Dewsbury to Damascus: The danger of young British Muslims learning to wage Jihad in Syria

Daily Mail ^ | 06:32 EST, 16 August 2012 | Michael Burleigh

[Zhang Fei]

All it takes is a cheap air ticket to Turkey, and then a ride over the border into northern Syria.

That is the route being taken by British-based jihadists from London and the Midlands, who are making their presence felt in the fight against Assad.

The week before last, two British and Dutch photojournalists had a narrow escape when they were taken prisoner by 30 such people. Note that in the eyes of the British jihadis, it is westerners who are the real enemy, westerners who were rescued by the Syrian opposition.

I write British-based jihadists because these young males feel no loyalty whatsoever to this country, and for that matter don’t care about Syria either. As Bangladeshis, Chechens and Pakistanis, they don’t even speak Syrian Arabic and know nothing of the delicate politics of that country.

Their true loyalty is to the global Muslim umma – the community of believers – which transcends any single country. This enables them to romanticize their small selves, otherwise confined as they are to life above a chip shop or curry house in the Midlands. They don’t have any loyalty to this country either, and could just as easily be crying ‘Allahu Akhbar’ amidst the embers of Birmingham, should it come to it. Although they are militarily incompetent, that can quickly be rectified in camps in Syria, where improvised bombs are the weapon of choice for the rebels against Assad’s armour.

[Zhang Fei]

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

[GreyFriar]

Comming soon to a US city near you? Read the entire article at DailyMail.com.

[bayouranger]

Their true loyalty is to the global Muslim umma – the community of believers – which transcends any single country "Maj. Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood Shooter And Lone-Wolf Jihadi, Celebrated And Lionized By Terror Groups And Leaders The shooting by Hasan threw Al-Qaeda leaders, its main media outlets, and its followers online into paroxysms of ecstasy; as a U.S. Army serviceman carrying out a lone-wolf attack against other U.S. servicemen, he has been lionized by prominent jihadis of all stripes. Al-Awlaki called him a "hero" and a "man of conscience"; American Al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn characterized him as a "pioneer, a trailblazer, and a role model"; Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and its leaders praised him as a "hero" and an "heroic fighter," and the Taliban called him "courageous." The attack itself was termed "heroic" by Al-Qaeda's American spokesman Adam Gadahn, Al-Awlaki, and others. Al-Qaeda and jihadi groups worldwide are continuing to point to Hasan as a role model and the Fort Hood attack as a paradigm. Articles about Hasan have been turned into music videos, posted on YouTube and jihadi forums; his face is used for avatars for jihadis' Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media accounts, and in media by the Al-Qaeda media company Al-Sahab and articles about him have been published in Inspire. In short, Maj. Nidal Hasan has become a jihadi legend." Pammie has more here: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2012/08/maj-nidal-hasan-fort-hood-shooter-and-lone-wolf-jihadi-celebrated-and-lionized-by-terror-groups-and-leaders.html

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. I read the whole article. Obviously, the British government isn’t going to do anything substantial, and neither is our government.

[Bulan Sabriel]

"The danger of young British Muslims learning to wage Jihad in Syria"
Wrong. The problem comes from millions of Muslims living in the United Kingdom in the first place. Having the Sunni Jihadis go to Syria and get killed while killing Iranians is a good thing. The more dead Jihadis on both sides, the better. And if this embaresses the modern Vortigerns leading the Eurabian province of Agle-stan, all the better.