Smart and Measured Showtime Documentary ‘American Jihad’ Examines Roots of Home-Grown Terrorism

Los Angeles Times
By: Lorraine Ali

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Showtime’s “American Jihad” looks at the roots of homegrown terrorism through the stories of the young American citizens behind such deadly attacks as the Boston Marathon bombing and the Orlando, Fla., nightclub shooting … As the documentary points out, terror groups no longer have to try to physically recruit men and women for their fight overseas. Given the growth of social media, they reach a lot more potential followers than they did when the Al Qaeda operative was alive.

“All they have is an ideology now,” says Ali Soufan, a former FBI special agent and terrorism expert. When an attack like San Bernardino occurs, where the perpetrators have no official ties to the Islamic State other than following its social media account, “ISIS is still happy to take advantage of” the fear it incites,” he says.

Soufan says it’s the notion of omnipresence that all these groups — Islamic State, Al Qeada and whatever extremist network pops up next — enjoy. “If we don’t change the narrative or kill the ideology, we are going to continue to play a game of whack-a-mole.”

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