The Story of a Bedroom Radical

It has been nearly a year since Aqsa's family has seen her.

       In November 2013, Aqsa Mahmood a 19 year old Scottish girl, gave her father a long parting hug.  Muzaffar, her father, remembers that she looked especially beautiful that day, he remarked to his wife that something was different today.  The previous night, her and her sisters slept together in one bed and she gave a long farewell to her ailing grandmother.  Her mother knew something was peculiar that evening.  Khalida, her mother, noted that there was something different about the way she said "Khuda Hafiz" while departing.  Four days later, the family petrified, Aqsa called Scotland from the Syrian Border in Turkey.  She said that she would see her family on the Judgement Day, she aimed to be a martyr.  Aqsa had been influenced by watching online  sermons and coming in contact with people helping her to make the voyage to Syria.  

       Aqsa's father moved to Glasgow in 1970 and was a player for the national cricket team.  They were living the immigrant dream, they bought a house in an affluent neighbourhood, sent their children to an esteemed private school.  There were no signs that the teen had harboured any extremist thoughts.  However, when the civil war in Syria emerged, Aqsa became increasingly concerned about violence.  She began reading and praying the Quran more regularly.  She gave up music, fiction and didn't go out uch.  But the parents did not suspect anything.  Aqsa didn't even know which bus to take to downtown, that why parents were stunned to here when she was headed for Aleppo in northern Syria.

       "I don't know when she became this brave" says Khalida.  She was scared to speak out, scared to fly.  She brought her mother tea in bed and loved to assist her handicapped grandmother.  After arriving, Aqsa soon relayed to her family that she would marry.  She had to find a mahram, "That's the process here, they don't let a girl stay alone" said Aqsa.  Despite Aqsa's prominent role on social media, her father says he reads little, it pains him to read it.  "God only knows why she is doing this" says Muzaffar.  She is praying everyday that she will become a "shahid" or martyr.  

       The family hopes and prays that Aqsa will return home.  It is obvious that no family would like to see their child disappear to the hands of an extremest group.  I believe that school systems should be doing something to prevent any more children from vanishing to these extremest groups.  They should be trying to convey the more accurate image of what they are doing and emphasize all of the cons of the groups.  Unfortunately, when one victim becomes captive to a group like this, the impact snowballs onto more people than initially imagined.  For example, one of Aqsa's sisters is suffering from depression since she left.  Khalida says that Aqsa often sleeps on the floor in the cold and has suffered from pneumonia.  Both parents, of course, are worried that time is running out for Aqsa to return safely, however they are hoping that she, one day will return.  
 William Deo

Adapted from:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/05/world/europe/isis-bride-glasgow-scotland/index.html?hpt=wo_bn8

France Joins the US in the Effort to Destroy ISIS

       In an effort to destroy the terrorist group ISIS, France has conducted their first air strike according to president Francois Hollande.  The French president states that planes have attacked an IS logistics depot in north-east Iraq.  According to Hollande, there will be many more in the near future.  However, France is far from alone in this effort, the US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the group in search of caliphate since mid-August.  In what seems to be strange change of personality for the French president who is somewhat of a socialist, he has committed his military to interventions in Mali, Central African Republic and most recently Iraq.  The French government, much like that of the US, has restricted the ISIS targets to air strikes and that there will be no French troops involved in ground combat.  

Hollande has approved the request by the French Military
to conduct air strikes in Iraq

       ISIS has claimed dozens of cities and towns in Iraq and Syria, and this is where the two plans differ.  Hollande has chosen to restrict his actions to Iraq, however Obama has stated an aim of degrading and disrupting ISIS activities in Syria as well.   For many weeks, France has been flying reconnaissance fights over Iraq and providing Kurdish fighters on the ground with weapons.  On Monday, France held a conference which saw 26 countries pledge their commitment to supporting the fight against ISIS.  Also, on Thursday, the US Senate approved Obama's plan to equip and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight against ISIS.  This comes as a result of neither France or the United States conducting air strikes in Syria.  

       Ain al-Arab has been besieged by ISIS.  He said that the ISIS terrorists should be "hit and destroyed wherever they are".  I completely agree with this statement, but it comes at such a time when many countries are not willing to invest in ground personnel in the conflict.  For example, the United States military is only conducting air strikes in Iraq to combat ISIS, however they are training and equipping many Syrian rebels.  Many claim that air strikes are the new age of war, however if the US Forces still would like ground presence in Syria, I do not believe that arming rebels is the way to deal with this problem.  Similarly, the French, British and Germans have all armed the Kurds in Northern Iraq.  This may be partially due to the general disapproval of the US's invasion of Iraq in 2003, however I believe that it is not proper to arm another group of rebels when you are trying to combat an opposing group of rebels.  I think these countries should only conduct air strikes or intervene on the ground with their own respective forces.

 William Deo

Adapted From: 
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/14/world/meast/isis-coalition-nations/index.html?iref=allsearch

Has Obama Created the Plan that will Beat Ebola?

       Yesterday, US President Barack Obama announced his $500 million plan to beat out Ebola.  The President will send 3,000 military personnel to West Africa for what will be a very difficult initiative that will include training of health care workers.  Obama says that the United States is ready to take the leadership role in tackling the Ebola outbreak, he claims that it is "Spiralling out of control".  The US will also be erecting new treatment and isolation facilities, training healthcare workers and boosting logistic support in the region.  "Ebola is now an epidemic, it's getting worse, however it will continue to get worse before the situation improves" Obama went on to say in his meeting with top US public health officials.  In recent weeks Obama has faced criticism for not doing more to combat the outbreak.  Last week the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the virus has killed over 2,400 people out of the 2,784 cases in Western African nations.  

Obama presents his plan to the Centre for Disease
Control and Prevention

       As for the US, a military control centre will be established in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia to coordinate the efforts of the US and other partnering nations.  The strategic plan for combating Ebola focuses on training, a new training site will be established where US medical personnel will be teaching approximately 500 healthcare workers per week over the next six months on how to provide care to Ebola patients.  The WHO says that the hardest countries are Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.  They estimate that the countries need three to four times the current number of medical and health workers that are currently present.  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commented that the virus has gone beyond health issues but has also had great effects on social and economic dimensions, and in the long term could even affect the stability of the region.  

        As the number of Ebola cases could start doubling every three weeks in  Western Africa, I believe that this is a huge priority for health organizations at the moment.  I think that the United States is doing they're part by providing workers and funding.  It is only an aggressive attack, as such the US has proposed, that will combat the epidemic.  If the disease is contained within the next few weeks, the disease will spread to other Western African nations and possibly abroad.  While it is true that the health care system in these nations are ill-equipped to deal with such issues, I do not believe that at this moment there are any countries that are prepared.  This is why I think that the best solution to the disease is to move abroad to Africa and localize it rather than just combating the virus once it makes it across the world as it inevitably will if not taken care of.  I believe that the best medicine is preventative medicine, therefore it is best to take extreme action to combat Ebola in Africa to prevent it from spreading across the globe. 

 William Deo

Adapted from:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/09/obama-announce-plan-beat-ebola-201491664237417853.html

Vying for Global Jihadist Leadership Supremacy

       On Wednesday night, when President Barack Obama delivers his address to the nation with regards to ISIS, one man who will definitely be watching is Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader.  In his secret residence somewhere in Pakistan or Afghanistan, al-Zawahiri will likely be hoping that Obama proposes a plan to exterminate ISIS.  The group has simply seemed to have eclipsed al Qaeda in recent months and has continued to make al-Zawahiri almost irrelevant.  Al Qaeda and ISIS are currently locked in a vicious war for the leadership of the global Jihadist movement.  ISIS was previously a branch of al Qaeda but was expelled in February after refusing to restrict their activities to the country of Iraq.  ISIS has captured the minds of the young generation of Jihadists, and from all over the world.  In a relentless pursuit of an Islamic State (Caliphate), and propaganda the group has the new generation flocking to them.  The group is chillingly brutal towards non-Muslims, and Muslims who aren't "extreme enough".  The vicious attacks seem to bring back the ire of late al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden.  

     Though many jihadi preachers have confronted ISIS for being deviant, the younger generation seems to be more impressed by action than simply speeches.  To the younger generation, ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is building the Caliphate while al-Zawahiri just talks.  The movement is spreading, just last week a group of proponents of an Islamic state from Yemen released a video calling Baghdadi "The Caliph of the Muslims...the mugahid in the first row of attack against America".  Contrastingly, it has been a relatively long time since al Qaeda central has carried out any attacks of note.  Four years ago, a strategy document was released which set out ideas for attacking cruise ships, dams, bridges as well as aircraft.  

       Never the less, there are still many places where al Qaeda supporters are active and their operations are expanding.  For example, in Libya, Syria and Egypt they have found a collapse of state authority.  However, al-Zawahiri has seemed more like a supporter than the leader.  He is simply reacting to the events rather than directing them.  Last week, al Qaeda announced the creation of al Qaeda in India, lead by Asim Umar, this will include one faction of the Pakistani Taliban.  They are implicitly rejecting the Caliphate proposed by ISIS and are supporting the Taliban in establishing their own.  

       Al Qaeda however still does have hope for the future.  Al-Zawahiri is looking forward to the withdrawal of troops form Afghanistan as his best chance of a revival.  Also, last week al Qaeda reiterated it's allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar.  There is also the prospect that ISIS will "over-reach" much like al Qaeda did in Iraq.  They alienated Sunni tribes, took territory it could not defend and mobilized more opponents that the organization could resist.  If this will be the case for ISIS, it is likely that they will soon be in trouble.

       I believe that ISIS is indeed gaining the control over the younger groups of Jihadists.  They are persuading these people form Europe and North America to come join and fight for their cause.  They are converting them and promising that they will have four wives.  However, as we know this is not the case, and this puts our countries and many others in danger.  The difference between ISIS and al Qaeda is that al Qaeda never quite secured the number of people with international passports that ISIS has.  So, it is inevitable to expect that one day, possibly in the near future that a Jihadist returning for a vacation back to the US or to Europe will conduct some sort of attack.  China has already taken drastic measures by encouraging Muslims to marry non-Muslims in an effort to decrease the risk for their country.  I think as the United States with the largest expeditionary force in the world, should exterminate these radicals because it is just a matter of time before they strike over-seas.  

William Deo

Adapted from: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/10/world/meast/isis-vs-al-qaeda/index.html?hpt=wo_r1

The Mystery of MH370 Remains Unsolved After 6 Months

       Six months ago, Malaysian Airlines flight 370 departing Kuala Lumpur never arrived at its destination, Beijing.  The disappearance still remains a mystery.  Was there a mechanical failure that no one was able to communicate?  A terrorist attack possibly?  Many other questions are still unanswered.  Where did the plane go down?  Were there any survivors at the time?  Are there still any currently alive?  It is seemingly a deep mystery, the Boeing 777 jet carrying 239 people on board just disappeared.  No part of the plane has yet been discovered, not a single piece of wreckage has been found.  Many authorities have convinced family members that the plane crashed on March 8, in the Southern Indian Ocean.  Satellite images provide a hint that the plane turned off of the intended course and likely went down when it ran out of fuel.  After six months, it is still a mystery why the plane strewed away from the flight path.  To this day, over 4.5 million square kilometres of sea floor have been scoured without one piece of wreckage found.  

       A lot of the focus of the news this week has been on remembering another air disaster, that being the tragedies of 9/11.  While it is true that the 3 000 people killed in the September 11th tragedies out numbers the 239 of this more recent catastrophe, there is a sickening element of mystery lingering in that of MH370.  While I am not saying by any means MH370 was worse than the diasaster that was 9/11, it is hard to stomach the fact that these people had families, and these families have no idea where their loved ones have gone.  The passengers ranged from 2 years old to 76.  It is tremendously difficult to carry out daily life routines for the families of the victims when they have not a clue of what has happened to their mothers, fathers, children, soulmates and friends.  Mao Tugui is a painter whom was aboard the flight, he was travelling to attend an exhibition that featured his work.  His wife, Hu Xianquan, has been telling their 4 year old daughter than her father is just spending a little extra time away painting.  Xianquan herself finds it incredibly difficult to deal with the news as she has no idea what has become of her husband.  She has no idea where he is, if he is going to return or if he is alive.  "I would prefer just to have the news that he is dead and his body has been recovered" said Xianquan.  I feel truly the same way.  Just imagining myself in that position losing my brother, mother or father this way is just antagonizing.  Not solely because he/she is dead, but also because I have no knowledge of the event, nobody does.  I truly do hope that the governments do find the plane to give the families of the deceased some well deserved closure.

William Deo

Adapted from: 

• http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/08/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-milestone/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
• http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/15/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-passenger-vignettes/