The American Climbing The Ranks Analysis

“The American Climbing the Ranks of ISIS” is a very well written piece by Graeme Wood which explores the journey of a young rebellious white American from a military family into a terrorist organization. The author tells a story of Yahya Abu Hasan (born as John Georgelas), a man originating from a Greek-America military family, and how events throughout his life landed him into a top rank of ISIS. The most intriguing element of the story is the author’s sterling ability to draw a connection between the past and the present, and the conclusion that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

The story begins in 2013 at a town in Syria. John Georgelas, a 29 years old white man of Greek origin coming out of a war torn village in ISIS
Him converting to Islam shortly after 9/11 was the first indication of his crazy, antagonistic behavior. As a Muslim myself, I find is quote unusual for someone to suddenly convert to Islam right after 9/11 without any legitimate reason. Converting to a certain religion is quite usual among mid-aged men, however, it is quite unusual without any influences. There was a surge in men converting to Islam in 1980-1990, heavily influenced by personality such as Malcolm X, but what was Yahya’s influence? It was obviously the 9/11 attack which killed 3,000 innocent people, wounded over 6,000 and scarred millions for life, or maybe his intention to convert was to prove a point to his father, whatever it was, the second nail was struck in the coffin when he married Tania, a rebel who dreamed of marrying someone life John Walker Lindh. Two ended up leaving Dallas and moving to Syria, where Yahya found his jihad fantasy land. The final nail in the coffin was the fact that he was respected among his jihadi-radical colleagues. A young white guy from Texas, who could never make any significance in anyone’s life, and received no attention or importance is was getting exactly what he strive for his entire