Modern Day Treason
Photograph: Al Hayat Media Centr
October 26, 2014
Benedict Arnold, perhaps the most notorious historical figure to commit treason against the United States, has some competition. As time has time went on, a war hungry America entered into countless wars. While the technologies and strategies have evolved, the way American society has coped with war has changed too. An overall sense of nationalism has decreased in recent years, in the opinion of Heather Gammon (11). While this sense of unity has become less prominent in the United States of America, some citizens have made allegiances to other groups, such as ISIS.
Some extremists have taken matters into their own hands. Instead of backing the resistance effort, they have joined forces with the Islamic militant group. ISIS has used social media, specifically YouTube, to reach out to possible recruits. Several videos have been created and posted by the group. These videos are intended to persuade young people to join their revolution. American authorities have countered back by creating online campaigns to discourage any who are considering joining. Using Twitter and Facebook, they are attempting to counter ISIS’s recent recruiting success in the US. By uncovering the propaganda of the extremists, the authorities are mainly targeting a younger, more vulnerable audience.
While Benedict Arnold is notorious for his treasonous decisions hundreds of years ago, some Americans are unfortunately making the same type of decisions. Multiple cases of teens escaping to the Middle East have been reported in the past few months. Two teens were detained after escaping to Germany. From there they hoped to go to Syria and work along the side of ISIS. Charges may or may not be pressed. However, it could be argued that they were committing modern day treason. As history has gone on, the circumstances have changed, but the fundamentals of treason have remained the same.
