From Bethnal Green to Baghuz

They were notorious at the time; the three schoolgirls from Bethnal Green who ran away to join Islamic State, or ISIS, in Syria. The national media leapt upon the story of three 15 year-olds turning their back on their own country to join with the most vile terrorist organisation with a fundamental hatred of all things western.

In the last couple of days, one of the schoolgirls, Shamima Begum, now a woman of 19, was discovered by Times’ journalist Anthony Loyd in a refugee camp in Syria. In an interview with Loyd, Begum talks about her journey to Syria and her experiences as a Mojaheran, a wife of a jihadi. What is interesting when reading the transcript of the interview, is Begum’s utter lack of remorse or sense of wrongdoing. She actually openly states that she has no regrets about joining and becoming part of the failed caliphate.

Indeed, her only motivation in speaking to Loyd was to request assistance in securing safe passage back to the UK for herself and her unborn child.

This request, as one would expect, has polarised viewpoints in the UK. On one hand, it is treated as laughable that someone who has effectively committed high treason should just waltz back home as though she has been on an extended gap year. On the other hand, some sectors, predominately leftist-leaning or within the brackets of the legal profession, point out Begum’s youthful age when she left to join ISIS.

For me, it is simple; she is a 19 year-old woman who has spent the last 4 years of her life supporting and assisting the biggest physical threat to western democracy and values. 4 Years. That’s 4 years during which she could have tried to escape, defected to coalition forces, got messages to her family that she wanted out. But in 4 years, Begum did nothing of the sort.

And I don’t buy into the reduced culpability argument due to her age when she and her companions departed for Syria. Let’s not forget that even before she left the UK, the terrorist attacks on London streets and further afield were front page and lead item news.

One of the most shocking terror-franchise attacks witnessed in the UK, the barbarous murder of drummer Lee Rigby, took place a mere 10 miles from Bethnal Green. This was a horrific incident that dominated the news feeds for weeks. And this was something that Begum and her friends would have been exposed to at home, at school, on mainstream media and on social media. And at some point stopped just talking about it, and went on to support such acts.

And it is that key word support that I believe those who should know better, are missing the point of. ISIS is not just a bunch of bearded men with AK 47s and RPGs. It wouldn’t have survived as long as it has if this was the case. It was/is an organisation. And an organisation can only function with support. And let’s make no bones about it, Begum and the rest of the Mohajeran are support.

They marry ISIS fighters, providing these terrorists with comfort, respite from fighting, stability, family. In essence, Begum et al are contributing to normalising the ISIS fighters’ experience, making it easier for them to continue plying their vile trade in torture and murder. And, despite not commenting on any further activities, Begum would have been carrying out active support roles on behalf of her husband, his unit and the leadership of whichever area they were living.

Often, foreign brides are encouraged to recruit other women from their home countries to travel to Syria and join the fight by marrying and supporting an ISIS fighter. They were also used to create content for, and disseminate, propaganda. Identify means of fund-raising. Tasked to identify suspected spies and informers, or join the Al Khansaa unit; a brutal, all-female, religious police identifying and punishing those women they deemed as not quite islamic enough….

So my point really is this; ISIS could not function without support. An analogy to highlight this would be walking into a large, UK Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan and there only being infantry soldiers with guns. No intelligence support, no galley or cookhouse for food, no Engineers to assist in construction of accommodation or ablutions, no IT or welfare communications to speak to loved ones at home, no REME or the like to repair vehicles or essential equipment, no Signallers to maintain vital operational comms…the list is endless really. But, suffice to say, our infantry soldiers would have a very finite effectiveness and life-span without the supporting elements that are as essential to their existence as their organic, front-line soldiering skills.

And, in this regard at least, ISIS is no different. Remove all the support elements, and life for their fighters would be unsustainable for any protracted period of time. The support that Begum and the other Mojaheran provided has directly aided ISIS in remaining a threat to life, values, and democracy for far longer than it should have.

And in that regard, my viewpoint is simple: Begum championed ISIS. Celebrated ISIS atrocities and attacks. Supported ISIS through sharing of propaganda on social media. Attached herself to the ISIS cause against her own country. Helped ISIS by supporting its fighters and looking after them. And is only running now because the caliphate has failed. The black flags lying, tattered and torn in the smoking ruins of the towns and villages of their former territories in Syria.

She had 4 years where she made no effort to escape or leave the caliphate. 4 years where she aided and abetted those guilty of torture, murder, rape, and genocide. 4 years where she actively assisted in the effectiveness of ISIS as it carried out its horrific activities.

Shamima Begum didn’t just support ISIS.

She is ISIS.