Studying the obvious

The authors of Talking to Foreign Fighters: Insights into the Motivations for Hijrah to Syria and Iraq — University of Waterloo sociologist Lorne L. Dawson, and George Washington University Program on Extremism Fellow Amaranth Amarasingam — published their findings after numerous conversations with 20 foreign fighters, mostly from the West. None of the jihadists cited socioeconomic grievances or other forms of disenfranchisement as a major role in their decisions to wage jihad abroad. Rather, the conversations largely revolved around their Islamist beliefs.

Religion dominated the discussions so much, the report said, that “it seems implausible to suggest that religiosity (i.e. a sincere religious commitment, no matter how ill informed or unorthodox) is not a primary motivator for their actions. Religion provides the dominant frame these foreign fighters use to interpret almost every aspect of their lives…”

No shit.

Ideology and indoctrination clearly plays a major role in their radicalization. Many individuals around the world face social, economic and psychological issues, but do not necessarily become terrorists.

The Chinese and the Indians combined are just over 35% of the world population. They have literal hundreds of millions of poor who face their fates without flying planes into buildings, detonating bombs on subways, gunning down theatre patrons or driving over dozens with trucks.

Why? Because they don't follow the evil death cult of Islam.