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Daesh Fighters - Porn Addicts, 'Hypocritical About Sexuality'

© Photo : PixabayA woman in lingerie
A woman in lingerie - Sputnik International
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A former US intelligence director has accused Daesh of hypocrisy after claims 80 percent of laptops belonging to jihadis are crammed with pornography - which is against Islamic State law.

Lieutenant General Michael Flynn revealed to German newspaper Bild that graphic sexual images, such as pornography, go some way to desensitize extremists and their brutal acts.

© AP Photo / Militant PhotoThis undated image made available in the Islamic State's English-language magazine Dabiq, shows Abdelhamid Abaaoud.
This undated image made available in the Islamic State's English-language magazine Dabiq, shows Abdelhamid Abaaoud. - Sputnik International
This undated image made available in the Islamic State's English-language magazine Dabiq, shows Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

​"We looked a ruthless enemy in the eye — women and children, girls and boys, raped and exploited, the beheadings stored on a laptop next to pornography," Flynn wrote.

"At one point we actually had determined that the material on the laptops was up to 80 percent pornography."

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Flynn's book on winning the war against radical Islam, 'The Field of Fight,' is being serialized in German newspaper Bild, where his claims linking porn with Daesh extremism have been published.

Meanwhile Clarissa Smith, professor of sexual cultures at Sunderland University remains unconvinced that there is enough evidence detailing the Daesh pornography link.

"I think we need to remain skeptical," Smith told Sputnik.

"I'm unsure about the evidence linking extreme porn to extremism — but it's an accusation that can be deployed to make a case against someone. Accusations surrounding looking at pornography sticks — it's a very sticky accusation to make," Smith told Sputnik.

"However it wouldn't surprise me that they're hypocritical about sexuality. Research in some states of America suggests that predominantly Christian states have been found to have a high incident of pornography searches and downloads."

"When you forbid something — it becomes forbidden fruit. Or the very fact that it's forbidden makes it more interesting," Smith told Sputnik.

© AFP 2023Islamic State militant waves his group's flag as he and another celebrate in Fallujah, Iraq, west of Baghdad
Islamic State militant waves his group's flag as he and another celebrate in Fallujah, Iraq, west of Baghdad - Sputnik International
Islamic State militant waves his group's flag as he and another celebrate in Fallujah, Iraq, west of Baghdad

However, it's not the first time the link between Daesh and sexually explicit downloads has been made. In 2015, former London Mayor and now Britain's Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, called out Daesh terrorists for being literally w*****s.

"If you look at all the psychological profiling about bombers, they typically will look at porn. They are literally w*****s.

Professor Smith remains unconvinced by the link, is however, unsurprised.

"Since we're generally talking about young men, it doesn't surprise me on that basis. Sex is a big interest for young men."

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