The Rising Popularity of Female Jihadism

The image appears as Boumeddiene shooting a cross-bow

       The hunt is one for the 26 year-old woman wanted over Thursday's fatal shooting of a French policewoman.  Earlier reports suggested that Hayat Boumeddiene, might have escaped Friday from a kosher grocery store in easter Paris when French authorities mounted an operation to free hostages.  More recent reports are saying that she may have not even been in the country at the time.  Boumeddiene is said to have left for Turkey around January 2, final destination: Syria.  Photographs of Boumeddiene released by Le Monde show her shooting a crossbow while wearing a niqab.  This resonates as a puzzling image as jihad militant organizations support the Taliban-style rules, which allow women only to have a role within the house.  Strangely enough, the number of women from the West taking an operational role in Jihadist terrorist plots has increased.  For example, Colleen LaRose a Caucasian-American 46 year old from Pennsylvania traveled to Europe in 2009 to attack Lars Vilks a Swedish arist who had drawn a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed's head on the body of a dog.  

       To me, it seems like a strange kind of jihadist female equal opportunity.  The message being, you can be a part of this holy war that seeks to instal a Taliban style utopia that will make sure that you never have a job or get an education.  But numbers seldom lie, of the 455 people who have been publicly identified from around the world who have traveled or were arrested while attempting to travel to Syria to fight with a terrorist organization, an astonishing 36 of them were women from the West.  Thats remarkably 8%.  Even more remarkably is the fact that the mean age is only 18 years.  These women hail from Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Britain and the United States amongst other.  In many cases, they are going to Syria with the fantasy that they will marry the jihadist militant of their dreams.  Many of these aspiring so called "ISIS Brides" come from The United States.  In October 2014, three teenage girls from Colorado were intercepted at Frankfurt airport in Germany as they were trying to make their way to Syria to join ISIS.  I think that it is horrible that these three girls were planning to give away their lives at such an early age just to try to do something that momentarily seemed like a formidable idea.  The main message is that the phenomenon of females joining the jihad has become far more common in the past few years, and I see this trend continuing to grow unless our countries take some action on the subject matter.   

William Deo

Adapted From: 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/10/opinion/bergen-female-jihadists/index.html

Search Continues for Charlie Hebdo Suspects

The iconic Eiffel Tower was plunged into darkness as
a mark of respect

       The search wears on, late through the night and into the early morning as authorities are attempting to use helicopters to track the suspects.  The current search area is a wooded area near Crepy-en-Valois, France.  Authorities claim sources viewed them entering the woods on foot.  The French government has deployed 80 000 personnel in an effort to locate and detain the duo.  The search is focused on the Picardy region of France where heavily armed officers roam.  The two suspects are Cherif Kouachi,32, and Said Kouachi, 34. A gas station attendant claims that the armed brothers threatened him near Villers-Cotterets in Picardy, stole fuel and food then drove off late Thursday morning.  Earlier Thursday, before the suspects reportedly stole from the gas station, a gunman dressed in black clothes resembling the Kouachi brothers shot and killed a female police officer in the Paris suburb of Montrouge.  Although it is largely probable, it has not been officially connected to the earlier slaying of 12 on Wednesday at the Satirical magazine's headquarters in Paris.  

       The utmost credit, however, must be given to the French Government.  I think that they have handled the case and managed their people very well.  They have portrayed the image that they are not afraid of the supposed terrorist and that they are ready to take on the suspects.  They have also put no limits on the strength that they have employed.  They are making sure that there is no possible way for these men to remain unconvicted by deploying over 80 000 officials.  These men are both in the US database of known or suspected international terrorists and one of the brothers (unspecified) had travelled to Yemen in 2005 to train with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  The Prime Minister, Manuel Valls has put both the Picardy and Ile-de-France regions on the highest alert level.  He has done all of this whilst managing to control and calm his people.  An ISIS radio broadcast on Thursday praised the attackers, even calling them "brave Jihadists".  However there was no claim of responsibility for the attack.  The French people have rallied together on Twitter creating the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie, in an attempt to commemorate those who were shot in the initial shooting.  Furthermore, the Eiffel Tower in Paris went dark at 8:00 PM in remembrance of the victims of the attack.

William Deo

Adapted from: http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/08/europe/charlie-hebdo-paris-shooting/index.html

Discovery of Flight QZ8501's Tail Might Have Further Rewards

The word Air from the tail section discovered in the Java Sea

       It would appear that early Wednesday Morning, search and rescue teams have stumbled upon the tail section of AirAsia Flight QZ8501.  This major breakthrough in the case was discovered in the murky waters of the Java Sea, made even more difficult by thunderstorms and high waves.  Divers on sight were able to take the first pictures of what would appear to be the wreckage of the Airbus A320-200.  Why the tail section is so vital in the investigation is because this section contains the flight data and voice recorders, known as the "black boxes".  According to aviation executives, both the flight data and cockpit voice recorders are absolutely crucial in gaining and understanding as to what has happened.  However, it is still quite uncertain if the black boxes are actually contained in this piece of wreckage.  It is improbable, but entirely possible that the flight recorders did come loose during the impact between the plain and the water.  This leads investigators to the realization that the recorders may have "fallen free" of the tail section.  Nevertheless, these possibilities did not prevent AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes from sending out an optimistic tweet announcing that the black boxes "should be there".

       I think the recorders are definitely the most important pieces of evidence when it comes to investigating a case like the one of QZ8501.  It is extremely difficult, if not impossible to formulate a great understanding of what had happened solely based on wreckage from the plane.  Officials are still puzzled by what have brought down a reliable jet-liner with an extremely experienced crew from 36 000 ft in the sky.  The plane had 162 passengers on board and was set to fly from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore.  Unfortunately the destination would never be realized for those from Indonesia, Britain, France, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.  I think this is especially devastating for families of those onboard, particularly those who had more than one family member onboard the plane.  Many schoolchildren were returning to Singapore after vacationing in Indonesia over the Christmas break.  The devastatement was incredible to those who had lost their friends and classmates.  Still the airline announced their offer of roughly $100 000 USD in addition to the $24 000 initially offered to the families of each member on board.  I do not think that this is enough to compensate for a lost loved one, but then again, what sum of money will.  Of the 40 bodies discovered, only 16 have been identified.  I hope that the families, will be reunitied with their loved ones and come to peace with the fate that they have unfortunately suffered.  

William Deo

Adapted From: 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/07/asia/airasia-disaster/index.html