A few years ago, the word “ISIS” didn’t ring too many bells in the minds of average Americans. Since 2006, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has come to power — some would say that the formation of this group was in direct response to the infiltration of American soldiers into Iraq. ISIS was able to grow extremely quickly in Syria, when fighters from the Free Syrian Army were recruited by ISIS officials, using weapons and skills learned in this rebel group. As ISIS’s reputation continues to grow in the media, more and more people are giving the group attention, and many from around the world are seeking their share of “fame and glory” in the burgeoning terrorist group.
This expansion recently contributed to the arrest of a married American couple. The two staged a honeymoon as a cover for their alleged attempts to join ISIS, with whom they had electronic contact for a few months before their trip was scheduled. They were arrested earlier in August at a Mississippi airport.
I’m not going to pretend that I cry when the National Anthem is sung at sports events, or that I have ever dreamed of joining the Army, or that I even remotely enjoyed the Tom Cruise movie “Born on the 4th of July.” However, when two young, able-bodied, intelligent Americans decide that their gifts are better suited for a terrorist organization than for the betterment of their own selves and country, I get pretty upset. When four Marines are killed in an attack and Jaelyn Young and Muhammad Dakhlalla specifically stated that they believed it to be work well-done, I get even more mad. When people are blissfully ignorant of the luxuries they possess and then throw them away, while others would die for what they take for granted, I become infuriated.
We are fortunate enough to be living in America, where we are all able to express ourselves, and speak our minds. I like not being susceptible to large amounts of blatant propaganda and technology-control. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty happy to be living in a country where my government and, by extension, media, generally tells the truth, and where I have a choice in where I get to live, where I grocery shop, and who becomes the next leader of my country. The thought of these young people aiding a terrorist group focusing specifically on my country makes me feel timid, unsure and weak. But the worst part is that I’m sure these feelings aren’t too far from what Young and Dakhlalla were feeling as they began their journey to Syria — timid, being involved with such a huge terror organization. I imagine they were unsure, or should have been, about their decision, especially given the gravity of the consequences for a mistake. They must have also felt weak, because they chose to enter into a field where they are the minority, and where they have little liberty to speak freely, regardless of what they had been told online.
While I believe in the freedom of everyone’s opinion, the issue arises from the actions one takes because of those opinions. If Young and Dakhlalla really are the intelligent, rational people they claimed to be as they sold their stories to ISIS, they would have approached their issues with the U.S. in a different manner. They would have made a list of what upsets them, contacted their local congressman, even written a letter to the President. Who knows? There are hundreds of different ways to make your voice be heard, but they decided that attempting to join forces with one of America’s biggest threats was their best option. They got what they wanted, because now their story will definitely be known — but only because the pair couldn’t even get past a Mississippi airport.