Reddit reviews ISIS: The State of Terror

As the poster above indicated, this actually isn't correct and is a common misconception. The majority of those that engage in suicide bombing and similar attacks are actually college graduates. There is no "constructed example" of those who are the most susceptible to join terrorist organizations (as stated, people from all backgrounds seem to join), and mental disorders have little to no impact. Those in terrorist organizations generally have no higher levels of mental disorders than the general public. Often joining these types of organizations could be influenced by the desire of the young to be a part of something, which is something all of us experience at some point. A variety of personal factors, such as a death in the family, the feeling of no purpose, are only some of the reasons people join terrorist organizations. To go off a little with what you said, and maybe I interpreted you wrong and this is what you meant, people in in terrorist organizations tend to have a stronger tolerance of violence and aggression than others (but still "normal" levels).

Edit: Since many here seem to deny what I am saying and keep saying it's made up information, read this book on terrorism by an expert and it will back up the majority of my statements here.

I have a long list of books that I usually recommend to people who are interested in these types of subjects. Here are some that may be of interest to you. If you are ever interested in more books on the Middle East or international affairs issues, check out the r/geopolitics wiki.

As for the books that have been recommended to you, they are pretty good. I even repeated a few of them in my recommendations. The only ones that I would have reservations about are Gen. Daniel Bolger's because I have never read it.

Author | Title | Synopsis
---|---|----
Daniel Byman | Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone Needs to Know | A terrific primer on al-Qaida, ISIL, and jihadism. Its a brief outline of the history of al-Qaida, its ideological underpinnings, and the rise of ISIL in the shadow of the Syrian Civil War.
Lawrence Wright | The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 | Probably the most approachable and argueably the best book for outlining the pro-9/11 history of al-Qaida and why 9/11 happened.
Michael Wiess and Hassan Hassan | ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror | One of several recent books on ISIL, this one provides an overview on the history and organization of ISIL.
Charles Lister | The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency | Written by an expert on jihadism in Syria, this books looks at the history and evolution of jihadists in the Syrian conflict.
Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger | ISIS: The State of Terror | Written by two top experts in the study of terrorism, this book focuses on how ISIL radicalizes and recruits individuals from all over the world to join their cause.
William McCants | The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State | An examination of ISIL's worldview and how it influenced its growth and strategy.
Kenneth Pollack | The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America | An excellent overview of the history of relations and tensions between the United States and Iran over the decades. Pollack published a second book on U.S.-Iranian relations in the wake of Iran's nuclear program called Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb, and American Strategy
Bob Woodward | Obama's Wars | Outline of the U.S. foreign policy decision making towards Iraq and Afghanistan in the early years of the Obama administration.
Michael R. Gordon | The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama | Follows U.S. strategic and political decision making process during the Iraq War and the U.S. occupation.
Peter R. Mansoor | Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War | An extensive outline of the development and outcome of the Surge during the U.S. Occupation of Iraq.
Mark Mazzetti | The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth | An overview of the CIA's targeted drone program against terrorist organizations.
Michael Morrell | The Great War of Our Time: The CIA's Fight Against Terrorism--From al Qa'ida to ISIS | Written by the former acting director of the CIA, this book examines U.S. counterterrorism successes and failures of the past two decades.

The problem with your comment is that it fails to distinguish the difference between al-Tawhid wa-l-Jihad (JTWJ) before and after the invasion, and therefore doesn't assess the merits of Jean Edward Smith's claims.

Before the invasion, TJWJ aimed to topple the Jordanian government. After the invasion, the group's mission changed to focusing on Iraq.

Your comment therefore suggests that ISIS could have happened without the Iraq Invasion, and hence my disagreement.

As the authors of ISIS: State of Terror concluded

> “Many diverse factors contributed to the rise of ISIS, but its roots lie with Zarqawi and the 2003 invasion of Iraq that gave him purpose…“