Sunday, December 22, 2019

Report: Dozens Of Former French Soldiers Have Joined Jihadist Groups In The Middle East

The Telegraph: Dozens of former French soldiers joined jihadist groups in Middle East, new report reveals

Islamist groups have recruited dozens of former French soldiers, a troubling new report has revealed less than three months after a terrorist attack by a staff member at police headquarters in Paris shocked the nation.

More than a third of the ex-servicemen are converts to Islam and nearly half served in elite Foreign Legion, parachute, commando or marine units where they acquired expertise in combat and handling weapons and explosives.

The conservative newspaper Le Figaro published excerpts on Wednesday from the forthcoming report by the Centre for the Analysis of Terrorism, a Paris-based think tank.

The report says the French army “constitutes a strategic recruitment target for terrorist groups… and former soldiers represent tremendous assets for these groups.”

The report, “Soldiers and Jihad”, profiles 23 ex-servicemen “identified within terrorist organisations [mainly Isil] or implicated in plotting terrorist attacks”.

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WNU Editor: To be fair. Many France is not the only country that has a radicalization problem with some of its soldiers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

@anon. Watch the documentaries on how they do it, who they prey on


Typically they recruit people who don't like society, seek some purpose and want to fit in/feel like they are part of something bigger.. and people who can be peer pressured / commanded by groups..that is not too umsimilar to a soldier who's just a soldier/rank and has lost his or her way. It's not just lonely guys and ladies who often have mental illness who can be converted, but equally soldiers. Many soldiers seek purpose and glory. not such a difficult target for recruiters. The US Army recruiters use the same tactics as other nations and groups. They all go for your psych profile. CIA too. All do it. Some will be convinced no matter how bad your side or even argument.

Bob Huntley said...

,,,

Anonymous said...

"that is not too umsimilar to a soldier who's just a soldier/rank and has lost his or her way."

I've meant plenty of soldiers, who joined and had a plan. One was a cook and had a plan to become an executive chef. I knew another who joined to get their start in the culinary arts. Most people joining the military, if they come from prior service families or are friends with one, do have a very exacting plan of rising through the ranks or what jobs they want and can attain after 1 or 2 tours. Other people have plans as simple as using the GI Bill during or after their 1st tour and getting into a profession or trade.

It might be different with the French military, but the American military most people know where they are going and how long it takes to get there.