Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

Title: Iraq: ISIS Carrying Out Ethnic Cleansing on Historic Scale

Author: Jim Lobe
Publisher:Global Information Network
Date Published: 3 September 2014
Retrieved From: Sirs Knowledge Source, http://sks.sirs.com
While the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama ponders broader actions against the Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria (ISIS), Amnesty International Tuesday accused the group of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Iraq on a
"historic scale."
In a 26-page report, which was based on on-site investigations and interviews with victims and witnesses of mass
executions and abductions, the London-based rights group said the threats to ethnic minorities in the areas under
ISIS's control "demand a swift and robust response ... to ensure the protection of vulnerable communities who risk
being wiped off the map of Iraq."
"The group that calls itself the Islamic State (IS) has carried out ethnic cleansing on a historic scale in northern
Iraq," the report said. "Amnesty International has found that the IS has systematically targeted non-Arab and nonSunni Muslim communities, killing or abducting hundreds, possibly thousands, and forcing more than 830,000
others to flee the areas it has captured since 10 June 2014."
Amnesty's report was released as another major international rights organisation, New York-based Human Rights
Watch (HRW), charged ISIS with executing between 560 and 770 men - all or most of them Iraqi army soldiers - in
Tikrit after it took control of that city on June 11 as part of its stunning drive across northern and central Iraq. The
following day, ISIS itself claimed to have executed 1,700 "Shi'a members of the army."
The new HRW estimate, which was based on testimony from a survivor and analyses of videos and satellite
imagery, was triple the death toll HRW had reported at the end of June. The group said the imagery confirmed the
existence of three more mass execution sites in and around Tikrit in addition to the two it had reported earlier.
"Another piece of this gruesome puzzle has come into place, with many more executions now confirmed," said Peter
Bouckaert, HRW's emergencies director. "The barbarity of the Islamic State violates the law and grossly offends the
conscience."
The United Nations Human Rights Council voted Monday to send a fact-finding team to Iraq to investigate possible
war crimes by ISIS.
"The reports we have received reveal acts of inhumanity on an unimaginable scale," Flavia Pansieri, the deputy high
commissioner for human rights, told the Council.
The Amnesty and HRW reports came as ISIS posted a video purporting to show its beheading of a U.S. reporter,
Steven Sotloff, who had been kidnapped in August 2013 while he was covering the civil war in Syria for Time
magazine and the Christian Science Monitor, among other publications.'
The grisly video, which is certain to add pressure on the Obama administration to expand recent U.S. airstrikes
against ISIS to include targets in Syria, as well as in Iraq, followed the release of a video of the beheading by ISIS
two weeks ago of another U.S. reporter, James Foley. It also came after an emotional videotaped appeal aired last
week by Sotloff's mother to ISIS' leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to spare her son.
Sotloff had appeared in the Foley video, with the purported executioner, who is believed to be a British national,
warning that Sotloff would be next to be killed unless Obama ceased conducting air strikes against ISIS positions
around Mt. Zinjar and convoys approaching Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan.
Obama, however, has since broadened the U.S. target list. Dozens of air strikes have been carried out in coordination
with ground attacks by Iraqi special forces, Shi'a militias, and Kurdish peshmerga fighters in a counteroffensive that
initially recaptured the giant Mosul dam from ISIS forces and, more recently, reportedly broke the group's siege of
the largely Shi'a Turkomen town of Amerli.
"I'm back, Obama," the same masked executioner said on the latest video. "I'm back because of your arrogant
foreign policy toward the Islamic State, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings."

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

"We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic
State to back off and leave our people alone," he added, while standing over yet another unidentified captive who is
believed to be a British citizen.
For its part, the White House released a statement noting that it had seen the video and that the intelligence
community was working to determine its authenticity. "If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an
innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends."
Obama, who left Tuesday for the NATO summit in Wales later this week, is expected to urge other members of the
alliance to adopt a coordinated strategy of diplomatic, economic, and military pressure against ISIS, which spread
from its base in eastern Syria into Iraq's Al-Anbar province in early 2014 before its sweep down the Tigris and
Euphrates river valleys into northern and central Iraq beginning in June.
Among other measures, Washington wants its European allies to adhere to U.S. and British policies against ransom
payments to free citizens who are captured by ISIS - a practice that has reportedly become a major source of income
for the group.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel are also scheduled to visit key allies in the Middle
East next week, especially in the Sunni-led Gulf states, to persuade them to crack down harder against their citizens
who fund or otherwise support ISIS, offer greater support to a new government in Baghdad, and possibly contribute
direct support for expanded international military efforts against the group.
Like the administration itself, U.S. lawmakers, who return here from their summer recess next week, are divided on
how aggressively Washington should take military action against ISIS.
While many Republicans are urging Obama to conduct air strikes - and even deploy ground forces - against the
group in Syria, as well as Iraq, many Democrats are concerned that such an escalation could well lead to
Washington's becoming bogged down in yet more Middle Eastern conflicts.
Some key Democrats, however, are becoming more hawkish, a process that is likely to strengthen as a result of
Sotloff's execution.
"Let there be no doubt we must go after ISIS right away because the U.S. is the only one that can put together a
coalition to stop this group that's intent on barbaric cruelty," said Florida Sen. Bill Nelson Tuesday in announcing
legislation that would give Obama legal authority to strike ISIS in Syria.
In its report, Amnesty detailed mass killings last month by ISIS forces of hundreds of non-Sunni Muslim men and
boys as young as 12 in the predominantly Yazidi regions in Nineveh Province, as well as the mass abductions of
women and children, many of whom, according to the report, are being held in Mosul, Tal 'Afar, and Bi'aj under
pressure to convert to Sunni Islam. Many others remain unaccounted for.
"The Islamic State is carrying out despicable crimes and has transformed rural areas of Sinjar into blood-soaked
killing fields in its brutal campaign to obliterate all trade of non-Arabs and non-Sunni Muslims," said Donatella
Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser currently based in northern Iraq.
In addition to Yezidis, targeted groups include Assyrian Christians, Turkmen Shi'a, Shabak Shi'a, Kakai and Sabean
Manaeans, as well as many Arabs and Sunni Muslims who are believed to oppose ISIS, according to the report
which also called for Iraq's government to disband Shi'a militias, some of which are believed to have targeted Sunni
communities in the region.
"Instead of aggravating the fighting by either turning a blind eye to sectarian militias or arming Shi'a militias against
the Islamic State as the authorities have done so far, Iraq's government should focus on protecting all civilians
regardless of their ethnicity or religion," according to Rovera.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

Title: Air Support

Cartoonist: Gary Varvel
Publisher: Indy Star
Date Published: September 2014
Retrieved From: http://www.indystar.com/opinion/varvel/

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

Title: Statement by the President on ISIL

Speaker: President Barack Obama
Publisher: The White House Office of the Press Secretary
Date Published: 10 September 2014
Retrieved From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/10/statement-president-isil-1
I know many Americans are concerned about these threats [from ISIL]. Tonight, I want you to know that the United
States of America is meeting them with strength and resolve. Last month, I ordered our military to take targeted
action against ISIL to stop its advances. Since then, we have conducted more than 150 successful airstrikes in Iraq.
These strikes have protected American personnel and facilities, killed ISIL fighters, destroyed weapons, and given
space for Iraqi and Kurdish forces to reclaim key territory. These strikes have helped save the lives of thousands of
innocent men, women and children.
But this is not our fight alone. American power can make a decisive difference, but we cannot do for Iraqis what
they must do for themselves, nor can we take the place of Arab partners in securing their region. Thats why Ive
insisted that additional U.S. action depended upon Iraqis forming an inclusive government, which they have now
done in recent days. So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad
and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat.
Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy...
...My fellow Americans, we live in a time of great change. Tomorrow marks 13 years since our country was
attacked. Next week marks 6 years since our economy suffered its worst setback since the Great Depression. Yet
despite these shocks; through the pain we have felt and the grueling work required to bounce back America is
better positioned today to seize the future than any other nation on Earth.
Our technology companies and universities are unmatched; our manufacturing and auto industries are thriving.
Energy independence is closer than its been in decades. For all the work that remains, our businesses are in the
longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in our history. Despite all the divisions and discord within our
democracy, I see the grit and determination and common goodness of the American people every single day and
that makes me more confident than ever about our countrys future.
Abroad, American leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world. It is America that has the capacity and the
will to mobilize the world against terrorists. It is America that has rallied the world against Russian aggression, and
in support of the Ukrainian peoples right to determine their own destiny. It is America our scientists, our doctors,
our know-how that can help contain and cure the outbreak of Ebola. It is America that helped remove and destroy
Syrias declared chemical weapons so they cannot pose a threat to the Syrian people or the world again. And it is
America that is helping Muslim communities around the world not just in the fight against terrorism, but in the fight
for opportunity, tolerance, and a more hopeful future.
America, our endless blessings bestow an enduring burden. But as Americans, we welcome our responsibility to
lead. From Europe to Asia from the far reaches of Africa to war-torn capitals of the Middle East we stand for
freedom, for justice, for dignity. These are values that have guided our nation since its founding. Tonight, I ask for
your support in carrying that leadership forward. I do so as a Commander-in-Chief who could not be prouder of our
men and women in uniform pilots who bravely fly in the face of danger above the Middle East, and servicemembers who support our partners on the ground.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

When we helped prevent the massacre of civilians trapped on a distant mountain, heres what one of them said. We
owe our American friends our lives. Our children will always remember that there was someone who felt our
struggle and made a long journey to protect innocent people.
That is the difference we make in the world. And our own safety our own security depends upon our willingness
to do what it takes to defend this nation, and uphold the values that we stand for timeless ideals that will endure
long after those who offer only hate and destruction have been vanquished from the Earth.
May God bless our troops, and may God bless the United States of America.
Title: What is ISIS?
Author: Gil Kaufman
Publisher: MTV.com
Date Published: 21 August 2014
Retrieved From: http://www.mtv.com/news/1905299/what-is-isis-caliphate-james-foley/
President Obama pledged this week that the U.S. would be relentless in the wake of the beheading of an American
journalist by the militants in Syria known as ISIS.
The president said that the video of a masked militant killing James Foley who was kidnapped in Syria nearly
two years ago has appalled the world and will not deter America from its escalating military effort to root out
terrorists in Iraq.
ISIS has also threatened to kill another captive journalist, Steven Sotloff, if the U.S. does not change its course in
Iraq. No faith teaches people to massacre innocents, Obama said. On Thursday (August 21), it was revealed that
U.S. special forces attempted to rescue Foley and other hostages earlier this summer after the terror group had
demanded a $130 million ransom for his release.
Who Is ISIS?
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, also known as ISIL) used to be known as Al Qaeda in Iraq. After the
2006 U.S. troop surge in Iraq seriously hampered the groups ability to carry out terrorist actions, ISIS reorganized
and began to rebuild its strength.
Are They Still Part Of Al Qaeda?
Al Qaeda broke ties with ISIS in February after Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri became frustrated with ISISs
refusal to heed his orders to kill fewer Syrian civilians. The group is expanding its reach on the long border between
Iraq and Syria, where the combination of the Syrian civil war and a weak government in Iraq has allowed ISIS to
expand.
How Many ISIS Soldiers Are There?
No one knows how many fighters ISIS has, but some estimates have put their numbers at 15,000 or more, with up to
three times that number available to fight if necessary. Their increasingly brutal, brazen attacks and tactics have
raised alarms that they could have their sights on expanding their operations beyond Iraq and Syria.
Could They Attack America?
Former CIA deputy director Mike Morell told CBS News that the beheading video is an attempt to intimidate the
U.S. The definition of terrorism is violence for political effect, Morell said. We should mark this date down
because this is ISIS first terrorist attack against the United States.
On August 9, someone posted a picture of the ISIS flag unfurled outside of the White House. [W]e are here
#America near our #target :) sooooooooooooon, read the accompanying message; the Secret Service is investigating
the incident.
Could They Really Set Up Their Own State?
They kind of already have. In addition to having their own flag, ISIS has claimed a large swatch of land around the
Syria/Iraq border and has continued to advance into other adjacent areas, forcing more than one million Iraqis from
their homes in the process. Their total land holdings are now larger than the neighboring state of Jordan.
Who Is Their Leader?
Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi believes that all of the worlds Muslims should live under one Islamic state ruled by
sharia law. With large portions of Iraq and Syria already under their control, the ultimate goal is to have a vast state
in the eastern Mediterranean that would include parts of Cyprus, Lebanon and Jordan.
The mysterious al-Baghdadi (only two known photos of him exist) walked out of the largest U.S. detention camp in
Iraq in 2009, allegedly telling some U.S. reservists from Long Island, Ill see you guys in New York. He is now
considered to be the worlds most dangerous jihadi, or, as some have called him, The New Osama Bin Laden.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

What Do They Want?
The insurgent militia is bent on creating a Sunni Islamic state or caliphate in the region through the use of
extreme violence against its perceived enemies. They have targeted the Iraqi government and American forces in
Iraq, as well as Shia Muslims and Christians and, increasingly, civilians of all faiths in unpredictable, violent attacks
that include beheadings and suicide bombings.
Who Is Funding Them?
ISIS doesnt depend on foreign funds to survive, but instead theyve hoarded millions thanks to theft and the sale of
oil from areas theyve overrun. In July, the group is reported to have pulled off the biggest bank heist in history,
allegedly lifting more than $430 million from a Mosul bank after overrunning that Iraqi city. Theyve also reportedly
extorted money from humanitarian workers and have been selling electricity back to the Syrian government theyre
fighting against.The group has also bragged of stealing millions of dollars in U.S. military equipment, making it one
of the worlds most well-funded terrorist groups.

Title: U.S. Engages with Muslims: Homeland Security Chief, in National Mosque Tour, Looks to Fight
Radicalization
Authors: Tamara Audi & Miriam Jordan
Publisher: Wall Street Journal
Date Published: 14 November 2014
Retrieved From: http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S30506-0-6494&artno=0000367403&type
=ART&shfilter=U&key=ISIS&title=U.S.%20Engages%20with%20Muslims
%20&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N
ROWLAND HEIGHTS, Calif. -- With a sprawling Islamic center that houses a charter school, hosts political
debates and offers free flu shots, this Muslim congregation of doctors, engineers and other professionals east of Los
Angeles exemplifies the American success story.
Now, it also illustrates the difficult situation Islamic communities face more than a decade after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks: On one hand, Muslim congregations across the U.S. are concerned that Islamic State, or ISIS, or other terror
groups could try to recruit and radicalize their youth. On the other, they are uncomfortable with the prospect of law
enforcement scrutinizing their members and activities.
"We want to protect our homeland and our children, and we want to know the best way to do that," said Azfal
Hussain, an engineer who is president of the Islamic Center of San Gabriel Valley. But the federal government
"made mistakes in the past and the community was maligned and our civil rights trampled."
The two interests met Thursday, when Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson visited the $5 million mosque
here to smooth communication and bolster cooperation efforts with federal officials. For Mr. Johnson, who regards
Muslim communities as a front line of defense against foreign-fighter recruitment from the likes of ISIS, the visit
was part of a national tour to build -- and in some cases repair -- the government's relationship with Muslims.
Mr. Johnson has also visited Muslim communities in Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio as part of the initiative by the
Department of Homeland Security, the National Counterterrorism Center and local law enforcement to better engage
Muslim communities.
At a news conference, Mr. Johnson said he is asking for all Muslims "to be on the lookout for potential acts of
violence and those individuals" who may be on the wrong path "and steer them in a different direction, and if that's
not possible then alert authorities."

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

More than 100 Americans are believed to either have traveled to Syria or tried to reach Syria to join militants. ISIS
has sought to capitalize on outrage over Muslim deaths at the hands of Western governments, including U.S. drone
attacks in Pakistan, to appeal to youth. It has also tried to attract adherents by glorifying participation in jihad.
Those cases have raised alarm among law enforcement and among some Muslims. They've also helped feed what
some Muslims deem an "industry of Islamophobia" that unfairly taints the entire community, and is underscored by
U.S. authorities' attempts in various parts of the country to infiltrate and spy on mosques.
After Thursday's meeting, Mr. Johnson said he addressed a variety of issues at the mosque, including grievances
about treatment by federal officials, particularly on immigration and airport screening. But he was also there to say,
"We need something from you. This is as much your homeland and public safety as anybody else's."
The utility of Mr. Johnson's personal engagement is hard to gauge, said Daniel Benjamin, a former State Department
coordinator for counterterrorism. "If he is setting the right tone of appropriate concern and reassurance, it will be a
net plus," said Mr. Benjamin, a foreign-relations scholar at Dartmouth College. "The real important thing is how
lower-level people manage these relationships and build trust, without communicating that the communities should
be targets of great concern and unwarranted intrusiveness."
Several organizations in Southern California, including the American Civil Liberties Union, criticized the
government initiative, saying in a statement that encouraging individuals in Muslim communities to report suspect
behavior of others has "obvious civil liberties implications on members of our communities."
Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who was in attendance, said the meeting signals
an improvement in the community's relationship with law enforcement that marks a fresh start from a decade ago
when surveillance and infiltration bred distrust.
"We're talking about a partnership, countering violent extremism together," said Mr. Al-Marayati, whose national
group this year launched a "Safe Spaces" initiative to help Muslim leaders identify and engage with those espousing
radical ideals, rather than shunning them.
Mosque leaders and homeland-security officials met privately in the sprawling, bluish-gray-domed Islamic center
that is wedged between strip malls and warehouses. "The community is very large and you never know," said Mr.
Hussain, the center's president, responding to the potential risk posed by ISIS recruiters. "Even one person is too
many. We want to be proactive and protect our youth."
The mosque recently invited Islamic scholars to talk to its congregation of about 400 members "that the values ISIS
represents are totally un-Islamic," Mr. Hussain said. Mosque leaders have also hosted community meetings with
Federal Bureau of Investigation officials and local police, they said.
Title: From West, Women Join ISIS as Wives and Fighters
Authors: Steven Erlanger
Publisher: International New York Times (Paris, France)
Date Published: 24 October 2014
Retrieved From: http://sks.sirs.com
Officials say the largest numbers of young Muslim women trying to join the Nusra Front or the Islamic State are
from France, Britain, Austria, Belgium and Spain.
The young Western Muslims trying to join radical Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq now include increasing numbers
of women who are seeking to fight or to become wives to fighters in what they perceive to be the building of an
ideal Islamic caliphate.
On Wednesday, the British police arrested a 25-year-old woman north of London on suspicion of preparing "terrorist
acts" related to the fighting in Syria. Over the weekend, the authorities at the Frankfurt airport intercepted three
teenage girls from the Denver suburbs, two sisters of Somali descent and a friend of Sudanese descent, as they tried
to travel to Syria.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

Those were the latest in a series of cases of young Muslim women trying to join the Nusra Front or the Islamic
State, with the largest numbers coming from France and Britain and others from Austria, Belgium and Spain.
The precise numbers of women seeking to join the groups is unclear, with some analysts estimating they make up
perhaps 10 percent of all recruits from the West, influenced by social media networks that offer them advice, tips
and even support for travel. These networks often portray life under the so-called caliphate as a kind of Islamic
paradise, offering a religious alternative to what can often be a second-class life of struggle and alienation in
Western countries.
The increased numbers of young women trying to become involved with the radical groups correspond with
evidence that more young men may be trying to make the same trip. Bernard Hogan-Howe, the commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police, said on Tuesday that at least five young people a week were now leaving Britain to join the
Islamic State and other groups -- which would mean in a year, he said, "50 percent more than we think have gone
already."
While some women are attracted to the idea of marrying a fighter, "women are joining I.S. because it provides a new
utopian politics, participating in jihad and being part of the creation of a new Islamic state," said Katherine Brown, a
lecturer in military studies at King's College, London, who studies the phenomenon.
She cited images on social media of women in the Islamic State cooking, chatting, caring for children and meeting
for coffee. There are also images of women carrying automatic rifles, wearing suicide belts and displaying severed
heads.
The "combination of violence and domesticity" is important, she said, pointing out that the women were also
politically engaged, noting their sense of alienation from Western life, mores and politics.
The numbers are relatively small, she said. Historically, about 25 percent of the members of terrorist organizations
from the Irish Republican Army to Chechen fighters and the Tamil Tigers are women, she said, but in the case of
European women and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, the figure is about 10 percent, more in line with
the percentage associated with far-right movements.
Over the last two years, she said, from all over Europe, "a maximum of 200 women" have traveled to Syria and Iraq.
At least a quarter of them, she said, have traveled with their families -- husbands, brothers or fathers. While figures
vary, at least 60 are thought to be British and more than 70 are French, and most are thought to be between 18 and
25.
Kamaldeep Bhui, a professor of cultural psychology at Queen Mary University of London, has studied the
radicalization of young Muslim women, who he said are as liable to be radicalized as men. "There is an increasing
epidemic of girls," he said at a briefing organized by the Science Media Center in London.
He said those open to radicalization were most angry about injustice and most tolerant of even violent protest
against it.
"The group who sympathized were younger, in full-time education" and more middle class, he said. "They were
more likely to be depressed and socially isolated." Recent migrants who are poorer and busier were less likely to
have radical sympathies, in part, he said, because they remembered the problems of their homelands.
Ms. Brown agreed, saying that "we're looking at women with the capacity to organize, so they are relatively well
educated and can afford the airfare."
Dounia Bouzar, a French anthropologist, founded a group called the Prevention of Sectarian Excesses Linked to
Islam. In most cases, she said, she found that young women who seek jihad do not come from particularly religious
families but are drawn to the Islamic State through the Internet and want to make a difference in the world.
"They are told that the world is built on lies," Mrs. Bouzar said. "They are told that the only true force is Islam."
Many of them, she said, are good students with ambitions to be doctors or teachers, and most want to go to Syria to
marry a true Muslim or to provide humanitarian aid. "It's the chivalrous idea of saving the world," she said.
"There is a mix of indoctrination and seduction," Mrs. Bouzar added. "They upload photos of bearded Prince
Charmings on Facebook."

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Informational Texts

At the same time, as Ms. Brown pointed out, the propaganda and messaging of the Islamic State are both clever and
positive, a contrast to the overwhelmingly negative messaging coming from anxious governments. "The Islamic
State offers a positive image and says, 'You're welcome here, come join us in the formation of an ideal state.' But
from Western governments, it's very negative, so they feel demonized constantly and alienated."
Some of the British women are reported to be running a sort of all-female religious police force, known as the
Khansaa brigade, to monitor un-Islamic behavior in Raqqa, a Syrian city held by the Islamic State. Other women
have been posting on Twitter positive images of food, restaurants and sunsets clearly designed to lure more recruits.
The reality of life inside the radical groups is often different. The Islamic State is run by men and is strictly
patriarchal, with gender separation. One female doctor from Malaysia, famous for saying that she had a stethoscope
in one hand and a Kalashnikov in the other, has gotten married because it gives her more freedom to move outside
the home.
Mrs. Bouzar said some women had found themselves confined to the home. "Some see the massacres, the bombs,
and understand that they've been had," she said. And others, Ms. Brown pointed out, "find that life there is as
mundane as in Birmingham or Glasgow -- except for the electricity blackouts and communal toilets and
beheadings."
There have also been cases of men taking multiple wives, as well as stories of rape, forced marriage or even of
women sold into slavery.
But it is difficult for those in Syria to return home. The jihadists hardly facilitate defectors, and Western
governments, in part to dissuade other young people from a life of jihad, warn of severe prosecutions for terrorist
offenses against those who return.
Their passports could be canceled, preventing their return, and those who do make it back are likely to be prosecuted
on terrorism charges.
The family of one young French woman in Syria, Nora el-Bathy, 15, said that she was desperate to come home. Her
brother, Fouad, said that she expected to be working in a hospital but is instead babysitting for the children of
jihadists.
The family, which lives in Avignon, had no idea that she had become radicalized, or that she left the house dressed
as usual, but would change into a full-length veil on the way to school. They discovered that she had a second
Facebook account, where she was in contact with jihadist recruiters in Paris, and a second mobile phone.
"We were completely unaware," said Fouad, who has seen pictures of Nora fully veiled taken by her friends. "We
did not know that she had a double life."