Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 21 to 40 of 40

Thread: Foreign fighters in Iraq & Syria

  1. #21
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    589

    Default i have no idea where to begin even replying...

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob's World View Post
    Carl, actually it is you espousing ideological nonsense. I tolerate your binded shots in my general direction, and I realize many are equally as ideolgogically blinded as yourself and agree in large part with your baseless positions. That does not make those positions correct.

    In many ways you are a microcosm of post Cold War US national security strategy, becoming increasingly ideological ourselves to the point where we perceive ourselves to be existentially threatened merely because some other ideolog believes differently.

    Personally I am cautious of all ideologs, regardless of their espoused creed. I prefer those who think, seek to understand, and then speak or act; over those who memorize, recite and perform.

    These are political struggles. When one loses sight of that reality and over-focuses on "the lipstick" (to borrow your phrase) one forgets its all about the pig. And that pig is politics; and the political competition is driven by fundamental human nature, not fundamentalist ideology. Those denied legal redress will take illegal redress. It is what humans have always done and will always do.
    ...to this nonsense. Political preferences are non ideiological? Ever hear of the spanish civil war? So politics is purely proceducral? I take it these people travel abroad to risk their lives for such administrative or procedural political goals as wether or not the central government should pick up household rubiish on Tuesday instead of Wednesday? Its crap like this that simply turned me off SWC. Bobs worls and I have debated before. Right now I just can't be bothered. Politics is not ideological?!! Thank god this site doesnt require a subscription.

  2. #22
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default 'Greenbirds: Measuring Importance and Influence in Syrian Foreign Fighter Networks'

    ICSR @ Kings has published this research paper today:
    An analysis of social media has shown what a selection of foreign fighters in Syria are liking, following and interacting with. What are their key online influences?....The analysis identifies two relatively unknown clerics who have been acting as online cheerleaders for fighters seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad. It also identifies a new breed of 'disseminators' advising and supporting the men and women who have joined rebel groups. Two preachers, Ahmad Musa Jibril (US-based) and Musa Cerantonio (based in Australia)
    From a short article:http://www.theguardian.com/news/data...ighters-syria?


    An eight minute video:http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/v...al-media-video


    The report via:http://icsr.info/2014/04/icsr-insigh...eign-fighters/
    davidbfpo

  3. #23
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default

    A short paper by the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue 'Foreign Fighters, the Challenge of Counter-Narratives', after the introduction a refreshing attempt to consider and provide a counter-narrative. Sadly it has taken three years, with speculation / reporting that hundreds are fighting in Syria and an estimated two hundred and fifty have returned to the UK.

    Link:http://www.strategicdialogue.org/For...bsite_v0.6.pdf
    davidbfpo

  4. #24
    Council Member Firn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    1,297

    Default

    Brussels Jewish Museum killings: Suspect 'admitted attack'

    He said Mr Nemmouche had spent over a year in Syria and had links with radical Islamists.

    ....

    Police found Mr Nemmouche had in his possession a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun believed to have been used in the attack, the Paris prosecutor told a news conference on Sunday.

    With the weapons was a white sheet emblazoned with the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a jihadist group fighting in Syria, according to Mr Molins.
    He was also sentenced to 5 years for armed robbery, it seems, before going to Syria. Arguably a second marker beside the Syria trip which caused monitoring activities. Similar connections (minus the terrorism at home, so far) have been already mentioned in this thread. This nexus and his criminal past might have facilitated the access to those guns, we will see. There will be lots of question in France, especially within the services.

    Mr Nemmouche was also said to be carrying a camera with a 40-second video showing the two guns and a voice recording, claiming responsibility for the killings and expressing regret that the device had not succeeded in capturing the shooting.
    Maybe influenced by the Syrian YTwar, in which such cameras are widely used for various reasons, propaganda being not the least among them.
    Last edited by Firn; 06-01-2014 at 09:47 PM.
    ... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"

    General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
    Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935

  5. #25
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default Messages for those who wish to fight

    A short, six minute CNN interview with Peter Neumann from ICSR and he is very pessimistic about teh impact of foreign fighters. This quote comes after his direct contact with fighters:
    They are telling us that the Syrian people do not like them very much. They are telling us that they hate the idea that all this infighting is going on between different groups – they came to Syria in order to fight Bashar Assad; what they end up doing is killing other Sunni rebels. And so there are a lot of powerful messages. If governments paid more attention, these would be very powerful messages to deter people from going to Syria in the first place
    Link:http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/0...stan-in-1980s/
    davidbfpo

  6. #26
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default

    An update on the French scene:http://jihadology.net/2014/06/09/the...eers-in-syria/

    For David Thomson, the French jihadists are leaving to assume a defensive jihad against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but also because they believe in the Muslim prophecies of the end times, the Apocalypse, to be held in Syria (land of Sham). There is no portrait type of French jihadist even if some are from disadvantaged neighborhoods of large cities, others come from the countryside and have never met a Muslim. Many are offenders, but not all, some being fully inserted into the social fabric. The only common denominator is the role of the Internet and social networks. These helped to streamline the message of jihad and extend it to a wider younger audience. Most of the jihadists become self-taught via the net
    davidbfpo

  7. #27
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default So most of them are already home?

    Amidst a longer story, IMHO fear-mongering, is this passage:
    Security officials estimate that about two-thirds of those have already returned.


    Link:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz36h0sNQoY

    davidbfpo

  8. #28
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default

    One of the better press articles on why three Britons left for Syria. A complex and unpredictable mixture:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...randeep-ramesh

    A shorter Canadian report:http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07...dists-at-home/
    davidbfpo

  9. #29
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    3,169

    Default

    Light infantry and special operators will be very familiar with these battle drills. You can critique their tactics at the margins, but overall they appear to be well trained, some of the tactics/battle drills demonstrated include man down drills, react to contact, bounding overwatch, how to execute an ambush, etc.

    These are reportedly foreign fighters being trained in Syria. Apparently using our books.

    http://www.longwarjournal.org/archiv...st_group_i.php

    Chechen-led jihadist group in Syria releases video of training camp

    A new jihadist group known as the Jamaat Ahadun Ahad, or the Group of the One and Only, has released a video of its training camp in Syria. The group is led by a Chechen commander and includes fighters from Chechnya, Europe, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and several Arab countries.

  10. #30
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default What the Danes think

    An unclassified Danish Security Service (PET) Center for Terror Analysis has published:
    ...a 6-page unclassified intelligence threat assessment on the danger posed by foreign fighters currently operating in Syria with various militant groups, especially ISIS.

    The report discloses that more than 100 Danes are currently believed to be fighting with these militant groups in Syria, and that 15 have been killed. The report also notes that a small but growing number of Danes are now leaving home to fight with ISIS in Iraq.

    Link:https://www.pet.dk/English/Centerfor...nFINALpdf.ashx
    davidbfpo

  11. #31
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    11,074

    Default From the Guy Next Door to the Fighter Overseas: A Look at Four Foreign Fighters who J

    From the Guy Next Door to the Fighter Overseas: A Look at Four Foreign Fighters who Joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

    Entry Excerpt:



    --------
    Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
    This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

  12. #32
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    11,074

    Default A Ticket to Turkey and a Desire to Fight: Why Some Foreign Fighters Travel to Syria

    A Ticket to Turkey and a Desire to Fight: Why Some Foreign Fighters Travel to Syria

    Entry Excerpt:



    --------
    Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
    This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

  13. #33
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    3,169

    Default

    http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/res...d%20%20web.pdf

    Be Afraid.
    Be A Little Afraid:
    The Threat of Terrorism from
    Western Foreign Fighters in Syria
    and Iraq


    This paper first lays out the standard schematic view
    of how and why some foreign fighters become dangerous
    terrorists, drawing on the Afghanistan experience
    in the 1980s to illustrate the arguments. The
    second section discusses why many seasoned observers
    believe the Syria conflict is likely to be particularly
    dangerous. In the third section, we examine
    why terrorism in Europe and the United States was
    less than expected from previous jihads such as Iraq,
    again drawing implications and lessons specific to
    Syria, as well as examining factors unique to the Syrian
    conflict itself. The fourth and final section identifies
    policy implications and recommendations.

  14. #34
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default Foreign fighter in Syria/Iraq now exceeds 20k; surpasses Afghanistan conflict

    The latest ICSR estimate:
    The number of foreigners that have joined Sunni militant organizations in the Syria/Iraq conflict continues to rise. According to ICSR’s latest estimate, the total now exceeds 20,000 – of which nearly a fifth were residents or nationals of Western European countries.
    Link to short document:http://icsr.info/2015/01/foreign-fig...onflict-1980s/

    Last edited by davidbfpo; 01-26-2015 at 07:20 PM. Reason: Add chart
    davidbfpo

  15. #35
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    11,074

    Default How Many Fighters Does the Islamic State Really Have?

    How Many Fighters Does the Islamic State Really Have?

    Entry Excerpt:



    --------
    Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
    This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

  16. #36
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    11,074

    Default Petraeus: Use Al Qaeda Fighters to Beat ISIS

    Petraeus: Use Al Qaeda Fighters to Beat ISIS

    Entry Excerpt:



    --------
    Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
    This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

  17. #37
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    11,074

    Default Global Efforts Fail to Stem Flow of Foreign Fighters to Syria, Iraq

    Global Efforts Fail to Stem Flow of Foreign Fighters to Syria, Iraq

    Entry Excerpt:



    --------
    Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
    This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

  18. #38
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default Moderators Note

    I have altered the thread's title from Foreign Fighters in Syria: a crime minus a motive? to simply Foreign Fighters in Iraq & Syria.

    A couple of small threads have been merged in too.

    There is a parallel thread: Foreign Fighters: preventative action (UK mainly)

    An older, larger thread, which I have now closed:Today's Wild Geese: Foreign Fighters in the GWOT
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 10-01-2015 at 12:47 PM.
    davidbfpo

  19. #39
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default Failing to Stem the Flow of Foreign Fighters

    A succinct Soufan Group briefing note, the keypoint IMHO is:
    Both the UN and U.S. estimates find that nearly 30,000 people have traveled to Syria; the monthly rate of 1,000 remains unchanged
    Link:http://soufangroup.com/tsg-intelbrie...eign-fighters/

    Their argument is weakened by no mention of the recent ICSR report and nowt on those who change their mind.
    davidbfpo

  20. #40
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    13,366

    Default Not less, more

    The latest Soufan Group report, which going by Twitter is getting plaudits and their main point is:
    In the 18 months since The Soufan Group released its initial report on foreign fighters in Syria, the numbers of people going to fight in Syria have more than doubled, from an estimated 12,000 to between 27,000 and 31,000
    Link:http://soufangroup.com/tsg-intelbrie...ers-an-update/

    Twitter indicates the full report has many graphs etc.
    davidbfpo

Similar Threads

  1. Vietnam collection (lessons plus)
    By SWJED in forum Training & Education
    Replies: 140
    Last Post: 06-27-2014, 04:40 AM
  2. Syria: a civil war (closed)
    By tequila in forum Middle East
    Replies: 663
    Last Post: 08-05-2012, 06:35 AM
  3. Iraq and the Arab States on Its Borders
    By Jedburgh in forum Catch-All, OIF
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 02-18-2009, 07:51 PM
  4. The argument to partition Iraq
    By SWJED in forum Iraqi Governance
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 03-10-2008, 05:18 PM
  5. DNI's Fabius Maximus: Iraq and the Future
    By SWJED in forum Catch-All, OIF
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 02-20-2006, 03:51 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •