Jihad and the West - Black Flag over Babylon Chapter Eight Podcast One

The Caliphate Abroad, Part One: The Anglo-Saxons             Earlier chapters examined why Westerners are drawn to and sometimes repulsed by life in the Caliphate. Chapters 8 and 9 will return to Europe to provide more detail on Muslim–non-Muslim relations in selected countries. These chapters will expand on the Caliphate-related themes presented earlier, including social divisions, recruitment, support bases, cell formation, and the political environment in selected European countries and the United States. The Anglo-Saxon countries are Britain, Germany, and the United States. The French-speaking countries are France and Belgium.   The Deluge               The influx of migrants and refugees into Europe and the United States created opportunities for the Caliphate. In the West, reports of the Caliphate’s troops disguising themselves as refugees and migrants became central national security concerns in 2015 and 2016. Thousands of migrants moved north across the continent and encamped in the “jungle refugee centers” in Calais and other French coastal cities. Many hoped to brave the choppy English Channel for a new home in Britain. After the Florida, Istanbul, and Nice attacks, the great migration became a dominant issue in Europe and in the American presidential election year of 2016.               In April 2016, soon after the Brussels attack, a survey found that respondents in nine out of ten European countries described the Caliphate as a “major threat.” At the time, migrants were streaming from the Middle East, North Africa, and Eurasia by the hundreds of thousands. Many Europeans saw this as the gravest threat to European harmony since the Cold War and the greatest menace to social cohesion since the ethnic shifts and cleansing in the post–World War II period.    Some Europeans used biblical metaphors, including the “great flood,” to describe the current migration. British commentators looked to history, citing the French invasion of England 1,000 years earlier. Continentals drew on imagery of the Visigoths, Vandals, and Huns, using vastly exaggerated and alarmist historical analogies that reflect the unease some Europeans feel with their new nationals.   Social services throughout Europe were inundated with demands they could not meet. Federal and local authorities needed to innovate to provide shelter for individuals, families, and entire Middle Eastern neighborhoods now transported to Europe. Police forces were strained, and some felt hampered by the inability to communicate in a common language or by customs that were distinctly non-European. There were simply not enough officers, prosecutors, prison guards, or prison space to cope. For example, police in the German city of Keil allegedly collectively stopped pursuing cases in which refugees were caught shoplifting because it was too much work to prosecute them.               Greece, the entry point for many migrants, faced daunting and morbid problems in 2015, as nearly 90 percent of migrants arrived on Greek soil as their point of entry into Europe. Pope Francis praised the Greek people for their kindness to “the cradle of civilization, the heart of humanity.” But many Greeks found it hard to cope. The island of Lesbos, of Greek myth, was inundated with migrants, some of whom died there. The mayor explained that there was no room left in the main cemetery to bury anyone.               Bodies that washed ashore in Greece were identified by “cadaver number.” On the small island of Samos, the body of a short-haired boy wearing a black shirt and jeans was tagged “Cadaver #4” in January 2016. It belonged to a young Syrian named Yamen, who, like so many others, had drowned at sea. His cousins, aunts, and uncles survived the journey to Europe and Canada and searched for Yamen. His uncle flew from Montreal to bring the boy to Canada for burial in a family plot.   Northern Bound—”Just Wait”   “It’s our dream that there should be a caliphate not only in Syria but in all the world, and we will have it soon, inshallah.” A Caliphate leader, referring to the migration to Europe, 2015               The route through the Greek islands was the most frequently used entry point for the million-plus migrants in 2015 and 2016. Passage through the Balkans was dubbed “Jihadist highways.” The head of France’s internal intelligence service confirmed that the Islamic State was using migrant routes through the Balkans to infiltrate Europe. European security services were strained as they tried to monitor migrants and migratory patterns. From Greece, migrants often headed north, hoping to reach wealthier states, primarily Germany, France, and Britain. Some had immigrated because they were destitute and desperate. Others came to improve their lives and those of their families. Others came to emulate Muhammad’s hijrah, the journey from Mecca to Medina. Some came to infiltrate, plan attacks, and kill. Greek officials uncovered locations in Athens where Caliphate operatives would stay before dispersing to France, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, and Germany. They would be provisioned in these safe houses and given contact information for their destinations.               In February 2015, the Caliphate claimed it would infiltrate thousands of its followers among the migrants. According to one source, in September 2015, 4,000 Islamic State Jihadis had already entered Europe. A Caliphate leader said, “These Muslims were going to Europe in the service of that caliphate. They are going like refugees. Just wait.”               Several European Union member states, particularly in Eastern Europe, constructed temporary fences. Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Romania, and Croatia erected barriers. However, once migrants entered Europe, it was highly unlikely they would be deported; at one point in 2016, the European Union deported only seven migrants per day. Many deportation-bound migrants claimed sudden, unrecognizable illnesses that prevented them from flying. They could stay. The EU counterterrorism chief conceded that it was “relatively easy” to enter the European Union amid the sea of refugees. Enter they did.