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Dude, ISIL is tiny. They only have about 40k fighters, of which the vast majority are Iraqi and Syrian. The majority of other supporters are either Arabic or Tu
by 3pt14159 11y ago
Dude, ISIL is tiny. They only have about 40k fighters, of which the vast majority are Iraqi and Syrian. The majority of other supporters are either Arabic or Turkish speaking, and usually with Arabic as a second language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant#Supporters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_...
Language is not the problem. They coordinate in Arabic, and usually if there is a Turkish or non-Arabic cell, they usually have a single Arabic speaker.
Their primary problem that ISIL has is that they lack professionals (accountants, engineers, computer scientists).
- patates 11y agoOnly 1000 from their 15000 foreign fighters are from Turkey, according to the list in Wikipedia. They have more Russian-speaking recruits. I seriously doubt all of them are able to speak Arabic. Some foreigners there speaking English among each other is a very, very likely scenario.
- 3pt14159 11y agoI'm the person you responded to, and I came late to this, but you cannot look at country of origin as a proxy for primary language. Just as most German ISIL fighters speak Turkish, there are similar findings amongst other countries like Russia; although to be fair, I haven't looked into Russia specifically.
- patates 11y agoI am a German of Turkish (...and Greek ...and Bulgarian) origin. My mother language is German (Fun fact: My mother does not speak German, so, maybe I should also call it my "primary language"). I do speak Turkish but like many Turkish people who have been born in Germany, I can't communicate well in Turkish[1] (and neither in Greek nor Bulgarian). If I were to join an army and communicate under stress (being a pacifist, even the thought gives me the chills though), I'd rather speak German or compromise with English. So, as I said before, I think there is a high chance that they do communicate partially in English. However close-minded they can be, practicality always wins. Always. [1]: Actually some do speak Turkish somewhat fluently, but I can't tell if being able to describe your favorite cocktail to a bartender in a Turkish hotel proves that you can describe further tactics to fellow combatants under suppressive fire.
- at-fates-hands 11y ago>> Their primary problem that ISIL has is that they lack professionals (accountants, engineers, computer scientists). This. They're trying to set up an autonomous government and country under Sharia law. One of the main tenets of the Caliphate is the idea of holding sway over territory - without territory there is no Caliphate. In order to hold territory, they need professionals to support the infrastructure of their Caliphate, otherwise, it falls apart. From all the media reports, it would seem this has been the Achilles heel of the organization from the start: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-islamic-state-is-failing-at-being-a-state/2014/12/24/bfbf8962-8092-11e4-b936-f3afab0155a7_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-islamic... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/islams-dysfunctional-state-in-isis-controlled-syria-and-iraq-everyday-life-is-falling-apart-9945774.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/islams-d...
- SixSigma 11y agoThey seem to have a damn fine video production team.
- chris_wot 11y agoI wonder when the U.S. will target those guys?
- caskance 11y agoWhy would they lack those professions? Aren't those some of the most likely groups to become terrorists?
- vectorjohn 11y agoSeriously? They will have no shortage of poor desperate stupid people to fight and die for an insane cause, but how many computer scientists, who could work anywhere in the world, want to go work for this insane organization?
- caskance 11y agoA lot. A simple google search for "engineer terrorist" without the quotes turns up plenty of references if you want to learn more.
- vectorjohn 11y agoA terrorist is different than ISIS. They're not the same thing, and I just don't buy that a lot of intelligent people are joining ISIS, although there could be good ideological reasons to be a terrorist (none that I agree with).
- e40 11y agoIs this a joke? The more educated someone is the less likely they'll become a terrorist.
- iofj 11y agoThere have been many studies refuting that. If anything it's the opposite : the poorer/uneducated someone is the less likely they are to become a terrorist, as there are far more poor than rich. e.g. http://www.economist.com/node/17730424 http://www.economist.com/node/17730424
- e40 11y ago