Rich kids are joining up too
by digby
I am no expert on what motives these people to do what they do but it does seem clear that they are not motivated by poverty or social alienation:
The police declined to name the young men because nobody had shown up as of Sunday night to identify their bodies, but friends and relatives recognized photographs that were posted on a messaging app by the Islamic State, along with praise for the violence.
The men, all in their late teens or early 20s, were products of Bangladesh’s elite, several having attended one of the country’s top English-medium private schools as well as universities both in the country and abroad.
Among them was the son of a former city leader in the prime minister’s own Awami League, the governing party.
“That’s what we’re absolutely riveted by,” said Kazi Anis Ahmed, a writer and publisher of the daily newspaper The Dhaka Tribune. “That these kids from very affluent families with no material want can still be turned to this kind of ideology, motivated not just to the point of killing but also want to be killed.”
That children of the country’s upper classes appear to have joined militant Islamists in an act of such brutality highlighted the radicalization among the largely moderate Muslim population here, a process that has accelerated in recent years.
The attackers intended to kill foreigners, whom they shot and then hacked with sharp weapons, blaming them for hampering the progress of Islam, one of the hostages later said.
Economic determinism simply cannot explain this. People are complicated and are motivated by more than money. This extremist religious ideology is obviously appealing to these young men on some kind of sociological/psychological basis. I'm sure there are many theories out there. But I've always believed that attributing this to a purely economic motivation or even political grievance was inadequate. Humans are complicated creatures.
This article is well worth reading. What is it that's attracting these kids to what's basically a homicidal suicide cult?
Update: This is an interesting piece about ISIS strategy, which would seem to offer ideas about some sort of counter-strategy.
Update II: ISIS seems to be waging war against everyone at the moment, particularly other Muslims. The talking heads all seem to think it's because they are losing their conquered territory so they're lashing out. This is getting more and more complicated by the day. You have to wonder if there's really any strategy at all ...
Update III: A conversation between an ISIS scholar and an ISIS supporter lends credence to the idea that this is a death cult special:
