Anne Speckhard
Anne Speckhard, Ph.D., is Director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) and served for over 2 decades as Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine and also served as an Affiliate in the Center for Security Studies, Georgetown University.
She has interviewed over 800 terrorists, violent extremists, their family members and supporters around the world, including in Western Europe, the Balkans, Central Asia, the Former Soviet Union and the Middle East. Over the past five years, she has conducted in-depth psychological interviews with 273 ISIS defectors, returnees and prisoners, as well as 16 al Shabaab cadres (as well as family members and ideologues,) studying their trajectories into and out of terrorism, and their experiences inside ISIS and al Shabaab.
Speckhard developed the ICSVE Breaking the ISIS Brand Counter Narrative Project from these interviews, which includes over 250 short counter narrative videos that mimic ISIS recruitment videos but contain actual terrorists strongly denouncing ISIS as un-Islamic, corrupt and brutal. These videos have been utilized in over 200 Facebook and Instagram campaigns globally. Beginning in 2020, she launched the ICSVE Escape Hate Counter Narrative Project, interviewing dozens of white supremacists and members of hate groups, developing counternarratives from their interviews, and creating anti-recruitment videos. She has also conducted rare interviews with five Antifa activists (Antifa protestors rarely grant interviews.)
Dr. Speckhard is also an expert in rehabilitation and repatriation of terrorists and their families. In 2007, she designed the psychological and Islamic aspects of the Detainee Rehabilitation Program in Iraq to be applied to 20,000+ detainees and 800 juveniles. This work led to consulting with foreign governments on issues of terrorist prevention, interventions and repatriation; and the rehabilitation and reintegration of ISIS foreign fighters, wives and children. She has worked with NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UN Women, United Nations Countering Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED), United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC), the EU Commission and EU Parliament, and to the U.S. Senate & House, Departments of State, Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, Health & Human Services, and the FBI.
Today Dr. Speckhard actively trains key stakeholders in law enforcement, intelligence, elite hostage negotiation teams, educators, and other professionals in countering violent extremism, locally and internationally. Her focus is on the psychology of terrorism, the effective use of counter-narrative messaging materials produced by ICSVE, as well as studying the use of children as violent actors by groups such as ISIS. Her consultations and trainings include U.S., Canadian, German, British, Dutch, Austrian, Swiss, Belgian, Danish, Iraqi, Syrian, Jordanian and Thai national police and security officials, among others.
Dr. Speckhard is the author of five books: Homegrown Hate, Talking to Terrorists, Bride of ISIS, Undercover Jihadi, and ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate. She has appeared on CNN, BBC, NPR, Fox News, MSNBC, CTV, CBC, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, London Times, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, Daily Beast and more. She regularly writes a column for Homeland Security Today. Her research has been published in Global Security: Health, Science and Policy, Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, Journal of African Security, Journal of Strategic Security, the Journal of Human Security, Bidhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, Journal for Deradicalization, Perspectives on Terrorism and the International Studies Journal. Her academic publications are found at https://georgetown.academia.edu/AnneSpeckhard and www.icsve.org.
ICSVE’s Breaking the ISIS Brand and Escape Hate Counternarrative videos and training seminars can be watched on ICSVE’s YouTube channel.
ICSVE’s research has been funded by the EU Commission; U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice; UN Women; and the Embassy of Qatar.
Follow @AnneSpeckhard
Address: Washington, D.C., United States
She has interviewed over 800 terrorists, violent extremists, their family members and supporters around the world, including in Western Europe, the Balkans, Central Asia, the Former Soviet Union and the Middle East. Over the past five years, she has conducted in-depth psychological interviews with 273 ISIS defectors, returnees and prisoners, as well as 16 al Shabaab cadres (as well as family members and ideologues,) studying their trajectories into and out of terrorism, and their experiences inside ISIS and al Shabaab.
Speckhard developed the ICSVE Breaking the ISIS Brand Counter Narrative Project from these interviews, which includes over 250 short counter narrative videos that mimic ISIS recruitment videos but contain actual terrorists strongly denouncing ISIS as un-Islamic, corrupt and brutal. These videos have been utilized in over 200 Facebook and Instagram campaigns globally. Beginning in 2020, she launched the ICSVE Escape Hate Counter Narrative Project, interviewing dozens of white supremacists and members of hate groups, developing counternarratives from their interviews, and creating anti-recruitment videos. She has also conducted rare interviews with five Antifa activists (Antifa protestors rarely grant interviews.)
Dr. Speckhard is also an expert in rehabilitation and repatriation of terrorists and their families. In 2007, she designed the psychological and Islamic aspects of the Detainee Rehabilitation Program in Iraq to be applied to 20,000+ detainees and 800 juveniles. This work led to consulting with foreign governments on issues of terrorist prevention, interventions and repatriation; and the rehabilitation and reintegration of ISIS foreign fighters, wives and children. She has worked with NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UN Women, United Nations Countering Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED), United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC), the EU Commission and EU Parliament, and to the U.S. Senate & House, Departments of State, Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, Health & Human Services, and the FBI.
Today Dr. Speckhard actively trains key stakeholders in law enforcement, intelligence, elite hostage negotiation teams, educators, and other professionals in countering violent extremism, locally and internationally. Her focus is on the psychology of terrorism, the effective use of counter-narrative messaging materials produced by ICSVE, as well as studying the use of children as violent actors by groups such as ISIS. Her consultations and trainings include U.S., Canadian, German, British, Dutch, Austrian, Swiss, Belgian, Danish, Iraqi, Syrian, Jordanian and Thai national police and security officials, among others.
Dr. Speckhard is the author of five books: Homegrown Hate, Talking to Terrorists, Bride of ISIS, Undercover Jihadi, and ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate. She has appeared on CNN, BBC, NPR, Fox News, MSNBC, CTV, CBC, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, London Times, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, Daily Beast and more. She regularly writes a column for Homeland Security Today. Her research has been published in Global Security: Health, Science and Policy, Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, Journal of African Security, Journal of Strategic Security, the Journal of Human Security, Bidhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, Journal for Deradicalization, Perspectives on Terrorism and the International Studies Journal. Her academic publications are found at https://georgetown.academia.edu/AnneSpeckhard and www.icsve.org.
ICSVE’s Breaking the ISIS Brand and Escape Hate Counternarrative videos and training seminars can be watched on ICSVE’s YouTube channel.
ICSVE’s research has been funded by the EU Commission; U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice; UN Women; and the Embassy of Qatar.
Follow @AnneSpeckhard
Address: Washington, D.C., United States
less
InterestsView All (19)
Uploads
Papers by Anne Speckhard
The International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) is an internationally recognized and respected think tank for their research regarding the processes of radicalization, disengagement, deradicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration; prevention and intervention strategies; counter narrative videos and first-person video recorded interviews of over 800 terrorists and violent extremists. In 2022, ICSVE was awarded a US Department of Homeland Security Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant (Grant No: EMW-2022-GR-00076) to provide a comprehensive, evidence-based series of virtual and in-person multi-media trainings and follow-up briefs addressing law enforcement responses to violent extremism. The goal was for the trainings to be delivered to law enforcement and security professionals across the country and in the Washington, D.C. area to educate and prepare them for a new era of violent extremist radicalization and recruitment.
Creative and need-based approaches using multimedia presentations were developed by ICSVE based on actual case studies and research interviews to help police understand the psychosocial forces involved in radicalization to violent extremism, to prevent contributing to radicalization and to analyze psychosocial and policing perspectives on actual case studies of violent extremist events. The trainings took a whole-of-society view, taking into consideration systemic and developmental factors that make individuals highly vulnerable to recruitment, addressed the rise in online indoctrination and recruitment and the obstacles to detection for police and the factors which make exiting difficult for those already in such groups.
The project had two main objectives. The first objective was to provide American law enforcement with training and information that can be used to prevent violent extremist infiltration in their communities immediately and the second to provide proof of concept for the future development of a multimedia curriculum which can be disseminated to police and sheriff’s departments across the country and internationally as a virtual and perhaps even an asynchronous continuing education and training program.
Activities included developing six multi-media training modules delivered for law enforcement personnel followed by dissemination of related summary notes and research articles to all participants. Pre and post tests were administered, and the results were analyzed to verify that learning objectives were met. Likewise, the researchers collected participants' reviews of the materials, trainers, and suggestions for future trainings. Additionally, 5-10 law enforcement participants from each training group were involved in short interviews to review the trainings, learn what was most useful for police, how to increase their accessibility and suggestions for improvements.
Both Camps al Hol and al Roj are known for violence, even murders, carried out by ISIS die-hard enforcers who take their ire out on those who have walked away from the group. Last year women dedicated to ISIS were even found to be studding out teen boys to impregnate the ISIS die-hards, so they can increase the number of fighters for the group in preparation for their resurgence in the region.
In the aftermath of IS Moscow attack, an IS sympathizer on the encrypted communication platform Rocket Chat circulated an AI-generated video news bulletin on the attack as part of an escalating anti-Russian propaganda campaign. In the video, realistic looking AI-generated characters in military fatigues emulating real news broadcasters read news dispatch about the attack in Arabic sourced from official Islamic State mouthpieces like al-Naba and Amaq news agency. With the AI generated humanoid broadcaster speaking and IS logo and news tickers moving along the bottom of the screen interspersed with footage showing IS fighters executing attacks, the broadcasting style closely emulated the popular television networks of Al Jazeera and CNN. Other AI-generated video news broadcasts of IS's operations in the Middle East and Africa were subsequently produced in a similar style, featuring a character in traditional Islamic outfit as part of what the IS supporter branded as the "News Harvest" program. In these cases, text-to-speech AI to convert written information into speech and audio with a human accent, and video generators were used producing these cutting-edge propaganda videos.
Subsequently, among fervent IS adherents, contentious discussions emerged regarding the theological ramifications of employing AI in their media production under Islamic law. Some contended that the portrayal of animated characters with discernible facial features in videos was haram (sin) in Islam, prompting the producer to obscure the speakers' visages in subsequent releases. Despite these modifications, other radical supporters urged the creator to eschew using "full-body animated characters" altogether, suggesting that the IS flag would be a more suitable background for future videos. Conversely, others advocated for launching analogous news programs in English and other languages to enhance engagement with Western Muslim audiences. Following this trend, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) and its supporter communities have now weaponized generative AI to produce similar interactive AI news reports, albeit with notable differences in visual style and narration, to amplify their propaganda messaging. This study investigates the gradual incorporation of AI into pro-ISKP supporters’ media propaganda through these broadcasts as well as the reactions of other supporters to these developments.
The International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) is an internationally recognized and respected think tank for their research regarding the processes of radicalization, disengagement, deradicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration; prevention and intervention strategies; counter narrative videos and first-person video recorded interviews of over 800 terrorists and violent extremists. In 2022, ICSVE was awarded a US Department of Homeland Security Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant (Grant No: EMW-2022-GR-00076) to provide a comprehensive, evidence-based series of virtual and in-person multi-media trainings and follow-up briefs addressing law enforcement responses to violent extremism. The goal was for the trainings to be delivered to law enforcement and security professionals across the country and in the Washington, D.C. area to educate and prepare them for a new era of violent extremist radicalization and recruitment.
Creative and need-based approaches using multimedia presentations were developed by ICSVE based on actual case studies and research interviews to help police understand the psychosocial forces involved in radicalization to violent extremism, to prevent contributing to radicalization and to analyze psychosocial and policing perspectives on actual case studies of violent extremist events. The trainings took a whole-of-society view, taking into consideration systemic and developmental factors that make individuals highly vulnerable to recruitment, addressed the rise in online indoctrination and recruitment and the obstacles to detection for police and the factors which make exiting difficult for those already in such groups.
The project had two main objectives. The first objective was to provide American law enforcement with training and information that can be used to prevent violent extremist infiltration in their communities immediately and the second to provide proof of concept for the future development of a multimedia curriculum which can be disseminated to police and sheriff’s departments across the country and internationally as a virtual and perhaps even an asynchronous continuing education and training program.
Activities included developing six multi-media training modules delivered for law enforcement personnel followed by dissemination of related summary notes and research articles to all participants. Pre and post tests were administered, and the results were analyzed to verify that learning objectives were met. Likewise, the researchers collected participants' reviews of the materials, trainers, and suggestions for future trainings. Additionally, 5-10 law enforcement participants from each training group were involved in short interviews to review the trainings, learn what was most useful for police, how to increase their accessibility and suggestions for improvements.
Both Camps al Hol and al Roj are known for violence, even murders, carried out by ISIS die-hard enforcers who take their ire out on those who have walked away from the group. Last year women dedicated to ISIS were even found to be studding out teen boys to impregnate the ISIS die-hards, so they can increase the number of fighters for the group in preparation for their resurgence in the region.
In the aftermath of IS Moscow attack, an IS sympathizer on the encrypted communication platform Rocket Chat circulated an AI-generated video news bulletin on the attack as part of an escalating anti-Russian propaganda campaign. In the video, realistic looking AI-generated characters in military fatigues emulating real news broadcasters read news dispatch about the attack in Arabic sourced from official Islamic State mouthpieces like al-Naba and Amaq news agency. With the AI generated humanoid broadcaster speaking and IS logo and news tickers moving along the bottom of the screen interspersed with footage showing IS fighters executing attacks, the broadcasting style closely emulated the popular television networks of Al Jazeera and CNN. Other AI-generated video news broadcasts of IS's operations in the Middle East and Africa were subsequently produced in a similar style, featuring a character in traditional Islamic outfit as part of what the IS supporter branded as the "News Harvest" program. In these cases, text-to-speech AI to convert written information into speech and audio with a human accent, and video generators were used producing these cutting-edge propaganda videos.
Subsequently, among fervent IS adherents, contentious discussions emerged regarding the theological ramifications of employing AI in their media production under Islamic law. Some contended that the portrayal of animated characters with discernible facial features in videos was haram (sin) in Islam, prompting the producer to obscure the speakers' visages in subsequent releases. Despite these modifications, other radical supporters urged the creator to eschew using "full-body animated characters" altogether, suggesting that the IS flag would be a more suitable background for future videos. Conversely, others advocated for launching analogous news programs in English and other languages to enhance engagement with Western Muslim audiences. Following this trend, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) and its supporter communities have now weaponized generative AI to produce similar interactive AI news reports, albeit with notable differences in visual style and narration, to amplify their propaganda messaging. This study investigates the gradual incorporation of AI into pro-ISKP supporters’ media propaganda through these broadcasts as well as the reactions of other supporters to these developments.
Turkey lacks a well-trained and experienced police force to counter the growing threat from terrorist attacks in the near future.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/750109/Holiday-warning-Turkey-terror-President-Erdogan-Isis-islamic-state-dinner
Sei es in Südamerika, wo die Söhne des Drogenbarons „El Chapo“ offen mit ihren vergoldeten Waffen, Frauen und Autos angeben, den USA, die den Gangsta-Rap ursprünglich hervorgebracht haben, oder Europa, wo ihn Menschen wie Denis Cuspert eifrig rezipieren: Immer geht es um Geld, Autos, Frauen sowie Waffen und Gewalt. Alles Dinge, die der IS seinen Anhängern dezidiert bietet. Dies lässt sich besonders deutlich an den Kommentaren von verschiedenen IS-Aussteigern ablesen, die Anne Speckhard und Ahmet S. Yayla in der Türkei aufgezeichnet haben.
IS-Anschluss für geregeltes Sex-Leben
Grundsätzlich ist es so, dass Daesh seine Kämpfer mit Bargeld ausstattet: 200 Dollar scheinen die reguläre Bezahlung pro Monat zu sein, womit man aktuell im Syrien wohl zu den Gutverdienenden zählt, zusätzlich gibt es Boni für erfolgreich abgeschlossene Missionen. Ein zusätzlicher Faktor ist, dass man Geschäfte jedweder Art wohl nur machen darf, wenn man zum IS dazu gehört. Folglich ist es kein Wunder, dass sich vor Ort viele dem IS anschließen, meist aber nicht, um reich zu werden, sondern um ein geregeltes Sexleben zu haben, also zu heiraten. Damit macht Daesh gezielt Werbung:
„The IS guys speak with the youth about what they are doing to build an Islamic state. They tell them, ‚If you want to work we can help you and give you money. You can be married. We are the true Islam. We guarantee you. We are brothers, no problem.'"
Dies zieht wohl viele arme Menschen aus islamischen Ländern wie der Türkei oder Tunesien an. Dem Zufall wird nichts überlassen: Eigene Eheanbahnungsinstitute des IS sind dafür zuständig, Frauen und Männer zu vermitteln. Diese Institute haben auch den Vorteil, dass so der grundsätzliche Frauenmangel optimal verwaltet werden kann. Frauen sind als Grund zum IS zu gehen so wichtig, dass der IS bemüht ist, Witwen schnell wieder für eine neue Ehe verfügbar zu machen. Mehr als 40 Tage sollte es bis zur Wiederverheiratung nicht dauern.
Anne Speckhard über IS-Rückkehrer, die Terroranschläge für gerechtfertigt halten, Frauen, die andere Frauen quälen – und warum sie sich Sorgen um die USA macht.
06.08.2016 | 18:16 | von Eva Winroither (Die Presse)
Nach den ersten Interviews musste Ihr Kollege Ahmet Yayla in die USA fliehen, weil der IS auf Ihre Arbeit aufmerksam wurde. Gibt es seit der Veröffentlichung des Buchs und der ersten Videos irgendwelche Reaktionen?
Anne Speckhard: Bis jetzt noch nicht. Aber im Moment sind nur zwei Videos online und noch nicht 50. Aber sie sehen sich das vermutlich an. Osama bin Laden hatte Anti-Terrorismus-Bücher meiner Kollegen im Regal. Meine Bücher waren leider nicht dabei (lacht).
http://diepresse.com/home/panorama/welt/5064551/Am-Anfang-denken-alle-der-IS-sei-gut
Sie wollten das – in ihren Augen – Richtige tun, doch dann sahen sie Folter, Mord und Vergewaltigung.In Videos erzählen IS-Aussteiger, wie das Leben in Syrien wirklich ist.
06.08.2016 | 18:16 | von Eva Winroither (Die Presse)
Ein Studio irgendwo im Süden der Türkei Ende 2015. Weiße Wände, eine Videokamera, zwei Männer. Hier werden Ahmet Yayla, Universitätsprofessor und ehemaliger Polizeichef von Şanliurfa, einer türkischen Stadt an der Grenze zu Syrien, sein Assistent Murat und Anne Speckhard, außerordentliche Professorin an der renommierten Georgetown University in den USA, Interviews durchführen. Speckhard ist nur via Skype zugeschaltet. Das Sicherheitsrisiko ist zu groß. Die beiden Professoren interviewen ehemalige IS-Anhänger. Menschen, die sich der Terrororganisation des sogenannten Islamischen Staats (IS) angeschlossen haben, bis das eine oder andere Erlebnis sie dazu brachte, sich abzuwenden.
Online-Gegenoffensive. Da gibt es Abu Walid, der erzählt, wie IS-Anhänger Unschuldige vergewaltigen und ermorden – ohne Konsequenzen. Da gibt es Ibn Ahmed, der erzählt, wie in einem Gefängnis 475 Frauen als Sexsklavinnen für ausländische Jihadisten gehalten werden. Da gibt es Ibn Omar, der als 13-Jähriger zum Selbstmordattentäter ausgebildet werden sollte. Oder einen belgischen Rückkehrer, dem Speckhard nicht glaubt, dass er dem IS abgeschworen hat. Sie alle sahen Mord, Folter, Vergewaltigung und vor allem Willkür. „Das ist kein Islamischer Staat. Sie sind Lügner“, sind Sätze, die immer wieder von ihnen zu hören sind. Was der IS in den Propagandavideos verbreite, stimme nicht. Sie müssen es wissen, sie waren dort.
Yayla und Speckhard sehen in ihren Erlebnissen eine Waffe im Kampf gegen den IS. Die Videos, die sie aufgenommen haben, werden nun von den beiden geschnitten und in den Social-Media-Kanälen der Terrororganisation verteilt. Sie sollen den Jugendlichen, die mit dem IS liebäugeln, zeigen, wie Realität und Propaganda voneinander abweichen. Dafür werden die Videos so präpariert, dass sie am Anfang wie IS-Propaganda-Filme aussehen, erst danach erscheinen die Rückkehrervideos auf dem Schirm.
Ob die Strategie funktionieren wird, hängt von der Anzahl der Videos ab, die verbreitet werden können. Die ersten Interviews haben die beiden in einem Buch (siehe Kasten) zusammengefasst. Weitere Interviews wurden in der Zwischenzeit gemacht. Ihre Arbeit ist nicht ungefährlich, Yayla musste inzwischen in die USA fliehen, weil der IS auf ihn aufmerksam geworden war. Trotzdem suchen beide weiter nach Rückkehrern. Deren Botschaften erklären keine geopolitischen Probleme, aber sie werfen ein persönliches Licht auf einen dunklen Fleck Zeitgeschichte. Sie zeigen, wie eine der größten Terrororganisationen der Welt wirklich ist.
Buch
Die ersten zwölf Interviews sind am 1. Juli in einem Buch veröffentlicht worden. „Isis Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate“, Englisch, 372 Seiten, Verlag: Advances Press
www.icsve.org
http://diepresse.com/home/panorama/welt/5064539/Wenn-ISAussteiger-berichten_Sie-sind-Lugner
Stay united, says Dr Anne Speckhard from Georgetown University and the Director of the International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism. Support your Muslim neighbours and communities, don’t malign them. “Remember it’s their kids who are being targeted by ISIS social media and they need to feel part of society to not resonate to those hateful messages coming across the airwaves.”
“We will see frustrated young men, may be sinners in Islamic manner, who get affected by ISIS propaganda and think of their way out from the psychological atmosphere they are in is only through terrorist attacks,” Professor Ahmet Yayla from Harran University in Turkey says. He is a former anti-terrorism chief in the Turkish National Police and is the deputy director at the International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism.
“This is how ISIS convinces them. You are a sinner. Carry out this attack and clean your soul. The makes the law enforcement job extremely difficult as many indicators of radicalisation are not seen here which would be a tip for the law enforcement or for the people around the attacker. Therefore the attack can come from anyone in any form. It is impossible to protect a civil society in these circumstances,” Professor Yayla says.
He and Dr Anne Speckhard co-authored a recent book, interviewing 38 defectors from the IS. Several of these had pasts which were not clean and they had become IS members to cleanse themselves, commit an act of martyrdom and thus go to Heaven.
The point of terrorism is to instil fear in communities. Recent polls in Australia show that many people are in fear of falling victim to a terrorist attack. Images like the little pink doll make us fearful. Now, more than ever, it is incumbent on our political leaders to stop the fear-mongering, temper the rhetoric and help our law enforcers get on with the job of protecting us.
The findings of this research — conducted in collaboration with NATO and Pentagon counter-terrorism consultant, Professor Anne Speckhard of Georgetown University, a specialist in the psycho-social factors in radicalisation — have been published in their book released in July, ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate, as well as in their recent paper in the peer-reviewed Perspectives on Terrorism journal.
They draw on these interviews to explain that direct Turkish sponsorship of ISIS is an open secret within the terror network:
“Despite Erdogan’s claims that he is fighting ISIS, evidence indicates that he has been, and continues to be, deeply complicit in allowing ISIS to transport, not just recruits via Turkey, but also weapons and supplies. These chilling facts have been confirmed over and again during our ISIS defector interviews. A former emir told us that ISIS had been able to construct thousands of propane tank bombs from supplies they brought in through Turkey.”
Security Solutions Magazine is a leading security resource for business, government and the security industry. Through Security Solutions, readers enjoy access to information from leading experts on issues such as terrorism, operational security matters, technological developments, risk management and IT security as well as the latest news on security events.
Security Solutions Magazine is a publication from Interactive Media Solutions.
SSM is also available through Apple’s Newsstand for iPad – click here to download the application and a complimentary free issue.
“The Westerners joining ISIS usually go because they believe in the caliphate. They’re ideologically driven. When they arrive, they become highly privileged within ISIS, and they act with impunity, and the locals don’t like them,” said Anne Speckhard.
Speckhard teaches psychology at Georgetown University and is author of several books on terrorism. She has interviewed more than 500 terror suspects from many countries and has worked with the US officials on de-radicalisation programmes in Iraq.
More recently, she and Ahmet Yayla, Turkish former chief of counterterrorism who resides in the United States, have been interviewing Syrian ISIS defectors hiding in Turkey.
An estimated two-thirds of jihadists fighting for ISIS in Syria are foreign. This figure includes Arab nationals and other non-Westerners in addition to fighters from Europe and North America. A majority of the sheikhs who conduct sharia training as well as emirs — provincial leaders who earn their positions after demonstrating unwavering loyalty to ISIS — are foreign.
Even among the women’s ranks in the hisbah (vice) police, foreigners are visible and often hold top positions. They are in charge of implementing the ISIS interpretation of sharia, even when it undermines the local economy, such as forcing women who traditionally farm to remain indoors or wear a full niqab, which makes their work difficult.
Speckhard and Yayla also identify a little publicised psychological phenomenon that helps make a terrorist.
“It’s called ‘euphoria of martyrdom’. We did a study and found that terrorists can feel very powerful, even euphoric, in the time leading up to their suicide attack,” Speckhard said, referring to interviews with terror suspects who survived or aborted their attacks. “We see the same phenomenon in people who attempt to commit suicide. It’s the brain giving endorphins when you’re in a state of extreme fear.”
IŞİD terör örgütünden kısa zaman önce kaçan militanlar, kaçma nedenlerini, radikal örgütün vaat ettikleri ile yaşananların birbirini tutmaması olarak açıkladı.
Militanlar, IŞİD’in dinen kabul gören yas dönemini beklemeden dul kalmış kadınları diğer savaşçılarla yeniden evlendirmesine öfkeli olduklarını söyledi. Örgütü terk edenler ayrıca, bitmek bilmeyen infazlardan ve bazı militanların bu infazlardan aldıkları psikolojik hazlardan iğrendiklerini de sözlerine ekledi.
Amerika merkezli Uluslararası Şiddet İçeren Aşırıcılık Çalışmaları Merkezi Direktörü Anne Speckhard ve Harran Üniversitesi profesörlerinden sosyolog Ahmet Yayla, Türkiye’de saklanan on kadar IŞİD kaçağı militanla görüştüler.
Omar says ISIS fighters seemed like real warriors who would give him a sense of pride and purpose.
“We spent one month training in this military camp — its name was the Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi camp, and our division was the Cubs of the Caliphate,” he says.
He says military training started at 7 a.m. and went until sundown. “Then from sundown to evening prayer, that’s when we go to Sharia lessons,” he recalls.
The military trainers were brutal, handling boys as young as 7 as if they were adult military recruits. Omar says there was no play time and punishment for breaking the rules was harsh.
Soon, he discovered an even more cruel reality. He and the other boys were being trained to carry out suicide attacks. He says he made friends with boys who later died that way.
“They called us buttons,” Omar says, referring to his ISIS trainers. Pushing a button would be the last thing the boys ever did.
If this turns out to be an ISIS attack, it will not be the first time ISIS has called for the use of vehicles in attacks.
The International Center for the Study of Violent Terrorism, ICSVE, has obtained a sophisticated and disturbing ISIS video, produced by ISIS’ al-Hayat Media Center and pushed out during Ramadan that suggests various ways an ISIS follower can attack, including a truck bomb shown with explosives and the making of the bomb.
https://coercioncode.com/2016/07/16/america-australia-canada-targeted-just-like-nice-france-terrorist-attack/
The Daily Mail reports that a disturbing propaganda video was released by the Islamic State in the weeks leading up to the Nice, France, terror attack. In the video, images of terrorists preparing to mow down a crowd with a vehicle were shown to depict a proposed attack in Australia. The terrorist organization encouraged followers to attack with vehicles and to “fill your trucks with gas.”
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/3314153/islamic-state-urged-vehicular-attacks-in-weeks-before-nice-terror-attack-says-lone-wolf-attacks-in-america-are-next/#38xgSEkvtbgExfgO.99
ISLAMIC State has long called for the use of cars and trucks in terrorist attacks.
The most recent call only weeks ago, during Ramadan, came in a sophisticated video production which ordered followers to “fill your cars with gas” and specifically mentioned Australia.
The image purportedly shows a driver preparing to run over crowds in Australia.
The International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism has obtained the video, which it describes as sophisticated and disturbing.
Released during Ramadan and produced by the ISIS media centre, the video shows images of American soldiers returned injured and the beheading of Westerners, and calls for ISIS followers to conduct attacks in their homelands.
I just uploaded 'Inside ISIS Chat Rooms: ICSVE Obtains ISIS Video Calling for Attacks with Vehicles' to @academia! https://t.co/vdvYZI1VCn
— Ahmet S Yayla (@ahmetsyayla) July 15, 2016
The most recent call only weeks ago, during Ramadan, came in a sophisticated video production which ordered followers to “fill your cars with gas” and specifically mentioned Australia.
The image purportedly shows a driver preparing to run over crowds in Australia.
The International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism has obtained the video, which it describes as sophisticated and disturbing.
Released during Ramadan and produced by the ISIS media centre, the video shows images of American soldiers returned injured and the beheading of Westerners, and calls for ISIS followers to conduct attacks in their homelands.
A sophisticated propaganda video released by the terror group's media centre called for followers to carry out attacks with chilling depictions of massacres in Europe, the US and Australia.
The footage, examined by the International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE), shows an ISIS militant preparing to run over a crowd in Australia, with instructions to 'fill your cars with gas.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693163/ISIS-called-truck-attacks-Australia-weeks-Nice-atrocity.html#ixzz4Ehplm0uD
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
A significant number of these individuals are believed to have been recruited online using social media.
A new project focused on interviews with individuals who joined and later defected from ISIS might offer a way of stifling the appeal of the group. The ISIS Defectors Interview Project, conducted by the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, compiles video and written testimony from former members of the group. Between September 2015 and May 2016, Anne Speckhard, a research psychologist at Georgetown University, and Ahmet Yayla, a former counterterrorism head of the Turkish National Police, met with 32 former ISIS members who escaped the group and have since fled to Turkey.
WASHINGTON
Last December, 26-year-old Mohamad Jamal Khweis told his family he was setting off on a European vacation. He fell out of touch not long after his departure, but his parents didn’t worry too much – they figured he was sightseeing in London or Amsterdam.
The next time they heard of him was just after dawn on March 14, when reporters showed up on their suburban Virginia doorstep with devastating news: Khweis was in Kurdish custody in northern Iraq after fleeing the Islamic State. Khweis had promptly disavowed the group on Kurdish television, becoming the first known American to defect from the extremists’ self-proclaimed caliphate.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/article70542677.html#storylink=cpy
Interview by "Anna Maria Tremonti"
Life inside the so-called Caliphate is virtually a black hole. Very little is understood about what life is like for the estimated 8-million or so people living in the so-called Islamic State.
The jihadist group currently controls an area of land the size of Great Britain.
Voices from the inside, just don't make it out. But that's changing now. In recent months, researchers have been tracking down ISIS defectors, and – very carefully – conducting interviews with them.
"They just got really sick of it and said 'This is not Islamic, this is not what we were taught, and I don't want anything to do with it."
- Anne Speckhard explains why defectors escaped ISIS
The researchers are with a group called the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism – or the ICSVE. Their director is Anne Speckhard, who teaches psychiatry at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. She has studied these interviews together with Dr. Ahmet Yayla of Harran University in Turkey.
Follow the discussion online using #ISISDefectors following @NewAmericaISP.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase by credit card.
Participants:
Dr. Anne Speckhard
Director, International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE)
Co-Author, ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate
@AnneSpeckhard
Dr. Ahmet Yayla
Deputy Director, International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE)
Co-Author, ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate
@ahmetsyayla
Moderator:
Peter Bergen
Vice President, New America
@peterbergencnn
The Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute (MEI) and the Conflict Management Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) are pleased to welcome Charles Lister, Ahmet Sait Yayla, and Anne Speckhard in a discussion about why people take up arms with the Islamic State (ISIS). Its declaration of a caliphate and its glorification of violence in pursuit of its aims have drawn adherents across the socioeconomic spectrum, from the United States and Europe to the Islamic world. Who are the people being recruited as ISIS militants, and why do they join? This expert panel will examine the allure of ISIS in Europe, Turkey, and the Arab world and effective strategies to stem its growth. Daniel Serwer will moderate the discussion. Unfortunately, there will be no lunch provided at this event.
During interviews with members who separated from ISIS, many of them talked the organization’s recruitment of high-qualified members from Chechnya. Omar al-Shishani, who was recently killed, was a Georgian Chechen jihadist who served as a commander for ISIS in Syria, and previously as a sergeant in the Georgian Army.
Von Staaten, Menschen und Störgeräuschen
von Jan Fischer
Katharina Kreuzhage: Zwang des Materials
Premiere: 16.09.2016 (Uraufführung)
Theater Paderborn
Homepage: http://www.theater-paderborn.de
Regie: Katharina Kreuzhage
Vorlage: Anne Speckhard und Ahmet S. Yayla: ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of the Terrorist Caliphate
Allein der der Versuch ist Wahnsinn. Vier Menschen in Brautkleidern-drei Männer, eine Frau-stehen auf der Bühne in Paderborn. " Ich trage ein Brautkleid, weil ich verdammt nochmal die Freiheit dazu habe " , sagt einer der Männer irgendwann zwischendrin und steigert sich in eine Rede über Pluralismus und Demokratie, für die es Szenenapplaus gibt. Aber erst ist da das Märchen vom Schäfer, der mit dem Erdöl in seinem Brunnen nichts anzufangen weiß und ihn zu einem Spottpreis an einen Touristen verkauft, der damit reich wird, was zu blutigen Auseinandersetzungen führt. Erst ist da auch die Geschichte des 13-jährigen Jungen, der sich dem " Islamischen Staat " anschließt, weil er seine Familie anders nicht ernähren kann, und Jahre später bei einem Drohnenangriff der US-amerikanischen Armee stirbt. Die Geschichte des 11-jährigen Jungen, der nur deshalb kein Selbstmordattentäter wird, weil sein Vater ihn rechtzeitig in die Türkei schafft. Mal erzählen die vier am Mikro, machmal ohne, mal zieht sich einer eine Burka an, mal orangfarbene Häftlingsanzüge, mal werden die Geschichten von sirenenartigen Störgeräuschen unterbrochen, mal perlen sie übereinander, mal werden sie leise und ruhig