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How ISIS draws Americans into its ranks

How ISIS draws Americans into its ranks


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WEST POINT — The United States is trying to learn from its dealings with terrorism in the past, but the director of research at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy says the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria poses a different type of threat.

Dr. Daniel Milton says the U.S. must admit that ISIS is a popular institution for new recruits, including Americans.

“There is a really powerful organization out there that is making substantial gains almost up until recently without any sort of interruption,” he says.

Milton also told Utah’s Morning News that home-grown recruits have problems with America’s foreign policy. He calls ISIS unique in its level of violence and its thirst for large swaths of territory, from “Spain to China” as the group put it.

Milton adds that America’s latest challenge with ISIS must go beyond the use of brute force.

“To really roll this group back and undercut its motivations, we have to have a political solution in the region, which is not something that we can necessarily bring about on our own,” he said.

He praises the U.S. for being proactive in rooting out terrorism around the world. Milton considered it “reactionary” before the attacks of September 11, 2001.

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Peter Samore

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