The Jihadist Next Door

During one class period we received an article about Omar Hammami, an Arab American who left the United States, the country he grew up in, to become a high-ranking terrorist leader. I found this article to be very intriguing. Omar was the son of a Baptist mother and had grown up in America. He seemed to be like any other normal teenager and even went to prom with one of the most sought-after girls in his school. The story seemed hard to believe because there seemed to be no motives for his actions. His father had taught Omar moral values and he lived in a good family environment. Why in the world would he want to leave all of that and his dreams of becoming a surgeon to become a leader in a terrorist organization? As I continued to read on about Omar, he states that “It’s quite obvious that I believe America is a target". After finishing the article I was still bewildered at how this could have possibly happened. I suppose Omar must have some strong beliefs and felt that those beliefs were more important than everything he had before.