One of them said, as you can see in the video above, “We’ve come to spread the Sharia of Allah…and we’ve come to kill anyone who comes in our way.” Where did he get this understanding of jihad and Sharia — one that Muslim organizations in the U.S. claim to reject?
“U.S. Says Dozens of Americans Have Sought to Join Rebels in Syria,” by Eric Schmitt for the New York Times, November 20:
WASHINGTON “” Dozens of Americans have traveled or tried to travel to Syria to fight with the rebels against the government of President Bashar al-Assad since 2011, American intelligence officials said Wednesday.
The Americans are a small subset of the mostly radicalized young Muslims with Western passports who are entering Syria from Europe, North America and Australia, a group that numbers roughly 600, according to the officials and classified estimates from Western spy agencies. That represents a fraction of the roughly 6,000 to 11,000 foreign fighters over all who have poured into Syria by way of the Middle East and North Africa.
The Americans” numbers are small “” intelligence officials would not be more precise than saying “dozens” were involved “” and they have so far not distinguished themselves on the battlefield. But they are part of what officials said was a growing presence of foreigners who are fighting Mr. Assad’s government.
“It’s a very steady increase, and I expect that to continue as long as the fighting there continues,” a senior American intelligence official said.
He was one of four intelligence officials who spoke in a wide-ranging background briefing for reporters who had requested information on the most current assessments by American and other Western spy agencies of foreigners fighting in Syria, including how they are recruited, trained and financed.
The influx of young Muslims with Western passports into Syria has raised fears among American and European intelligence officials of a new terrorist threat when the fighters return home….