[NousDefionsDoc]

That's pretty much what I thought you were going to say and is pretty much right out of Origins of Terrorism .

It does not however, validate your statement that Islam has nothing to do with it. As you yourself said, 90% of the leadership is. And Islam is the vehicle that lends legitimacy to the rest of their doctrine. It is the means to get past any aversion to doing what the leadership feels must be done. Just like Liberation Theology got the Latino Catholics past it. Just like communism got many past it.

Islam has quite a bit to do with it, IMO. It is the means to the end. Classic HFCUI.

You are treading dangerously close to the social worker theory espoused by the left for so long.

As for your examples, good recruiters will always target likely prospects. I would think there is a good deal more active recruiting of the disenfranchised than there is accidental encounters. How hard can it be to find out who is unemployed and doing poorly in English classes in these small tightly knit communities? The mosques and madrasas are the keys, as they are the centers of social life. And they both have everything to do with Islam.

I agree it is about a power struggle. But the power comes from and leads back to the Quoran. Motives for joining will always vary, but the sense of belonging to the group as you describe is facilitated by a group that includes the after life and is in agreement with everything they have been taught since birth. Take away Islam, with its mullahs, indoctrination, and promises - and you have an organizaed group of unemployed. Add it back in, you have a global terrorist movement.