The ISIS military force is growing. Thanks, in part, due to foreign fighters rushing to join them. 250 of them are Americans.
The good news? Putting all of them in one spot makes it easier to eliminate them as a threat. The bad news? If they are American, it will be easier for them to come back to our shores and cause problems.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/isis-has-recruited-as-many-as-30000-foreigners.html
The New York Times is reporting that a new confidential U.S. intelligence assessment indicates that as many as 30,000 foreigners from more than 100 countries have flocked to Syria and Iraq to join the ranks of ISIS in the past year, double the number of recruits from the year before. And while the Pentagon estimates that coalition airstrikes have killed roughly 10,000 ISIS fighters, the militant group is having little trouble replacing and expanding its forces, with some 1,000 new recruits joining up every month. Daniel L. Byman, a counterterrorism expert, tells the Times that one exacerbating factor leading to the influx is how there is now “a ‘network effect’ where friends, family are bringing along other friends and family” to join ISIS — in essence, a militant migration toward the conflict zone.
The rough estimates from intelligence and law enforcement officials also reveal that, of the 30,000 newcomers, more than 4,500 have come from Western countries, including 250 Americans and 750 Britons, but efforts to track the foreign fighters' movements and identities have been hampered by inadequate coordination among international intelligence agencies, as well as the fact that Syria and Iraq have such large and porous borders. And while the Times notes that countries have been passing new laws in an effort to better combat ISIS's recruiting of their citizens, measures that are too draconian and restrictive may also have a backlash effect, driving would-be militants toward, rather than away from, jihadism.
The good news? Putting all of them in one spot makes it easier to eliminate them as a threat. The bad news? If they are American, it will be easier for them to come back to our shores and cause problems.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/isis-has-recruited-as-many-as-30000-foreigners.html
The New York Times is reporting that a new confidential U.S. intelligence assessment indicates that as many as 30,000 foreigners from more than 100 countries have flocked to Syria and Iraq to join the ranks of ISIS in the past year, double the number of recruits from the year before. And while the Pentagon estimates that coalition airstrikes have killed roughly 10,000 ISIS fighters, the militant group is having little trouble replacing and expanding its forces, with some 1,000 new recruits joining up every month. Daniel L. Byman, a counterterrorism expert, tells the Times that one exacerbating factor leading to the influx is how there is now “a ‘network effect’ where friends, family are bringing along other friends and family” to join ISIS — in essence, a militant migration toward the conflict zone.
The rough estimates from intelligence and law enforcement officials also reveal that, of the 30,000 newcomers, more than 4,500 have come from Western countries, including 250 Americans and 750 Britons, but efforts to track the foreign fighters' movements and identities have been hampered by inadequate coordination among international intelligence agencies, as well as the fact that Syria and Iraq have such large and porous borders. And while the Times notes that countries have been passing new laws in an effort to better combat ISIS's recruiting of their citizens, measures that are too draconian and restrictive may also have a backlash effect, driving would-be militants toward, rather than away from, jihadism.
