Jihad and the West - Black Flag over Babylon, Chapter Four Podcast Five

Welcome to an excerpt from Jihad and the West, Black Flag over Babylon by Mark Silinsky, with a foreword by Sebastian Gorka. It was published by Indiana University Press in Bloomington and Indianapolis. This reading is presented by Kensington Security Consulting, which brings education to national security. This excerpt comes from chapter four and introduces the deadly Western women of the Caliphate.   Deadly Women               Some women, like some men, are sadistic and power hungry, and the Islamic State provides them with opportunities. The British “White Widow” Samantha Lewthwaite married one of the perpetrators of the 2005 London bombings. She developed a sinister and legendary status as one of the world’s most wanted women. The London University dropout is credited with killing over 400 people in coordination with the terrorist group al Shabaab. A senior Somali official called her “an evil person, but a very clever operator.” She is not known to be currently associated with the Caliphate.               The middle-aged Belgian Muriel Degauque blasted herself into history, if only in a footnote, as the first known European Muslim female suicide bomber.  American Colleen LaRose, known as “Jihad Jane,” was sent to prison for planning to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks.               These three women represent a cross-section of Western society. Intelligent Lewthwaite attended university; ordinary Degauque was from the industrial working class; and pathetic LaRose had a pitiable childhood. All turned to Islam to fill a spiritual void, as has happened with many other Western women.   Psychological and Social Drivers—Peace Symbols and Black Flags   The heart’s longings lead the mind, and the existential filler of ISIS nourishes the desperate and vulnerable soul, however much one is surrounded by material comfort.   Collective judgments of four psychiatrists referring to why Westerners are drawn to the Caliphate, 2015               The draw of utopia and the compulsion of Jihad explain two of the broad lures of the Caliphate. The third group of motivators is grounded in psychology and social themes. Anger at perceived discrimination, alienation, fatalism, and a need to belong to a mass movement are psychosocial drivers for some Western Muslims. Today’s generation of Western Muslims is more attracted to Jihad than that of their parents or grandparents.               Western youth joining the Caliphate are usually eager to make war. Among young men, there is a hypermasculine and virile ethos. The State’s recruiting themes cultivate the image of the heroic horseman who is master of his environment and admired by his fellow warriors. Elizabeth van der Heide, of the Dutch Center for Terrorism and Counterterrorism, said young males see the war as a video game: “Those are primarily young people who relocate to the war game in Syria and Iraq from a video game.”               Another study observed that the most effective recruitment approach is to target a candidate’s sense of self-worth. The study cited the Florida killer Omar Mateen as “the perfect fit” for the Caliphate’s approach. Young men who felt neglected or weak as boys can become a part of something powerful and victorious. One young man who was not weak but still needed a purpose in life was Thundercat, profiled below.   Profile Eleven: Thundercat! “A Prince of a Man”   “[He was] a prince who everyone on the street knew and greeted.”  A friend of Thundercat, 2015               One Jihadi who fought for the State did not have an apparent need to validate his masculinity. He had repeatedly proven it in the ring as a two-time Thai boxing world champion from Germany. Valdet Gashi traveled to Syria with three other Thai boxers to fight with weapons, rather than fists.               Gashi arrived in Germany from Albania as a six-year-old boy and was raised in a relatively secular home. As a young man, he shot up the kickboxing ranks, and the local boys described him as a “prince who everyone on the street knew and greeted.” He fought 152 fights under the name Thundercat.  Some of his fights were posted on YouTube, and his speed and style are clearly devastating.               Thundercat married his local sweetheart and then sired two daughters. But the fighter was drawn to the German Islamic Salafist program called Read, and he developed a moral obligation to leave his wife and daughters and join the Caliphate to fight for Islam. He said he would rather die for Allah than live as a coward.               In an interview in May 2015, Thundercat declared his respect for the State, which, in his view, was deeply misunderstood in the West. As a Muslim, he could only be happy by “doing something good for Islam.” But many of his fans were disappointed, and some Muay Thai fans hoped to strip him of his championship titles. His father was fed up, too. Enver Gashi said, “Valdet’s place is with us—with his children, his wife, and his parents. . . . I want him to stop this nonsense, and I hope he’ll come back to us one day, because his place is here and nowhere else.” But Thundercat never came home.               The champ tweeted from Syria that he was patrolling the Euphrates River to intercept smugglers. “If I die while doing good, I am sure I will be happy.” He did die, killed in a mission in July 2015. His brother eulogized him on social media and prayed that he rest in peace. Thundercat’s fights were over.   This concludes a reading from Jihad and the West, Black Flag over Babylon, by Mark Silinsky, with a foreword by Sebastian Gorka. If you enjoyed this, please consider subscribing and pressing the “like button.” Jihad and the West is available for purchase online and in select bookstores worldwide. Dr. Silinsky’s latest book, “Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World,” will be available in spring 2026. Nothing in this reading or any other reading in Jihad and the West represents the official position of any person or agency of the United States government. On behalf of Kensington Security Consulting, thank you for listening.