Raluca COŞEA

Intelligence officials from the United States and Europe look at the terrorist threat with concerning eyes, more frequent than ever. The terrorist tentacles, as a result of the Iraqi war and the Syrian crisis, will capture both Europe and the USA as an extremely violent tsunami. All these worries have been intensified after the Paris attack at Charlie Hebdo (07.01.2015).
The attackers, also known as ”foreign fighters”, emerged after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, but terrorist activity in Europe or USA didn’t increase from that moment on.
”Foreign fighters” are the supporters of ISIS, of its cause and ideology. They come from all continents and countries that have a Muslim majority or minority. They fight with other Sunnis against the governments in Syria and Iraq. The vast majority of them originated in the Arab world, along with other 16 million Muslims from Western Europe and another 2 million from the United States of America (photo ).
They all have the feeling of the Jihad calling them, after results of recent history: war in Syria, the refugee crisis and the violence that occurred between the religious communities.
Radicalization of young people, also known as ”greenbirds”, is performed using several instruments attentively conceptualized and built, as the internet, social networks and the entire virtual environment, according to an ICSR report (The International Center for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence).
The threat posed by ”foreign fighters” can be explained as a stepwise process till an actual recruitment until terrorist actions that can take place anywhere in the world. In this process changes can occur, the way to terrorism being an extremely complex activity, with many implications. In most cases, depending on the conflict to which we refer, many followers will give up being ”foreign fighters” because of several reasons that affect their lives. However, others follow all steps, and in the end, the transformation will be complete .
ISIS has a strong and constant media presence (supported by the production company Al-Furqan Media) by filming the executions considered ”martyrdoms” next to the messages of pro-radicalization support, transmitted in many languages. There are also broadcasted information about the latest attacks, administrative problems of the region, and about the formation of a new Caliphate and religious fundamentalization . From January to March 2014, about 40 people were arrested in the UK and prosecuted for supporting militant groups in Syria, and as a result, 20 of them were withdrawn citizenship.
”Foreign fighters” that come back to their native countries are a real global threat. Varied instruments used to prevent and combat terrorism require a constant readjustment regarding the current regional issues.
FBI Director James Comey said that ”we look at the fights in Syria with the same eye we looked at the attacks of September 11, but everything is getting worse. More and more people decide to go there. These groups will form a diaspora outside Syria.”
He added that terrorist groups attract people with ”disturbed souls” that unless they could join those groups, then they could help by killing another people or destroy the infrastructure of the cities or countries they live in. He also mentioned that American intelligence services will not leave things to be influenced by Syria and will fight against the outlined threats .