An obvious first step – close the jihadis' highway

[Jefferson23]

World View: The best way to stop UK fighters reaching Isis is to catch them at Turkey's border with Syria

August 24, 2014

The murder of the US journalist James Foley by a British jihadi has reignited the barren debate in Britain about new government powers to tackle extremist Islamic groups. Dubious counter-terrorism specialists, the exact nature of their expertise frequently elusive, speak of the effectiveness of new controls in thwarting actual or potential jihadis. Much of what is said is irrelevant to the real circumstances in which Muslims leave Britain or other foreign countries to fight in Syria and Iraq. The discussion, driven by politicians responding to media hysteria, produces a sort of intellectual fog in which effective measures that can be taken swiftly disappear from view.

The point at which jihadis should be best identified, intercepted and stopped is not within Britain or even Europe, but as they cross from Turkey into Syria. The Turks have a 560-mile border with Syria and it is across this that jihadis must travel if they are to reach their destination, primarily but not exclusively the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), to offer their services. Those who head for Iraq must also take what Turkish journalists call "the Jihadist Highway", a network of roads across Turkey and Syria.

A glance at the map might appear to show that there are other ways of reaching the battlegrounds of Syria and Iraq, but in practice Turkey is the only feasible route for jihadis to the Sunni heartlands of both countries. They can no longer travel through Lebanon since the Syrian army and Hezbollah captured Qusayr, near Homs, and took control of the Syrian Lebanese border last year. Saudi Arabia may once have encouraged or turned a blind eye to its citizens going on jihad to Syria, but it never allowed them to travel directly from Saudi territory to Iraq. Jordan, while trying as usual to keep in with all sides, has always been nervous of being in the front line of aiding the anti-Assad opposition in Syria.

It is down the "Jihadist Highway" through Turkey that the foreign fighters have flowed in their thousands over the past three years. Turkey's open border was crucial to sustaining the Sunni armed uprising which arose out of the mostly peaceful anti-government protests of 2011. It has played the same role as the open Pakistan-Afghan border does in sustaining the Taliban. So long as Taliban fighters could retreat back into Pakistan over the 1,500-mile frontier, they could have a safe haven or sanctuary to rest and resupply before returning to the war.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/an-obvious-first-step--close-the-jihadis-highway-9687899.html

[CJCRANE]

1. I also wonder if they are being recruited through Facebook

and Twitter?

That would explain why so many Western teenagers end up there and their parents and families don't know what's happening.

[Jefferson23]

2. Yes, they are using the internet with what measurable results? I am not sure.

bemildred passed this link to me a few weeks ago:

How ISIS is attracting Muslim youths through online merchandise
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-how-isis-is-attracting-muslim-youths-through-online-merchandise/20140805.htm

[Fred Sanders]

3. Apparently James Foley was captured before in Libya, I think, and held hostage for several months.

Then after his release he goes right back into a major war zone and gets captured again and held hostage for two years until his propaganda value soared and was cashed in by evil men who know propaganda.

Do journalists not have some responsibility to bear for all this?

[Jefferson23]

4. His determination is valued as much as his country of origin is to ISIS. He surely knew what he

was up against but I don't see how his refusal to continue would have curtailed
ISIS, regardless. They're going to take any and every opportunity no matter where
they find it, the alternative would be what for the press?

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Jefferson.