ISIS targeting Western recruits with heroic tales

WASHINGTON: Beyond the slick, Hollywood-style cinematics, the Islamic State is targeting Western recruits with videos suggesting they, too, can be heroes like Bruce Willis' character in "Die Hard."

That's the conclusion of The Chicago Project on Security and Threats, which analyzed some 1,400 videos released by IS between 2013 and 2016. Researchers who watched and catalogued them all said there is more to the recruitment effort than just sophisticated videography, and it's not necessarily all about Islam, reports The Times of India.

Instead, Robert Pape, who directs the security center, said the extremist group is targeting Westerners — especially recent Muslim converts — with videos that follow, nearly step-by-step, a screenwriter's standard blueprint for heroic storytelling. "It's the heroic screenplay journey, the same thing that's in Wonder Woman, where you have someone who is learning his or her own powers through the course of their reluctant journey to be hero," Pape said. The project at the University of Chicago separately has assembled a database of people who have been indicted in the United States for activities related to IS.

 

ISIS targeting Western recruits with heroic tales

WASHINGTON: Beyond the slick, Hollywood-style cinematics, the Islamic State is targeting Western recruits with videos suggesting they, too, can be heroes like Bruce Willis character in Die Hard. Thats the conclusion of The Chicago Project on Security and Threats, which analyzed some 1,400 videos released by IS between 2013 and 2016. Researchers who watched and catalogued them all said there is more to the recruitment effort than just sophisticated videography, and its not necessarily all about Islam, reports The Times of India. Instead, Robert Pape, who directs the security center, said the extremist group is targeting Westerners especially recent Muslim converts with videos that follow, nearly step-by-step, a screenwriters standard blueprint for heroic storytelling. Its the heroic screenplay journey, the same thing thats in Wonder Woman, where you have someone who is learning his or her own powers through the course of their reluctant journey to be hero, Pape said. The project at the University of Chicago separately has assembled a database of people who have been indicted in the United States for activities related to IS.