American IS fighter: I made a bad decision
PUK MEDIA VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Virginia driver’s license found on a man who turned himself in to Kurdish forces in northern Iraq on Monday.
IRBIL, Iraq >> The American Islamic State group fighter who handed himself over to Kurdish forces in Iraq’s north earlier this week said he made “a bad decision” joining IS, according to a heavily edited interview he gave to an Iraqi Kurdish television station that aired late Thursday night.
Mohamad Jamal Khweis, 26, from Alexandria, Virginia detailed his weeks-long journey from the United States to London, Amsterdam, Turkey, through Syria and finally to the IS-controlled Iraqi city of Mosul, where he was moved into a house with dozens of other foreign fighters.
Khweis said he met an Iraqi woman with ties to IS in Turkey who arranged his travel into Syria and then across to Mosul. There Khweis said he began more than a month of intensive Islamic studies and it was then he decided to try and flee.
“I didn’t agree with their ideology,” he said, explaining why he decided to escape a few weeks after arriving. “I made a bad decision to go with the girl and go to Mosul.”
Khweis said a friend helped him escape Mosul to nearby Tal Afar. From there he said he walked toward Kurdish troops. “I wanted to go to the Kurdish side,” he said, “because I know they are good with the Americans.”
The surrender took place on the front lines near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from IS militants late last year. In the past year IS fighters have lost large amounts of territory in Syria and Iraq. Khweis is currently being held by Kurdish forces for interrogation.
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Though such defections are rare, Syrian Kurdish fighters battling IS have told The Associated Press that they are seeing an increase in the number of IS members surrendering following recent territorial losses. As the militants lose territory, U.S. officials predict there will be more desertions.
“I wasn’t thinking straight,” Khweis said. “My message to the American people is that the life in Mosul is really, really bad,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe the Islamic State group accurately represents Islam.
The United Nations estimated that around 30,000 so-called foreign fighters from 100 countries are actively working with the Islamic State group, al-Qaida or other extremist groups. An earlier estimate by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization, a think tank at King’s College London, said IS fighters include 3,300 Western Europeans and 100 or so Americans.
17 responses to “American IS fighter: I made a bad decision”
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She must have been really good in bed! I wonder how much money each woman gets from Isis for each D..As American they recruit?
That’s very sad and too bad.
Now it’s time to pay the price for your decision. He should not be allowed back into the USA.
I think it is good that he realized his mistake and took steps to correct it. Sure beats continuing on the wrong path. Would be a major mistake to reject him and probably counterproductive.
Wants to return to the US and then do his dirty deeds. He cannot be trusted and should be denied re-entry.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
Sounds like he didn’t go to war. He went through the training but changed his mind. Don’t think he is really guilty of treason. He may have been moving towards treason but stopped, reversed, and got out. He should be used as an example of the effects of propaganda and how it can be resisted. I am sure there can be lots to be learned from him. For example, what propaganda did he fall for? What specifically wised him up? It would be silly to throw away such a resource.
Boots, What specifically wised him up? Probably the girl dumped him then he realized she was just a recruitment tool. Poor fool got his heart broken. Not having regular meals probably didn’t help either.
Dude is lucky to be alive. I bet those ISIS fighters can’t sleep at night and always have to scan the sky for drones with a bulls eye on their heads. Reminds me of the resistance fighters trying to hide from Skynet in the Terminator movies.
“I made a bad decision to go with the girl [or boy]”
Story of the start of so many bad outcomes….
Can’t trust those women. lol
I put money on it Obama will allow this traitor back into the country and if he doesn’t do it I am sure Hillary will if she gets elected. This is exactly why we can not afford another 4 or 8 years of the present administration. Vote Trump he will not allow these kind of people in our country
That post is an example of extremely short sighted thinking with no understand of psychological warfare.
That guy is a perfect opportunity to broadcast the lies about ISIS. His story is actually quite powerful in that it can convince many who have sympathies to ISIS that the group is wrong, does wrong and is lying about its claims. You however, would turn down a golden opportunity to strike at the very heart of our enemy’s message. At the core of every ideological war is the fight for hearts and minds. If we have any hope of overcoming extremist Islam, we must win that war. And to do so requires people like Mr. Khweis telling their stories about why they were wrong to join an extremist group and why that group is bad.
Tell me how that’s intelligent. I’m betting you won’t.
Of course he should be allowed back into this country. Why shouldn’t he? Sounds like he didn’t actually get involved in war.
Be pretty silly to reject him. This could drive him back into the hands of terrorists. If not these, another group.
He’s already making statements like Daesh aren’t good Muslims. That’s the kind of propaganda we need. This war will not be won on the battlefield, but in the psyche. The more turncoats we can get to spill the beans on how bad they actually are, the fewer and fewer will join till they have nothing.
The headline wins the understatement award for this week.
Just another entry in people make bad decisions chasing after a love interest?
March madness/college stunt? Sounds like spoiled frat boys caught by campus security. To me, once a traitor always a traitor. Old enough to be responsible. Old enough to know you don’t join organizations that commit acts of terror against innocents in places like Paris. I say squeeze him for any info that’s useful, cut him loose there. If he takes up arms against ISIS, so much the better. If he makes it back here, arrest him and charge him with treason.