Daesh defector describes drug use, rape, serial marriages within Islamic State.

[Valigarmander]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/life-under-isis-why-i-deserted-the-islamic-state-rather-than-take-part-in-executions-beheadings-and-rape--the-story-of-a-former-jihadi-10111877.html

Hamza is a 33-year-old from Fallujah, a city ruled by Islamic State 40 miles west of Baghdad, who became an Isis fighter last year after being attracted by its appeal to his religious feelings. Two months ago, however, he defected, after being asked to help execute people he knew â€" and being appalled by invitations to join in what amounted to rape of captured Yazidi women.

In an interview with The Independent, given in the safety of another country, he gives a vivid account of why he joined Isis, what it was like to be a member of the jihadist group, and why he left. He reveals extraordinary details about how the army of Isis operates, the elaborate training that its fighters receive in Iraq and Syria and the way in which taking part in executions is an initiation rite, proof of the commitment and loyalty of fighters.

An intelligent, idealistic, well-educated, and religious man, Hamza defected from Isis after six months as a trainee and a fighter because he was deeply upset by the executions, some of them of people he knew in Fallujah. He became conscious that if he stayed in Isis he would soon have to carry out an execution himself. “I don’t like Shia but when it comes to killing them I was shocked,” he says.

He refused to execute some Sunni accused of working with Iraq’s mostly Shia government “or what they [Isis] call ‘the pagan government’,” he said. Surprisingly, he was not punished for this, but was told by his commander that he would be asked to carry out an execution later and, in the meantime, foreign jihadis would do the job.

Hamza gives a fascinating insight into the lives led by Isis fighters. “I was paid 400,000 Iraqi dinars (£231) a month in addition to many privileges, including food, fuel, and more recently, access to the internet,” he says.

“On the other hand, there were some Tunisian Muslim girls who came from Syria. Those Muslim girls were sleeping with some commanders under a marriage contract for a week only and then they were divorced and married to another one. I asked one of them how she had come to be in Syria and she answered that she had travelled first to Turkey and then across the Turkish-Syrian border.” The three British schoolgirls who likewise crossed into Syria may well find that they are similarly treated by Isis.

Hamza does not want his real name or location disclosed, though he believes that for the moment he is safe. He asked for certain details about his escape in January be concealed, but otherwise is open about how he came to join Isis forces and what he did. In many cases what he says can be confirmed by other witnesses from Fallujah interviewed by The Independent, though none of these were fighters.

“It’s a complicated story,” he says, when asked how he came to join Isis. Last year, the group captured Fallujah, where Hamza and his family were living. “They were kind to people in general and did not force them to join their military service,” he recalls. “They had many ways of gaining people’s goodwill and support: for example, they would go house to house, asking those living there if they needed anything and offering services such as education, saying ‘We will enlighten your children, so don’t send them to the government’s schools.’

“In addition, they were giving small lectures and sermons after prayers. Most of the lecture topics were about how to reform and improve society, using the Koran and Hadith [traditional Islamic teachings] to support their arguments.

“This was like some kind of brainwashing but it happened slowly over  six months. I was attending many of those lectures and, after a time, I was preparing in advance the Koranic verses and Hadith texts relevant to the topics. There were weekly competitions between groups of youths. I won two competitions on these religious topics and each time I received 300,000 Iraqi Dinars.”

Last July, his family left Fallujah for Baghdad, but he remained behind. “After winning two prizes, I felt I liked their system,” he says. “When my family left, my father asked me not to stay and told me not to be too influenced by the prizes I had won. He said the situation would get worse. He was not very opposed to Isis, but he is so old and cannot cope with the hard life in Fallujah after conditions deteriorated â€" in terms of work, electricity, water, food, and the militarisation of life.”

Hamza told his family that he would follow them to Baghdad within a few days, but had decided at this moment, July 2014, to join Isis. His motive was primarily religious and idealistic. He says that he “decided to join them willingly because I was convinced that the Islamic State is the ideal state to serve, and to work for, Allah and the after life, which is the surest part of life”.

He was accepted immediately by Isis, his preacher recommending him to a military commander, though he was not at first sent to a military unit. The details Hamza gives of his induction and training by Isis are significant because they help explain how it has created such a formidable military machine.

First, he was told to do exercises to get him into good physical shape. “The exercises I did in July and August 2014 were physical activity exercises, fitness training, and abdominal exercises,” he says. “After that, I was transferred to a military unit outside Fallujah for a month and then I was sent for a month and a half to Raqqa [in Syria] where I was taught military skills through intensive training courses.

“In Fallujah, I had learned to shoot using Kalashnikov rifles and how to throw grenades. It was a more advanced level of training in Raqqa where I, together with a group of volunteers, learned to use RPG [Rocket Propelled Grenade] launchers and different kinds of machine guns.”

Asked why Isis had taken him and other volunteers to Raqqa for military training, Hamza has an interesting response. “The reason wasn’t because training is not available in Iraq. All kinds of training, equipment and facilities are available in Fallujah, but we were taken to Raqqa to increase our sense of what is called ‘patriotism towards the caliphate lands’ and to introduce us to a new experience and a new revolution.

“When they took us to Raqqa, all the fighters became convinced that the boundary between Syria and Iraq is fake and we are all united under the rule of the Caliphate. Psychologically speaking, I was so relaxed and happy to go there because it was a nice feeling to destroy the borders between two governments and pass through them. This was really a great achievement.”

Executions play an important role in the life of the Isis, not only as a means of intimidating enemies but as an initiation rite and proof of faith by new fighters. Hamza says that in Raqqa trainees like him were sent to watch public executions: “I attended three executions in Raqqa and others in Fallujah. One was of a man believed to be working with the Syrian regime; he was just shot.”

In Fallujah, captured Shia soldiers of the Iraqi Army were executed. “This was the first time that I witnessed a beheading,” he said. “I had   been shown some videos made with impressive visual and audio skill. After watching many of these, we were being taken to attend public executions.”

Asked if he had carried out any executions himself, Hamza said that he had not and explained why. “I was not ordered to do so because according to Isis rules, the trainee needs more than six months to be ready to carry out an execution. But this is not the only criterion. The trainee should also show additional skills in his religious education and military tactics as well as many other tests.

“However, the problem was that I was a little bit shaken after attending those executions. I don’t like Shia but when it came to killing them, I was shocked. Although they were showing us videos of Shia militias killing Sunni people, we were troubled when we attended real executions. In November, a large number of Sunni men were taken prisoner on the grounds that they were working with the government...

“In the fourth week of November there were some executions to be carried out. One of our commanders asked me and my fellow fighters to bring our guns to be used in an execution the following day. But the victims were Sunnis, some of whom I knew.

“I couldn’t endure what we were going to do. I tried to explain that, if they were Shia I would do it immediately. The commander said: ‘I will give you another chance later. For now we have Mujahideen [jihadis] to carry out the killing.’”

It may also have been that Hamza had not served the full six months normally required in Isis before becoming a fully fledged executioner.

It was shortly after he had refused to execute Sunni prisoners that Hamza and other Isis volunteers were offered the 13 Yazidi girls for sex. He says that the two events together shattered his idealistic enthusiasm for Isis and created doubts in his mind. He gives a compelling description of his mental turmoil at this time, thinking of “the executions, or more horribly the beheadings, as well as the raping of the non-Muslim girls. These scenes terrified me. I imagined myself being caught up in these shootings, executions, beheadings and raping, if I stayed where I was.”

Now he started to plan his escape, but he knew that this would be difficult and dangerous. He says one Isis fighter had tried to run away but was caught and executed for treason. “The problem is that no one was trustworthy, not even close friends,” he says. Nevertheless, he managed to make arrangements with a friend outside the Caliphate to help him using the instant messaging service Viber, taking advantage of the satellite internet connection that was available to fighters in Fallujah for three hours at a time, three days a week.

Mobile phones evidently worked in at least part of Fallujah (though Isis has blown up mobile masts elsewhere as a security measure), but only some particularly trusted fighters were allowed to have them. “I told my commander that I needed a mobile to talk to my family and he agreed, saying that I will be given more privileges as I prove my loyalty and courage,” Hamza says.

This enabled him to arrange his escape, through friends and smugglers whom he paid to help him. He made his move one early January night when he was put on guard duty on the outskirts of Fallujah, enabling him to slip away easily. It took him five days to reach a place of safety. He has given The Independent details of his itinerary, but publication of these might compromise his security. He is not sure if Isis will pursue him actively and says that he has held back some information about the group because he fears their reaction.

He admits that there are also limits to what he does know: “For example, we, the fighters, were not able to enter what they call the operation rooms, which have many computers and foreign experts, though sometimes my comrades would use the internet nearby and get the Wi-Fi passwords through giving money to the technicians,” he said.

As a recently recruited fighter, he did not meet any senior members of Isis or lieutenants of its leader, Abu Baqr al-Baghdadi. “No, they were always moving from one place to another,” he says. “And they keep talking about al-Baghdadi, saying that he is still living. I am sure and have been told that they [the Isis leadership] are Iraqis only.”

Asked if he thinks Isis will be defeated, he says that this will not be easy, even though coalition air strikes mean “they cannot advance now”.

Hamza says he is now entirely disillusioned with Isis. “At the beginning I thought they were fighting for Allah, but later I discovered they are far from the principles of Islam.  I know that some fighters were taking hallucinatory drugs; others were obsessed with sex. As for the raping, and the way different men marry by turn the same woman over a period of time, this is not humane.

“I left them because I was afraid and deeply troubled by this horrible situation. The justice they were calling for when they first arrived in Fallujah turned out to be only words.”

[Munch]

Now most likely claiming asylum in the uk or america under a false name.

Sadly, its one in a thousand people associated with Isis who come around to realizing the barbarism of their cult, and by then thousands more have already beebn butchered by them.

Its when I read reports of these people living in the west who are prepared to give up their life they have in america or europe, and go to fight alongside Isis, while someone could argue it is their right to do whatever the fuck they want, I would say yes, but before allowing them to make that choice, force them to watch what Isis actually does, show the rape and murder of children in full graphic detail to these sickos. If their reaction is something of disgust then your know theres a chance they will come around. If not and they get a buzz out of seeing children shoot, raped or blown up, just put a bullet to their heads and be done with it.

[pr126]

“I left them because I was afraid and deeply troubled by this horrible situation. The justice they were calling for when they first arrived in Fallujah turned out to be only words.”

Would it ever cross his mind that it is Islam that teaches all this barbarity and carnage by emulating their prophet? (Q. 33:21)
Would it ever cross his mind to leave this barbaric cult?

I think not.

The justice they were calling for when they first arrived in Fallujah turned out to be only words

Yes, Muhammad's words. It's all in the Islamic texts.

The fact is, that Muslims have been doing this kind of barbarity since 622 AD.
Won't be stopping anytime soon.

[Shiranu]

Very good read, thanks Val.

[Munch]

The fact is, that Muslims have been doing this kind of barbarity since 622 AD.
Won't be stopping anytime soon.

fact of the matter is, the only way cultures advance, is by casting off religion, its the reason why people who are more able to learn, grow and understand, even develop empathy, are those who in religion do not go by ever aspect of that faith, like cherry picking bits of it.

I find it in a grim way interesting, we can reflect on western culture, where advancements have taken place without religion being the reason for it advancing, things like law, science and government, all aspects that operate without religion guiding it.

Where as looking in the middle east, their barbaric actions the extremist groups their take is because of direct influence because of faith, because of manipulating the masses into hysteria with stories and make-believe. We can actually see from the actions that happen in the middle east today just what it was like when someone wrote the bible and made up the stories in it, since it came from the same region.

I also now joke about the fact that for every white american christian who praises jesus but also wishes for the 'savages' of the middle east to be killed, odds are many of those people being killed are jesus' ancestors, the real one, if such a figure existed.

[Shiranu]

I find it in a grim way interesting, we can reflect on western culture, where advancements have taken place without religion being the reason for it advancing, things like law, science and government, all aspects that operate without religion guiding it.

Um... what? Just... what?

I think you should look up the history of how many monks and other very devout men were instrumental in scientific discoveries... Mendel, Copernicus, Bacon, Grimaldi, William of Ockham... these were all Roman Catholic monks. The Jesuits are renowned for their research into seismology, improving microscopes and having ideas on the circulation of blood.

These men made these discoveries SOLELY because the church had the resources to allow them to make these discoveries. The great men of science in Europe, until about 200 years ago, had one thing in common... they either made their discoveries thanks to the church, or because they were born to a wealthy lord. To say scientific discovery in Europe had nothing to do with religion is perhaps the most historically ignorant things I have ever read in my life.

As for philosophy... have you ever heard of men like Rene Descartes, Plato, Dostoevsky, Abu Bishr Matta ibn Yunus (not European, but Christian who brought European philosophy to the Middle East), Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Thomas Hobbes, Pascal, Rousseau, Calvin... so many of these were deeply religious men who wrote many key parts of their work in defense of their faith, and almost all of them share in common the fact that they were only educated because of church schooling.

And don't even get me started on all the great works of art and music and architecture, nearly all of everything that makes up "European Culture", that was funded by the church and done by deeply spiritual men.

I could go on, but I think you should have the picture now of why I find this both comical but also painful enough to read to the point I felt I should respond. Surely you have taken at least one class on European history... to say that religion had nothing to do with European advancement  and judging the "Middle Eastern barbarians" is both painfully ignorant, a shocking display of hubris and frankly scares me because it harkens back to the days of colonialism where, "We were civilized men bringing culture to an uncivilized subspecies!".

[pr126]

In Islam, the imperialism, the expansionism, the conquest of territories is hard coded into a religion.
The religion is a vehicle to spread and propagate Islam by any means necessary.

It is a religion of war and conquest. Always was, always will be.

Why We Are Afraid, A 1400 Year Secret, by Dr Bill Warner

[Munch]

Shiranu, of course such things have been discovered from those of religious backgrounds, because, let's face it, it has been so much intertwined into so many cultures throughout history it would be hard or even impossible to trace human advancement who weren't followers of some God.

But belief in God's isn't what makes for these advancements, it is just the placebo, God's are a man-made thing, not the other way around. It shows the human mind can both brilliantly creative, or horrifyingly defective, when you can have them create things like the pyramids or the ancient Greek/Roman structures, but also when you see people fighting wars over there beliefs and killing one another, or refusing medical advancements because they believe their God will cure them.

Do you honestly believe we would be where we are today in both medical and scientific discovery if religion was still the go to front for these things? I argue that we are only this advanced because doctors and scientists leave their beliefs at the door where it belongs, and no, just because the great men and woman through history were religious themselves, meant nothing in what they discovered. You failed to mention the fact many of these men could ONLY get that level of education because the church was the only institution of those times that held such knowledge, and indoctrinated them along with their education, or don't you realize why modern academia does not force religious view on its students? 

It is not a case that we are advanced because of religion, we advanced despite it.

[Shiranu]

You failed to mention the fact many of these men could ONLY get that level of education because the church was the only institution of those times that held such knowledge, and indoctrinated them along with their education, or don't you realize why modern academia does not force religious view on its students?

I failed to mention that because it is self-evident; as is the fact that, in the time they lived, religion was the hero in terms of scientific advancement (this applies to Islam and it's madrasahs that preserved and advanced upon Classical European work)  Religion gave the weak and poor a doorway to gain the power of knowledge.

It is not a case that we are advanced because of religion, we advanced despite it.

And again I contend that this is simply not accurate.

Why would the people in power have any desire to educate the masses? Why would the landowners and the warlords, dukes and kings of Europe spend money to provide education to the ignorant farmers who plowed their fields, the simple lumberjacks and carpenters who built their cities, the soldiers who won them land and protected their riches?

At what point in history has the average man not had to fight and claw for his right to an education? Just look at repressive regimes to this day and you will see the rich and powerful, without fail, will work their hardest to keep the common man down. The church gave the average man in the Middle Ages a chance to escape that cycle, to be above the grasp of the powerful and to educate themselves.

Where did these great ideas of science and philosophy come from? From men who would have, without the church (therefor, religion), been simple carpenters and farmers and soldiers themselves. These are the men who chose to educate their peers, to start the spark of giving the common man an education... who started the idea of education being a basic right... these men who did not have to worry about surviving day to day because they lived at a monastery and could therefor devout their time to the sciences...

No, European history is advanced almost solely on the freedom religion provided the great thinkers of Europe during Middle Ages to educate themselves without the need of a rich lord to sponsor them.

Without the church providing education for these men, there is a good chance we would still be living as serfs and peasants to the rich and powerful (not that they aren't fighting their hardest [at least here in the US] to return us to that). Just because we are atheists does not mean we have to ignore fundamental truths of history because it doesn't fit our preconceived notions and agendas.

[Qchan]

The real funny thing about this is that people like to associate ISIS to "radical muslims". The reality is that ISIS are simply devoted to the scriptures of the Quran and the Hadith. They are abiding to their religious script by the letter, and are therefore, true muslims. Everyone else who says otherwise has not read the Quran or the Hadith.

[Munch]

The real funny thing about this is that people like to associate ISIS to "radical muslims". The reality is that ISIS are simply devoted to the scriptures of the Quran and the Hadith. They are abiding to their religious script by the letter, and are therefore, true muslims. Everyone else who says otherwise has not read the Quran or the Hadith.

I've said that often, infact its the same thing I say about christians who are half arsed and accuse christian extremists as not being true Christians. The Quran is a violent, loathsome book of immoral scripture, and the moderate muslims are kidding themselves the way they cherry pick only the parts they like and call themselves true muslims.

[Qchan]

I've said that often, infact its the same thing I say about christians who are half arsed and accuse christian extremists as not being true Christians. The Quran is a violent, loathsome book of immoral scripture, and the moderate muslims are kidding themselves the way they cherry pick only the parts they like and call themselves true muslims.

Mostly all religions are peaceful except the Religion of Islam. When people using Christianity to fuel their hate, then they don't understand the bible at all. In the Quran, Allah tells its followers to kill the people of the book (Jews and Christians). It's very specific on who needs to be punished. It's very clear in its message. Mohammad's words cannot abrogate the words of Allah, but Mohammad's words and teachings and abrogate his own words and teachings. So, there's no misunderstandings that if Allah meant you need to kill someone, then you do it. In the bible, it divides itself into two covenants. The old covenant and the new covenant. The old covenant was based on archaic mosaic law. Its purpose wasn't for people today to follow it, but to be used as historical reference. The new covenant is meant for people of today. It has _no_ law except to believe in Jesus Christ and love your neighbor. So, when people use Christianity as a scapegoat to kill, then they're just using it as an excuse to do what they want.