COWBOYS IN SYRIA

Dutch Muslim fighters often have no idea what they are joining in Syria, intelligence sources say. "Then Hollanders are in a situation where they have no influence at all, depending on the 'locals,' who manipulate them and take money from them."

They pretend they are going on a vacation to eastern Turkey, or on a study trip to Cairo. But their real destination is Syria. Goal: a hero's role in the Holy War. But the Dutch Muslim radicals who join jihadist resistance groups in Syria often come out disappointed. Exploited, robbed of money and ideals and sometimes wounded, they report to Dutch embassies. Shortly before the turn of the year, another group of "polder jihadists" left for Syria, despite attempts by the AIVD to disrupt their adventure.
Foreign Muslim fighters are being trained and taught in Syria.
More and more images emerge of atrocities committed by resistance fighters, such as executions with neck shots of handcuffed soldiers.Again Dutch jihadists to Syria. Intelligence sources confirm: "Around the turn of the year several men traveled to Syria. They fit the profile, 25 to 30 years old, and they have previously been in the picture with the AIVD and addressed by the secret service." The secret service was only able to disrupt the trip for a short time, then the jihadis' "vacation trip" could not be stopped ... after which they still left and ended up in Syria.

It's mopping the waters: dozens of Dutch Muslim radicals are in Syria or on the way. Three weeks ago, Rotterdam jihadists aged 22, 23 and 33 were intercepted. They wanted to take a plane to Turkey. From there, they would make contact with jihadist militant groups in Syria, such as Ansar al-Jebhat al-Nusra, which a year after its founding is already notorious for summary executions of Syrian soldiers, who are blindfolded and kneeling and given a neck shot.

An Almere jihadist is certain to be fighting for Al Nusra, recently designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization. This 35-year-old Khaled K. - a psychologically disturbed asylum seeker who takes pills for claustrophobia and schizophrenia - was arrested last July at home in Almere by an anti-terrorist unit. Due to lack of evidence, the justice system had to let him go.

Sword

The Dutch secret service AIVD also tipped off the judiciary about the three Rotterdammers. During house searches three weeks ago, knives, a sword, a crossbow and arrows were found. But also backpacks full of equipment, jihadist propaganda material and farewell letters to family members. Homes of family members in Doesburg and Utrecht were also searched.

The trio had raised money among fellow believers for a trip to Turkey. A first attempt - a flight to Turkey with a connecting domestic flight to the border with Syria - was canceled. But the AIVD continued to lurk. When two of the three later wanted to leave for Turkey from the Brussels airport, they intervened.

"One of them had married a Muslim woman a week before his arrest, whom he had never met. He had known her recently through the Internet. He wanted to fight with her in Syria for jihad. In a photo for his bride, the man posed with an AK-47 assault rifle. On the Internet, he spoke to his wife-to-be: 'I hope we will die together and go to paradise together,'" the justice department said.

The recent arrests fit the worrisome trend also identified by the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV): more and more young Dutch Muslim radicals are fantasizing about firing rocket launchers and emptying machine guns in Syria. "The appeal of the jihad struggle is increasing. The situation at the main jihadist battlegrounds remains worrying: there are more of them than ever and there is also more interest in the Netherlands to travel there," the NCTV alerted.

"Interest among Dutch Muslim radicals in fighting is high," acknowledged well-informed intelligence sources, speaking to The Telegraph on condition of anonymity. "The subject is alive, many really have the intention to go. It is a daily and popular topic of conversation, especially among people in their twenties and thirties, such as followers of the radical convert organization Straat-Dawah and Sharia4Holland," the intelligence analysts said. "It's hype." And no one can stop them, as long as they feign vacationing.

Popular

That Syria is "popular," according to these sources, is simple to explain: "That war, in all its horror, comes into the living rooms daily. Syria is named in the Koran, there are historical-religious ties. Moreover, it is easy to travel, easier than Yemen, Pakistan or Afghanistan, where the pressure is high due to attacks with drones , unmanned aerial vehicles. Somalia is also home to many Western jihadists, remarkably many Scandinavians and Dutch. Mali is also relatively close. A good part of Mali is in the hands of jihadists, but we have no indication of jihad travel from the Netherlands to Mali."

Syria is thus most popular among Muslim radicals. The kidnapping recently of Dutch photographer Jeroen Oerlemans in Syria was the work of a group of international jihadists, many of them British. Britain estimates that hundreds of compatriots are active there. Even from Australia, an estimated 100 or so fighters have come.

"Syria has a global pull. Also because you can call that fight legitimate resistance against a criminal regime," the intelligence analysts said. "But the danger is life-threatening that as a Dutch jihadist you get involved in atrocities you cannot imagine in the Netherlands. Besides, what happens when the battle is over? The jihadists are a small part of the Syrian resistance, but the most hardened. After the Bosnian war, we saw fighters from that war popping up worldwide in terrorist organizations. There are hundreds of European fighters in Syria who have a mountain of combat experience. What if those turn against Western interests?"

Many Dutch jihadists have a warped Disney-like image of exactly what war entails. Their fantasies about heroic jihad have been cultivated by propaganda material that can be found with mountains on the Internet, intelligence analysts say. Like the "documentary" posted Nov. 15 on YouTube by the Algerian TV channel Echorouk TV. In it, foreign fighters are applauded who traded their civilian lives to fight in Syria against the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The video is partially accurate. It is true that jihadists worldwide are descending like moths to the Syrian violence. recognizable fighters are shown from England, France, Hungary, Germany, the Balkan countries, Sweden, Chechnya and even Chile. By the way, the Chilean - a recent Muslim convert - is dead. The footage shows him lying under bloody sheets, next to a dead German.

Tough men

Otherwise, the documentary is too comfortable to be true; tough men who deny death by firing long salvos in the middle of the street with no concern for cover. "The video shows how warmly foreign fighters are welcomed and integrated into local resistance groups, who admire them. Especially those who come from Western countries, because they have left behind their comfortable lives to fulfill their Islamic duty to fight against the Syrian regime," according to a translation by the American organization Memri (Middle East Media Research Institute). The foreign fighters allow themselves to be filmed singing in a van on their way to the front.

In reality, Dutch jihadists run life-sized risks in Syria of being financially exploited, abused, ending up in an organization where they have no say and becoming involved in war crimes, intelligence officers say. More and more images are surfacing of atrocities committed by resistance fighters, such as executions with neck shots of handcuffed soldiers and the beheading of soldiers by children with swords.

Polder jihadists' preparations are dramatically poor. "They have no idea what they want to join, have no overview of the warring factions. They walk into the hands of a militant group somewhere and join. But about backgrounds they know nothing."

"There are no longer organized 'pipelines' from Europe to combat zones. There used to be recruiters active, who made sure you ended up in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Those recruits are not active for Syria. Now European jihadists themselves communicate directly with fighters through social media. They travel on their own. Through the Internet, they share their experiences, after which others follow."

According to intelligence sources, their surroundings in the Netherlands know very well that they are going on a jihad trip. "They tell about it proudly, prepare themselves by collecting equipment. Sometimes money is collected collectively. Some sell everything, leave bank cards behind and pay off debts. If the environment, the family, reacts surprised that someone is going on jihad, it is a lie."

"Secret services are not necessarily the right party to keep radicalized men from going on a jihad trip. When we approach them, we often confirm them in their beliefs. Then we are part of a repressive system. If necessary, we confront them. But they are free to "go on vacation. As in policing, it is precisely the environment that must pick up the signals honestly: youth welfare, neighborhood, mosque, school, family. The problem with family is that they know someone is radicalized, but they keep quiet out of shame." Employers don't fit the bill: "Most of them have temp jobs, so it is not noticed when they leave."

Disillusioned

Many Dutch jihadists become so disillusioned that they seek help from Dutch embassies or other agencies abroad, intelligence sources reveal. In particular, it is these ex-combatants who are valuable sources for intelligence agencies about travel routes, contacts and fellow fighters.

"At embassies regularly come boys who have been disappointed, or wounded, who have run out of money, or who found it all 'not so cozy' after all... Some have been ticked off by the poor hygiene, the brutality of war, the lack of money. Not everywhere they get a hero's welcome, on the contrary. Often they end up with battle groups fighting for local interests, then Hollanders are in a situation where they have no influence at all, depending on the 'locals', who manipulate them and take money from them. You have to buy your own weapon, for example, at rates that only the trade benefits from. And then the medical care: in Holland you get rid of diarrhea within a few days, but there you spend weeks squatting among the bushes..."