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ISIS and The Rise of Homegrown Terrorism in the

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Article · April 2015

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Reference  for  this  article:  Speckhard,  Anne  (April,  2015)  Security  Solutions  Magazine,      
 

ISIS and The Rise of Homegrown Terrorism in the West

Anne Speckhard, Ph.D.

On October 22, 2014 Canadian Michael Zehaf-Bibeau opened fire at the Canadian
National War Memorial killing Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a Canadian soldier on
ceremonial sentry duty. From there Zehaf-Bibeau went on to the Parliament building in
Ottawa where he attempted to kill as many Parliamentarians as possible. A shootout
ensued in which Zehaf-Bibeau was killed. Zehaf-Bibeau, inspired to his actions by ISIS
apparently believed he’d been acting in behalf of Islam, that he would be “martyred” and
go straight to paradise.1

These kind of “stay and act in place” attacks, along with a steady flow of impressionable
young Westerners—males and females—going off to fight jihad are on the rise in recent
years and it doesn’t look like it will stop soon. The international call to jihad, originating
first with al Qaeda and popularized by Anwar Awlaki, has taken on a new appeal with
ISIS since they euphorically declared an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq last June.

English speaking Awlaki, who has a particular appeal to Western Muslims was killed in a
U.S. drone strike in 2011 but lives on via the Internet. From beyond the grave he
continues to inspire acts of terrorism both at home and abroad. His Internet lectures are
implicated in nearly every Islamic related Western terror attack since his death.

Awlaki argued, and still manages to convince many, that every Muslim has a duty to take
hijrah—that is travel to the battlefield, and to fight jihad endlessly until Muslims bring in
the end times as predicted in the Koran. According to ISIS, everyone has a part to play
and is significant to the shared vision. And they claim, like Awlaki did, that all Muslims
are obligated to take part in bringing their apocalyptic vision to fruition.

Now with ISIS controlling territory and claiming a caliphate, for those wanting adventure
there is a real and accessible place to come to. That place, Sham and Iraq, is held sacred
in the apocalyptic vision of the end times and strongly resonates with the shared vision
that ISIS is ushering in the new age of Islamic victory. Unlike foreign fighters who went
before them to fight Syrian leader Bashar Assad, the Muslims who agree to take hijra (i.e.
migration) to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq generally believe they are coming to live a
“pure” Islamic life and take part in building the new “utopian” state.2 They are joining in
a worldwide battle and apocalyptic vision far greater than toppling Bashar Assad.

With the rise of ISIS and their slick social media campaign Muslims from every Western
nation have been drawn into the battle. Unlike al Qaeda that heavily vetted anyone who
wanted to come and had many barriers to joining, ISIS welcomes all. Indeed an estimated
Reference  for  this  article:  Speckhard,  Anne  (April,  2015)  Security  Solutions  Magazine,      
 
15,000 foreign fighters have already joined their ranks, with estimates of 800 from
France and 200 from the U.S. and over 200 from Australia.3 And ISIS has simplified
things for those not ready to make hijrah. Travel is not required—you can act in place—
just as Zehaf-Bibeau did.

Chillingly, the Ottawa shootout occurred the same week as we released our new book
Undercover Jihadi: Inside the Toronto 18—al Qaeda Inspired, Homegrown Extremism in
the West detailing the inside story of terrorist plotters who in 2005 also plotted to storm
the Canadian Parliament with assault rifles.4 Their plan was to take over the Parliament
and behead the Prime Minister and members of Parliament to demand Canadian troops be
withdrawn from Afghanistan. 5

While many thought the 2005 plots were the wishful fantasies of terrorist wannabes and
that the attacks could never have been actualized, part of the group was serious enough to
have managed to build a working remote detonator and order tons of fertilizer for truck
bombs to be placed in in three different sites around Toronto. The blast charges of the
bombs they plotted to detonate would have been similar to those that were used to take
down the Murray Federal Building in Oklahoma City. They would have caused a series
of catastrophic attacks—the most lethal attacks in North America since 9-11.

And it was only the actions of two undercover agents—Mubin Shaikh, primary among
them—that saved Canadians from the disastrous effects of such a series of attacks. Our
book details that account and highlights how groups like al Qaeda and now ISIS get into
the minds of young people and can motivate them to form homegrown cells to carry out
lethal attacks in Australia, Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

“We’ll attack the Parliament buildings of Canada,” the ringleader of the Toronto 18,
Fahim Ahmad crowed to his cadres. “First we’ll distract the police with bombs going off
all around the city. That will take all the security forces attention away from the
Parliament,” Fahim continued. “And when they are responding to the car bombs, we’ll
storm the Parliament buildings!” He went on to tell his cadres that they would take the
Parliament members hostage and behead first, the Prime Minister and then the Members,
one by one. His plan, thought by many to be far-fetched, now sadly has been shown, in
part at least—conceivable.

And while the Toronto 18 members were rounded up resulting in eleven convictions,
Canadian extremism did not disappear. Indeed, with the conflict in Syria and the rise of al
Nusra and now ISIS, Canadians, Australians and Belgians, are presently overrepresented
among Westerners in the fight.6 And the ideology of ISIS is fanning the flames around
the world.

The ISIS claim of having created a real caliphate and having anointed a legitimate caliph
Reference  for  this  article:  Speckhard,  Anne  (April,  2015)  Security  Solutions  Magazine,      
 
(al Baghdadi), along with their call to an idealized version of being a Muslim (to live like
the original Companions) speaks to the inner needs of many Western first and second
generation Muslim immigrants who are somehow failing in their lives, as well as
religious seekers who have converted and sought out an extremist form of Islam. For
them, this call to ISIS resolves issues of identity. And if they go on “hijra” that is migrate
from Western lands to the land of Sham and Iraq where ISIS is in charge they believe it
will provide them with a “safe” place to practice their extremist form of Islam. Sadly they
don’t realize that they actually have their highest religious freedoms inside Western
countries and will forfeit nearly all of their rights in joining ISIS.7

ISIS, in its social media outreach claims “We are all ISIS” thereby creating a community
of belonging. Indeed their films and social media outreach make a big point of the
international gathering, that those of all skin colors and ethnic descent are welcomed with
open arms. All Muslims belong and everyone is accepted. Not only that they claim that
fighting jihad brings religious rewards and earthly ones as well—ranging from cures for
depression to the pleasures of owning sex slaves.

For Western Muslims lost in their path of self actualization, failing somehow in their
lives, and looking for some way to redeem their manhood, womanhood, their sense of
self, or to bolster a failing identity or belonging, ISIS offers them a compelling vision for
a path forward—to bring about the final Caliphate. It just requires a commitment to
violent action.

In October of 2014, ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani ash-Shami stated, “If
you can kill a disbelieving American or European – especially the spiteful and filthy
French – or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever … including the
citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely
upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be.”

The current ISIS meme that is replicating itself virally over the Internet via Twitter,
Facebook and other social media, builds upon the ideology laid down by al Qaeda—
namely that Islam, Islamic people and Islamic lands are under attack by the West and that
Muslims need to band together and enact terrorist attacks to fight back. And as long as
the ISIS meme keeps replicating itself in the minds of young disillusioned, marginalized,
and even mentally ill Muslims in the West, these attacks will continue to occur and grow
in numbers.8

One should recognize that the strongest memes are those that replicate themselves well—
often even at the expense of their host. In the case of ISIS, the meme requires that the
host be willing to self-sacrifice in behalf of the group and its cause to supposedly win the
ultimate rewards of paradise. And a small number of Muslims who can’t find their way to
belong to society, feel rejected or lack purpose in their lives, who want adventure or to
bolster their sense of manhood or womanhood, or who are angered by geopolitics and
Reference  for  this  article:  Speckhard,  Anne  (April,  2015)  Security  Solutions  Magazine,      
 
insults to their religion are buying on to that belief. And if left unstopped, they will
continue to cause death and destruction in the West. The belief among those who drink
the “kool-aid” proffered by ISIS is that they are engaging with a powerful compact with
Allah. They may have to kill and die for it—but it is their Muslim identity and duty to do
so—even inside Western countries they now call home.

Ultimately the lethal cocktail of terrorism relies on the interaction of a group, its
ideology, the social support that exists for both, and the vulnerabilities of individuals who
are exposed to the group and its ideology.9 While it’s unlikely we will defeat ISIS
anytime soon, we can work to delegitimize its ideology, poking holes in its claims and
showing what is actually happening in Iraq and Syria and de-glamourizing the call to
jihad. And we can identify vulnerable persons and begin to redirect them to other ways of
answering their needs and concerns. But these things take time, resources and thoughtful
approaches. Until our governments commit to spending on thoughtful counter terrorism
prevention, intervention and redirection, committing resources as they do for military
kinetic solutions we won’t see an end to either ISIS or “stay in place” attacks.

Anne  Speckhard,  Ph.D.  is  Adjunct  Associate  Professor  of  Psychiatry  at  Georgetown  
University  in  the  School  of  Medicine  and  of  Security  Studies  in  the  School  of  Foreign  
Service  She  is  author  of  Talking  to  Terrorists  and  coauthor  of  Undercover  Jihadi.  She  
was  responsible  for  designing  the  psychological  and  Islamic  challenge  aspects  of  the  
Detainee  Rehabilitation  Program  in  Iraq  to  be  applied  to  twenty  thousand  detainees  
and  eight  hundred  juveniles.    She  also  has  interviewed  over  four  hundred  terrorists,  
their  family  members  and  supporters  in  various  parts  of  the  world  including  Gaza,  
the  West  Bank,  Chechnya,  Iraq,  Jordan  and  many  countries  in  Europe.  

                                                                                                               
1  Ahmed, S., & Botelho, G. (October 23, 2014). Who is Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the

man behind the deadly Ottawa attack? CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/world/canada-shooter/  
2  Speckhard, A. (January 9, 2015). The Isis 'attack and stay in place' meme and

the 'why' behind the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/anne-speckhard/charlie-hebdo_b_6440146.html  
3  5,000 Foreign Fighters Have Joined Extremist Groups In Iraq And Syria. Here's

Why They Went. The World Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/08/foreign-fighters-iraq-
syria_n_6116440.html
 
4  Speckhard, A., & Shaikh, M. (2014). Undercover Jihadi: Inside the Toronto 18--

Al Qaeda inspired, homegrown terrorism in the West: Advances Press, LLC.  

5  Speckhard, A. (October 28, 2014). The Canadian Parliament attacks, ISIS, and

echoes of the Toronto 18. Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/anne-

speckhard/the-canadian-parliament-a_1_b_6062174.html  
 Reference  for  this  article:  Speckhard,  Anne  (April,  2015)  Security  Solutions  Magazine,      
 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
6  Amarasingam, A. (March 4, 2015). Canadian foreign fighters in Syria: An

overview. Jihadology. http://jihadology.net/category/foreign-fighters/; Gordts, E.

(November 8, 2014).  
7  Speckhard, A., & Shaikh, M. (June 3, 2014). End times brewing: An apolcalyptic

view on al-Baghdadi's declaration of a caliphate in Iraq and the flow of foreign

fighters coming from the West. Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/anne-speckhard/isis-iraq_b_5541693.html  
8  Speckhard, A. (2015). The militant jihadi message propagated by ISIS is a

contagiously virulent veme in the West—the ebola of terrorism. Multi-­‐

Method Assessment of ISIL.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271195840_The_Militant_Jihadi
_Message_Propagated_by_ISIS_is_a_Contagiously_Virulent_Meme_in_t
he_Westthe_Ebola_of_Terrorism
 
9  Speckhard, A. (2012). Talking to terrorists: Understanding the psycho-social

motivations of militant jihadi terrorists, mass hostage takers, suicide

bombers and "martyrs". McLean, VA: Advances Press.
 

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