The American Leader in the Islamic State
The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood reports on John Georgelas, a Texas-born military brat who converted to Islam in 2001 and joined the Islamic State in 2013. Georgelas, who changed his name to Yahya Abu Hassan, is currently a high-level producer of English-language propaganda for ISIS. Wood writes, “Western jihadists find their way to violence many different ways, but they often match a profile. And that profile fit John like a wet suit. He came from an upper-middle-class family. He squandered opportunities commensurate with his innate talent; he recognized that he would not excel in the fields chosen or glorified by his parents and authority figures.”