cultists – Moe Lane

Islamic State (IS) is, literally, an apocalyptic death cult. Which is to say, they believe that they are all going to die in a violent fashion that will lead to the end of the world; that the various atrocities that they commit in the process are all pleasing to the entity that they worship; and that there is no point to reason with IS on this, because they’re right and will gleefully die for their beliefs. Your basic High Fantasy Evil-With-A-Capital-E Cult, in other words.
You probably didn’t need this Atlantic article to tell you this, although it’s nice to have the background material on the aforementioned death cult. It’s a very detailed article, by the way. Well worth your time.
Under no circumstances should anybody who can write “I even enjoyed their company” after meeting one or more of IS’s High Priests should be allowed anywhere near a position of authority or responsibility or influence when it comes to American foreign policy. I understand and appreciate that author Graeme Wood went on to write “…and that frightened me as much as anything else,” but unfortunately better safe than sorry when it comes to possible ethical infections.