“First, I would say, is ideology. I have never spoken to any member of these groups, not just ISIS, but also Al Qaeda, Shabab, etc., who wasn't driven by the ideology. Beyond that, a lot of people are wounded in some way - they've fallen out of society in some manner. All of the ones I've spoken to seem to have veered off course from lives we consider acceptable and successful. Of course, there are others like Osama bin Laden, who was a wealthy and successful businessperson.”
![“[People who have left the ISIS] say that there comes a moment when the inconsistencies and apparent hypocrisies of their sheikh lets them down, and they begin rereading scripture and find ways that vouch for a nonliteralist reading of the Koran.” quote by Rukmini Maria Callimachi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/38e/rukmini-maria-callimachi-34961_down-and_people-who-have-left-the-isis-say-that-t_271551.jpg)
![“We know that Muhammad waged war against the Qurayshi tribe, his own tribe, and it's from that conflict that much of the concept of jihad and verses that ISIS now uses to justify beheadings come from. A young man just told me that he went back and read this carefully [and saw] the prophet and his…” quote by Rukmini Maria Callimachi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/32c/rukmini-maria-callimachi-34961_allowing_we-know-that-muhammad-waged-war-against_856700.jpg)
![“One of ISIS' biggest propaganda coups was the beheadings of the aid workers and journalists. Is [Emni], the group that is exporting fighters overseas, also the one that was holding James Foley and John Cantlie and Kayla Mueller?” quote by Rukmini Maria Callimachi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/be9/rukmini-maria-callimachi-34961_aids_one-of-isis-biggest-propaganda-coups-was_1700430.jpg)
![“I'm really curious as to the actual structure of the Emni [the intelligence unit that handles foreign attacks]. And Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the head of it. There are so few pictures of him. We don't even really know what he looks like. For somebody with this outsized influence projecting murder…” quote by Rukmini Maria Callimachi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e9f/rukmini-maria-callimachi-34961_als_i-m-really-curious-as-to-the-actual-stru_2021716.jpg)
![“In any case, open-seat presidential elections like 2008 just are different in character from incumbent reelects, and I think that's the most important thing about this election - is that once there's an incumbent running for reelection, most of the debate is about, "Has he [Barack Obama] done a…” quote by William Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0b0/william-kristol-9091_acceptable_in-any-case-open-seat-presidential-elect_36353.jpg)