Within the ranks of the brutal terrorist organization, Western fighters – especially those holding U.S. passports – have held an esteemed position, if only for propaganda purposes. In the early days of ISIS’ rise, Westerners routinely got the nicest homes, their pick of Yazidi sex slaves and the freshest food.
So why are Western borders so easy to penetrate, particularly given that foreign fighters of the Islamic State are known to be making their way back to their “home” countries, of which they are self-declared enemies, with “deadly training”? All the while, leftists are frothing at the mouth over Trump’s “potential” immigration plans, despite the fact that they have nary a comprehensible plan to protect Western citizens.
A report came out in September about the dire situation in Europe:
Security services are examining plans for how to deal with thousands of Western jihadists who would seek to return to Europe as Isis continues to lose territory in its “caliphate” and suffer severe losses from pounding air strikes by the US-led coalition and Russia.
“American jihadists on the move from Mosul pose threat to US,” by Hollie McKay, Fox News, November 21, 2016:
OUTSIDE OF MOSUL, Iraq — Clouds of black soot and the acrid stench of burning tires hang over the ISIS-controlled road in the early morning, as rockets whistle through the air toward the Peshmerga-held posts.
The smoke helps ISIS fighters re-position, and even flee. In the case of foreign fighters, it could even allow them to live to fight another day in their homelands, including America.
“The smoke is designed to dampen our vision. But this is more than normal, which means they are moving around the ISIS leaders,” one Kurdish lieutenant commander told FoxNews.com from the front line wrapping around Shengal, also known as Sinjar. “And likely, their key Western fighters, too.”
Within the ranks of the brutal terrorist organization, Western fighters – especially those holding U.S. passports – have held an esteemed position, if only for propaganda purposes. In the early days of ISIS’ rise, Westerners routinely got the nicest homes, their pick of Yazidi sex slaves and the freshest food.
According to an FBI spokesperson, 250 Americans have “traveled or attempted to travel” to Syria or Iraq to join ISIS or other terrorist groups over the past few years. It is not clear how many made it, but the FBI reports a decrease in recent months. The slowing of all foreign recruits – from a pinnacle of 2,000 per month to now less than 50 – comes as a result of both stricter border controls in neighboring countries and evident ISIS battlefield losses, which hurts their resolve and enlistment efforts.
As the noose tightens around ISIS’ Iraq headquarters of Mosul, and international forces take aim at the terror army’s main stronghold of Raqqa, in Syria, U.S. intelligence officials are watching for American jihadists aiming to flee for their homeland. As it stands, around 8,000 total ISIS fighters, one-fifth foreign, are believed to still be inside the Mosul area alone.
Col. Marwan Sabri, of the Yazidi Peshmerga battalion, recalled that in March this year, a disillusioned American surrendered, begging Kurdish fighters not to shoot at him. He turned out to be 26-year-old Mohamed Jamal Khweis from Virginia. He was extradited to the U.S. and is scheduled to stand trial in April.
“The Americans are in the ranks,” Sabri said.
Another high-ranking soldier affirmed that American accents have been heard on radio intercepts.
“Some Americans were working intel and some were fighting. Some get to high positions, some have been killed,” the source said. “And some, we think, are still alive.”
According to Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qader Mohammad, director of the Kirkuk Province Police Department, forces have “killed many” ISIS fighters, thought to be from the U.S., throughout the war’s duration.
Michael Pregent, an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, senior Middle East analyst and former intelligence adviser to Gen. David Petraeus, cautioned that Western fighters may now have new Muslim names and freshly-minted counterfeit passports, and could push its fighters into the refugee ranks without immediate detection.
“These Western fighters have the ability to go back home after their deadly training,” Pregent said. “And blend in.”……