American citizen Mohamad Khweis left the United States in December 2015 to join the ISIS and start a new life in Mosul. A mere month later, Khweis fled to Turkey and made plans to return to the United States.

Life with ISIS is, shocker, not very luxurious. Khweis told Kurdish television station that his life with the group followed a strict regimen of prayer, religious and meals.

“It was pretty hard to live in Mosul,” Khweis admitted in a 17-minute video. “It’s not like the Western countries, you know, it’s very strict. There’s no smoking. I found it hard for everyone there.”

Khweis also didn’t see eye to eye with ISIS teachings.

“I didn’t agree with their ideology, and that’s when I wanted to escape,” he said.

Previously, a 15 year-old European girl who had joined and then escaped the Islamic State noted that being a part of a terrorist organization was less fun than she expected. But this girl was an impressionable teenager. Khweis is 26 years old, college educated and American born. His friends and family agree that he wasn’t radicalized before he left the U.S. How did he not suspect that life in Mosul would be more difficult than life in the United States? How did he not guess that ISIS’ fanatical ideology wasn’t his cup of tea?

ISIS has committed genocide against Christians, Yezidis and other minorities in Syria and Iraq. The group also regularly posts disturbing footage of mass executions and graphic killings on the Internet. Its fanatical ideology has been clear from the start, and it’s amazing that Khweis traveled from the U.S. to London, to Amsterdam, to Istanbul and then finally to Mosul without rethinking the wisdom of joining ISIS.

Being a part of ISIS may be “pretty hard,” but here are a few things we think are even more difficult:

– Developing a completely functional F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

– Getting that pesky popcorn kernel out from between your teeth

– Reading ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce in a single sitting

– Making an appointment at a VA hospital

– Joining the U.S. military to fight ISIS

Got your own ideas? Post ’em below!

[The Washington Post]