One Brick Short

I’m always a bit skeptical of information given out from the American Forces Press Service, but the darn stuff turns out to be dead-on most of the times, according to the stories that usually follow in the Washington Post, on the Associated Press or even The New York Times. This one proved interesting to me. I hope you like it.

It’s written by Seaman William Selby, USN, who’s with the “New Media Group,” which I assume means he’s an Internet web surfing seaman. He tells the story of how information from 48 captured foreign fighters, when analyzed, found foreign terrorists had comparable recruitment stories, including why they joined al Qaeda and what they did once they were smuggled into Iraq. He quotes Air Force Col. Donald Bacon, chief of special operations and intelligence information for Multinational Force Iraq. Bacon’s comments came as while speaking with online journalists and bloggers during a conference call.

Here’s what it showed:

All of the captured or surrendered foreign terrorists were single men, and they averaged 22 years of age. Most worked blue-collar jobs and had little-to-no education or military experience.

All the foreign terrorists came from large families, and standing out was a prime motivator for joining al Qaeda even though the fighters were reluctant to tell their families for fear of disapproval.

“The overwhelming point is they came to Iraq expecting to see Americans get killed, yet what they primarily saw was Iraqis getting killed, and it bothered them,” Bacon said. “They did not come to kill Iraqis.”

The foreigners were “discouraged to find the expectations al Qaeda instilled in them were not reality upon arriving in Iraq. They came to Iraq expecting to see al Qaeda victorious instead of being defeated,” he said.

Al Qaeda recruiters prey on young men they deem to be impressionable and lonely, Bacon said. They target recruits at mosques or at their jobs.

“In all cases, the recruiter offered friendship and also offered to teach the future foreign terrorist the basics of Islam ... and that’s how the relationship started,” he explained.

“The foreign fighters revealed that they are usually flown into the airport in Damascus, Syria, and then they are smuggled into Iraq in a process that could take months,” Seaman Selby scribbled. “The fighters described their treatment from fellow al Qaeda members and Iraqis as harsh upon their arrival in Iraq. They felt looked down upon by the Iraqis and feared revealing their foreign identity to locals.”

Seaman Selby said Bacon said that most of the foreign terrorists had signed up to be fighters but were pressured by al Qaeda to become suicide bombers.

“They were told, ‘This is your duty. This is what we need you to do for the Jihad. You could be more useful as a suicide bomber than you could be a fighter. You’ll be a martyr and this is what we need you to do to win,’” Bacon told the seaman.

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