Foreign Fighters: preventative action (UK mainly)

[davidbfpo]

A short UK C4 News report on the Danish approach when fighters return home:http://www.channel4.com/news/can-ret...d-into-society

The C4 News website does not have the relevant video clip.

A police officer's explanation:

Everybody is in agreement, early prevention of terrorism is needed. And so we start out with dialogue. We screen each fighter, we assess their needs. We engage with their families and friends, and their mosque, so that they have a well-functioning network around them. This can reduce the risk of them being further radicalised....There is always a risk but the flaw would be to apply tough measures to soft targets, people who are not that radicalised. We believe there are fighres we can still turn around. If you apply harsh measures to them it would be counter-productive, because you risk producing the very violent extremists you are trying to prevent.

[davidbfpo]

A short comprehensive review, the title says it all 'British Jihadis in Iraq and Syria: How should we deal with them when they come home?', in The Independent (UK) newspaper:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...e-9771290.html

The sub-title explains more 'While there is broad consensus that those who pose a threat to national security should be dealt with, many experts argue that not all of the Britons in Syria and Iraq are trained fighters and terrorists'.

Here is one passage on the dilemma for the state:

Worryingly, the government strategy for dealing with returnees appears generalised, untargeted, fragmented and draconian. ...But it is feared that such measures will serve only to send the more moderate returnees, who might otherwise become assets for intelligence services, underground.

For reasons lost on me the UK's 'Prevent' strategy and the cited Channel Project are often praised by officialdom and those abroad. Sadly it has very little credibility where it matters, which is not inside government, but amongst those who need help - not exclusively Muslims either.

[davidbfpo]

Rachel Briggs, who has long been thinking on the 'Prevent' issues, has a blog comment 'We need a more nuanced approach for dealing with british jihadists who want to come home':http://rachelbriggs.wordpress.com/20...-to-come-home/

She starts with:

There are growing reports that British jihadis fighting in Syria want to come home; it has been claimed that dozens are trapped in Syria unable to leave, and up to 100 are stranded in Turkey having made it out of Syria, but worried or unable to come back to the UK.

[AmericanPride]

David,

In your estimation, how much of this is the direct appeal of jihad or Islamism, and how much of it is the appeal of adventure, etc for young men? The 20th century alone is replete with young men joining foreign causes (IDF, French Foreign Legion, Spanish Civil War, South Africa, Nazi SS, etc). It seems to me like there are many who went abroad looking for that kind of experience, only to become disillusioned either with war, ISIS, or some combination in between. What are your thoughts?

[davidbfpo]

David,

In your estimation, how much of this is the direct appeal of jihad or Islamism, and how much of it is the appeal of adventure, etc for young men? The 20th century alone is replete with young men joining foreign causes (IDF, French Foreign Legion, Spanish Civil War, South Africa, Nazi SS, etc). It seems to me like there are many who went abroad looking for that kind of experience, only to become disillusioned either with war, ISIS, or some combination in between. What are your thoughts?

I can only give an estimate about the UK.

It is important to note initially the main emphasis was going to fight in Syria, not Iraq; nor until relatively recently was ISIS the main destination.

Each case is likely to be different, whether it is an individual decision or a small group.

During the Syrian Civil War helping those under attack by the regime was the reason, allied with the apparently steady advance of jihadist groups who stressed jihad and then the pursuit of an AK47 adventure. Once it became apparent this was a horrible civil war, where fighting each other was more likely than fighting the regime, becoming a jihadist came to the fore.

My estimate is that with the public arrival of ISIS there has been a change as the "message" about the battlefield(s) in The Levant being the final battleground emerged. I have doubts that this message even featured before, very few Muslims appear to have acknowledged this factor.

One snag is that to date very few, if any, veterans from Syria have actually talked publicly - when hopefully their disillusionment would be to the fore. It is interesting that some groups and older veterans have advised against going.

[davidbfpo]

In the last CTC Newsltter is a short article, it is slightly strange being based on survey research in Syria:

Over the past year, the authors have surveyed more than 300 FSA fighters as well as Syrian civilians and refugees and 50 Syrian Islamist fighters in the Islamic Front (Ahrar al-Sham) and JN, the latter of which is al-Qa`ida’s affiliate in Syria.

They conclude (cited in part):

At present, the authors’ research suggests that rebel fighters are generally revenge-seeking and driven to Islamist groups not primarily due to ideological motivations, but rather for instrumental reasons. However, once inside the group, they are vulnerable to elite manipulation. ....Islamist groups appear to be having great success harnessing and exploiting Syrian anger for purposes well beyond fighting the al-Assad regime, which is why the current drive in Islamist recruitment in Syria could have important spillover consequences for conflict elsewhere.

Link:https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-m...amist-fighters

[davidbfpo]

A lengthy New Statesman article by ICSR's Shiraz Maher:

From Portsmouth to Kobane: the British jihadis fighting for Isis

(Sub-title) What motivates the young men who leave Britain to join the murderous fanatics of Isis in the Middle East? Shiraz Maher spoke to dozens of them inside Syria to find out.

Link:http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/10/portsmouth-kobane

The stories of the Portsmouth and Manchester boys offer a remarkable insight into the world of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq. They also reveal the deep chasms within British society. Second- and third-generation immigrants of Muslim Asian origin continue to feel a profound detachment not just from the country in which they were born and educated but from their own families and communities, too. Many of their local leaders are too old to counter the charisma of millenarian propaganda and their experiences are too remote from those of their congregants.

Their stories remind us how powerful social media can be.