View
Unlike the Democratic party, the majority of the Republican party agreed with President
Bush’s decision to put boots on the ground in Afghanistan years ago. In fact, two-thirds of the
Republican party believe using overwhelming force is the best way to combat terrorism as a whole.
This means utilizing wiretaps and even the private sector to take out potential terrorists within our
borders Unsurprisingly, Republicans also viewed Obama’s response to terrorism and brooding
conflicts between other nations as a sign of weakness. They are firmly rooted in the belief of using
force to crush terrorism. It is seen as the most efficient and sometimes the only way. Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump supports this stance, as his personal view is to continuously
bomb ISIS and cut their access from all resources. Trump has also voiced his opinion on attacking
oil reservoirs, as it is the source of wealth for the terrorist group. As expected, the Democrat
perspective of utilizing diplomacy and turning to the intelligence agencies is detested amongst
Republicans. However, the Republican approach requires a strong funding of the Defense
committee, of which Obama did just the opposite.
Conclusion
The “war on terror” is still continuing as of now. The only difference between this war and
the one that took place after the 9/11 attacks is that the targets have changed. There are no
indications of stopping from either side. In fact, both sides have continuously evolved their offense
and defense. ISIS is progressively getting more and more clever, and are almost, if not already caught
up to current technology. However, the U.S. is just as prepared. The major focus for a decade was
counterterrorism; access to the U.S. requires extensive background checks and profiling to be
completed, and even after that, there are many more lines of failsafes. Government agencies have
been on alert since September 11th, 2001, and have kept constant watch over the nation for any
signs of recruitment. Any found terrorist content is immediately wiped on social media, and secret
investigations are being conducted daily.
Both the Republican Party and Democratic views seemed to have made a compromise on
this issue. While our nation has extreme focus on prevention of ISIS recruitment and attacks, the
fight has also been taken to ISIS with the deployment of the U.S. army. Several drone strikes have
also been issued to take out key people within the group. Although the deployment is not as
powerful as many Republicans would like, it is enough to provide a deterrent for further ISIS
recruitment and action.
Questions to Consider
1. What precautions should be taken in order to make social media safer for all those who use
it?
2. Should social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have some sort of
limits applied onto them for general usage?
a. What would be the benefits/cons of doing so?
3. Should the choice of blocking all social media be considered as a measure to stop terrorism?
4. How can federal agencies determine terrorist affiliations without violating basic
constitutional rights of a citizen?
Sources for Additional Research
1. Boston Marathon Bombing
a. http://www.history.com/topics/boston-marathon-bombings
2. Paris Attacks
a. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34832512
b. www.cnn.com/2015/11/19/europe/paris-attacks-at-a-glance/
3. ISIS Social Media Effect
a. http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/techtank/posts/2015/11/19-isis-social-media-po
wer-lesaca
4. News of ISIS Recruitment
a. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/isis-recruitment/
5. History of ISIS
a. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/timeline-rise-and-spread-the-islamic-state
b. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24179084