Atlantic’s Graeme Wood: ISIS Is Islamic

Graeme Wood, Contributing Editor for the Atlantic, stated that ISIS is “very Islamic,” although it holds a “very unpopular” view in the Islamic world on Monday’s broadcast of “The Cycle” on MSNBC.

Wood, in reference to an earlier article he wrote, said “when I say that the Islamic State is very Islamic, I mean that it fits within the traditions that we traditionally called Islam. And the reason it matters is because it tells us a bit about what the Islamic State appeals to in these possible recruits. So, if we know who they’re looking for in–looking to find out what the appeal is for these people, then we can have a sense of how we can counter it and how deradicalization can happen.”

Wood continued that ISIS has “given us their game plan” in terms of territory.

He concluded, “their view of how this is going to unfold is a very unpopular one within Islam, and there are very few other people in the region who think this land is important. But, now that they’ve taken it, they’re waiting for the Crusader armies to show up, and that’s where they’re going to have their showdown.”

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