Radicilisation in Britain: The Problem

With the proverbial unmasking of “Jihadi John” – now being reported as Mohammed Emwazi, together with the disappearance of three young girls from England to Syria, England, the UK and the world in general continues to become more and more at risk of radicalisation.

The advancement of ISIL would have been near-impossible without the influx of foreign fighters into Syria and Iraq. It has been estimated that 30,000 foreigners have travelled to the war-torn areas to join the so-called caliphate. A few days ago, three schoolgirls based in England fled to Syria. For the families it is horrible, yet you would have to question the motive for anyone who is radicalised. First, to leave a successful life in England for a war-ravaged area would be near unheard of, this suggests that anyone who has done this is leaving little behind. While you could also suggest that there is always a choice in terms of choosing the radical ways of ISIL or staying with Western Values – this suggests people that are radicalised are weak.

As if three schoolgirls fleeing the country wasn’t bad enough, it has been reported that “Jihadi John” is the pseudonym for a man named Mohammed Emwazi. Emwazi was born in Kuwait, though spent many years in the UK, even graduating from the University of Westminster with a degree. It is such a shame, what could have been a highly successful life has turned into a horrible one, with the blood of so many innocent people on his shoulders. Though the real issue is how he became radicalised.

It could be argued that more needs to be done to help people that feel withdrawn from society. The more withdrawn they are, the more likely they are to be swayed by radical messages. However a bridge to that stage would be to shut down public speaking’s from known Jihadists. Incredibly, the University of Westminster were due a talk the very same day as the unmasking of Emwazi from an infamous Islamic preacher. Some would suggest you are just asking for trouble with events like this being held.

Overall, the fact is that radicalisation is not going to stop anytime soon. It is a shame, as in some instances people leave good lives behind to go and fight against freedom. What has happened to Emwazi is a shame, there have been many before him and many after him. Britain and the rest of the world needs to do something to stop radicalization, or things will only get worse.

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U.S. Drone Strikes: Can they be Justified?

With the terrorist group ISIS advancing through large swathes of Iraq and Syria, leaving a bloody trail behind them, it is no surprise to see the United States leading drone strikes against them to try and halt their progress. There is an old saying that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” However in this case this couldn’t be further than the truth – ISIS are pure evil, with force required to try and defeat them. These drone strikes help to stall their progress and weaken their numbers. Drone strikes are nothing new, but how justifiable they are remains to be seen.

Drone strikes have been used effectively for over ten years. One of the main positives about the drone strikes are that the drones themselves’ are unmanned and difficult to detect, meaning they can be used effectively. Many of Al-Qaeda’s most influential personnel have been killed by targeted drone strikes. Of course the cost of these drone strikes are the main negative – just one predator drone will cost a minimum of $5M!

Back to the overall argument and it is difficult to ask whether or not they can be justified. Drone strikes have been in operation since 2002. I have taken a small sample of information which can help to represent some overall statistics. Below is a table showing statistics from the New America Foundation, showing the effect of the drone strikes:

It is worth stressing that these are just statistics for Pakistan. This table completely discounts the drone strikes currently being used in Iraq and Syria to try and stop the movement of ISIS. In total in the last ten years there have been almost 3,000 in total killed by the drone strikes. What is important when choosing whether or not they can be justified or not is to look at the civilian column. 286 civilians have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan.

This is 286 victims of the conflict. It is highly unfortunate for them to be caught up in this conflict, after all, they are just civilians. What it comes down to is the question of whether or not it is acceptable to make this sacrifice to kill 2,291 militants. Within reason, there is one civilian death for every ten militants killed. It can be argued that this is for the greater good. It is of course as mentioned very unfortunate for civilians to be caught up in this – but at the end of the day USA and other countries taking part in drone strikes are just looking out for their best interests.

They have a duty too protect their own civilians – if drone strikes can do this, then surely it is acceptable for civilian casualties – as long as there aren’t many of them. But then the counter argument to this is that what price can you put on an innocent life? Out of the civilians killed – it is likely that many of these people would’ve had families – families that have been dis-jointed as a result of these strikes. There is also research to suggest that these drone strikes actually cause more people to come up against USA – they see it as an act of aggression. It is also worth bearing in mind that the data I used above was just for one country – this number would be huge if it was on a worldwide scale.

Overall there are some evil, evil people in this world. The USA  have helped enormously to protect their own citizens against many militants – these drone strikes are perhaps the main cause of this. Although it may seem harsh, it is almost necessary that for as many civilians lives’ that are lost – it is ultimately worth it as more people are safe because of it. It is a difficult subject – one that open to opinion – everyone will have different ideas over how fair the strikes are – but one thing is for certain, they aren’t going to stop anytime soon.

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