Mark Bourrie - The Killing Game: Martyrdom, Murder, and the Lure of ISIS

Hence that chip on your shoulder. And since your first thought about me ran to orphan, thats what Id say you are. Oh, you are? I like this poker thing. And that makes perfect sense! Since MI6 looks for maladjusted young men, who give little thought to sacrificing others in order to protect queen and country.

Vesper Lynd, Casino Royale (film)

CONTENTS

THERES BEEN SOME CONTROVERSY OVER THE NAME OF the organization that is trying to establish a caliphate in northern Syria and Iraq. Members of the organization, and much of the Western media, prefer Islamic State. Several other countries, however, claim to be Islamic states or Islamic republics. To suggest that this is the Islamic state is to make an assumption that I would not want to have to defend. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seems not only dated but also, in a geographic sense, inaccurate, since much of the actual Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean is, so far, out of its grasp. ISIS seems to work best, since it captures both Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and Islamic State in Syria and el-Sham. I will call the organization ISIS in this book, unless another term is used in a quote.

Terrorism is a word that means many things to many people. I see it as a form of warfare. I try to use the term without judging the merits of the cause that uses it. I follow this definition crafted by Paul Wilkinson, an expert in the field:

It is premeditated and designed to create a climate of extreme fear;

It is directed at a wider target than the immediate victims;

It inherently involves attacks on random or symbolic targets, including civilians;

It is considered by the society in which it occurs as extra normal, in the literal sense that it violates the norms regulating disputes, protests and dissent;

It is used primarily, though not exclusively, to influence the political behaviour of governments, communities or specific social groups.

Jihadi terrorism and jihad are, admittedly, contentious words. For millions of Muslims, jihad is a personal struggle to fulfill themselves spiritually through actions that cause no harm to others. However, in this book the term is used in its second meaning, one that is used by ISIS and other Muslim fighters, as a descriptor for violence motivated by extreme interpretations of Islam. It does not revolve around any single conflict or campaign.

Caliphate is a regime that claims its leader is the successor to the Prophet Mohammed and the spiritual leader of all Islam, with the responsibility to push the frontiers of Islam. Historically, caliphates involved governance under Islamic law, with the leadership elected according to Sunni practice and selected from a group of imams under Shia traditions. The rulers of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire claimed the title of caliph until they were deposed after the First World War.

Kill onefrighten ten thousands.

Sun Tzu

THE CAREFULLY SHOT VIDEO STARTS WITH A WIRY young man with long, stringy hair and a thin beard, clad in a loose black robe, walking along the edge of a ruin somewhere in the Middle East. Hes wearing a brown ammunition vest and carrying an AK-47. An ISIS logo flashes, then, after a short invocation to Allah, John Maguireformer Canadian college boy, former punk rock musicianbegins to speak to the folks back home.

O people of Canada. You are said to be an educated people, so what is preventing you from being able to put two and two together and understanding that operations such as that of brother Ahmad Rouleau (Martin Couture-Rouleau), of Montreal, and the storming of Parliament Hill in Ottawa are carried out in direct response to your participation in the coalition of nations waging war against the Muslim people?

Your leaders, those men and women that you have elected to represent yourselves in the running of your countrys affairs, have gone far out of their way to involve themselves in the global war against the Islamic State. Your representatives and your leaders have voluntarily chosen to join the coalition of countries waging war against the Muslims. So it should not surprise you when operations by the Muslims are executed where it hurts you the moston your very own soilin retaliation to your unprovoked acts of aggression towards our people.

You have absolutely no right to live in a state of safety and security when your country is carrying out atrocities on our people. The more bombs you drop on our people, the more Muslims will realize and understand that today waging jihad against the West and its allies around the world is beyond a shadow of a doubt a religious obligation binding upon every Muslim.

The video is a well-made digital production. Its edited to show different, and very flattering, angles of John Maguires face. The background was chosen carefully. Theres a bullet-pocked building with an upper floor blown apartperhaps by an air strike by Canadian pilots or those of one of the other Western nations that bombs ISIS. A big black ISIS flag flutters in front of a lovely, undamaged mosque.

Maguires threats continue:

And the more Muslims living amongst you whom you oppress by imprisoning them, and spying on them and preventing them from migrating to the Islamic State, the more they will be inspired to punish your citizens with the likes of that which you are inflicting on our citizens. Your people will be indiscriminately targeted, as you indiscriminately target our people. I warn you of punishment in this life by the mujahedeen and I would also like to warn you of a greater punishment. And that is the eternal punishment of hellfire promised for those who die having not submitted as Muslims to the one true God of all that exists.

Then Maguire tries to connect with Canadians and explain how a fairly ordinary kid from a small Ontario town ended up in front of an ISIS propaganda crew without a knife to his throat. At the same time, he tries to paint himself as a healthy young man who made a free, intelligent choice, rather than one of the duped emotional cripples that Western media says join ISIS:

I was one of you. I was a typical Canadian. I grew up on the hockey rink and spent my teenage years on stage playing guitar.

I had no criminal record. I was a bright student and maintained a strong GPA in university. So how could one of your people end up in my place? And why is it that your own people are the ones turning against you at home? The answer is that we have accepted the true call of the prophets and the messengers of God.

After a short lecture on theology, an ISIS logo flashes briefly, then Maguire is back on, flashing from profile to face-on with the camera. He turns his attention to Canadas Islamic minority, who must put up with the horrors committed in the name of their religion while at the same time trying to make a new start in an unfamiliar land.

To the Muslims living in Canada, I say to you, How can you remain living among the disbelievers, under their unjust, man-made laws, which are slowly but surely eliminating the rights of the Muslims, especially now that the caliphate has been established? And furthermore, how can you stand to live amongst them peacefully, when their leaders, who represent the masses, are waging a crusade against your Muslim brothers and sisters at this very moment? According to Islamic principles, you are living in a land of war, a land that is relentlessly oppressing and constantly in support of the oppression of Muslims all around the world. A Muslim has absolutely no place living in a land such as Canada, or America or Europe today, except to carry out his duty of fighting in Allahs cause. Do not be deceived by Western leaders telling you that they have nothing against Islam and Muslims and that they are only fighting terrorism. The results of their carpet bomb air strikes speak for themselves. They are attacking the Muslim people as a whole. Have you forgotten that Allah tells us how the disbelievers will act towards the believers?