The above video has been passed through tens of thousands of Facebook inbox’s over the past year. There are several different versions of the same footage on YouTube, amassing over 200,000 views since May 2013. A simple Google search of, “Terrorist Bl”… is all you need to type, and Google supplies you with the top video, “Terrorist blows himself up”. You are then supplied with the most popular links(most clicked on) associated to the video, they are;

“Terrorist Thinks He’s Rambo, Blows Himself Up with Rocket”

“ISIS Fail!! WATCH as a Terrorist Blows Himself Up”

“Hilarious Video: Muslim Terrorist Blows Self Up With Own Mortar…”

“hamas terrorist blows himself up LOL”

“Taliban blows himself up IED owns himself”

The first time I watched that video, I’ll admit, I chuckled a bit, more of a nervous laugh, to be honest, as I was being shown the video on an iPhone that was being held by one of my closest friends. “Ha”, he said, “F*@k that guy, right?” My initial reaction, I assume, was similar to the majority of you as you watched the video, something along the lines of, “Hell Yeah, ‘Merica”. Or as Charlie Day would exclaim, “Rock, Flag and Eagle!!!”

As the moments passed, I began to realize that I was being quite lazy to just take that video at face value. As many of you know, I am currently a Masters degree candidate at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security a division of the Naval Postgraduate School. The program focuses on a plethora of topics ranging from Unconventional Threats, Intelligence, Critical Infrastructure, Strategic Planning, Terrorism and the Psychology of Fear Management just to name a few. The curriculum is structured around the key policy and organizational design problems that future homeland security leaders are likely to confront, and the analytic skills they will need to meet those challenges. The common denominators present throughout all of my classes have been Critical Analysis, Source Identification and Evaluation, essentially, NOT taking things at face value.

Let us take this opportunity to put on our thinking caps and analyze this video through the lens of a critical thinker, I prefer the ever popular 5 W’s

Who:

-Is that-can he be identified?

-Is he firing mortars at?

-Is he fighting for?

-Is the audience?

What:

-Are his(groups) motivations?

-Is the intended response?

-Language is he speaking/is he saying?

-Region of the world is this?

When:

-Was this filmed?

-Was this released to the media?

Where:

-Was this filmed?

Why:

-Is he involved?

-Is this retaliation or overt attack?

And finally:

How:

-Did they obtain the weapons?

-Did they release the video?

After reviewing the video and attempting to answer those 5 W’s, one could understand my frustration and trepidation with immediately identifying the man in the video as a terrorist. There is no context, only 20 seconds of grainy video footage from somewhere in the world.

For comparison, this video, submitted to YouTube a little over a year ago, depicts the U.S. Marines training Afghan soldiers to shoot RPG’s.

How can we be so sure that the Afghan troops the Marines are training to prepare to fight against insurgents in their own territory are not the same men from the initial video? That positive identification would be nearly impossible to do without some aggressive critical analysis, vetted intelligence reports and the assistance of local assets.

The Critical Thinking rubric below was developed at Purdue University and articulates fundamental criteria for the development of critical thinking, with performance descriptors demonstrating progressively more sophisticated levels of attainment.

Critical thinking is a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion. The capacity to combine or synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways; thinking innovatively; and intellectual risk taking — all components of creative thinking — is part of the development of critical thinking.

When I started my Masters program I was hovering somewhere between the Novice and Emerging category as it relates to the Critical Thinking rubric. I was curious and knew there was more gray area in the world than there was black and white. When it comes to analyzing terrorist threats, the water becomes murky and deep quite quickly. Positively identifying our enemies in the past was a much easier task, they proudly wore a uniquely identifying uniform, i.e. “The Red Coats are coming, the Red Coats are coming”. Current asymetric warfare, as is seen in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Syria explicitly creates a confusing and complex battle ground. Seemingly, there are no simple solutions, no firm ground to base tactical decisions. This new style of warfare deserves expert level critical analysis and decision making abilities.

I can assure you that I am not in any way a terrorist sympathizer, I am not asking you to take any side, though, I am asking you to do your due diligence when it comes to “truths” on social media. It is better to be informed than to be opinionated.

So please, the next time you receive a video via social media, or you hear pundits in the news media proselytizing about the global war on terror please promise me you will put on your thinking caps and remember to ask the 5 W’s. If you find it difficult to believe whatever you are being told, there's probably a lot more to the story.

Don't take anything at face value, dig a little deeper