How Many Fighters Can The Islamic State Recruit?

Fighters of al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria carry their weapons during a parade at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey January 2, 2014. Reuters

Counter-Terrorism: A Million Potential Recruits For ISIL -- Strategy Page

In late September 2014 American officials admitted that at least a hundred American Moslems had gone off to fight for ISIL (al Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant). Apparently only about a dozen Americans are there now and most of the hundred identified American Moslems have not made it to Syria yet. Some have returned and a few have sort of disappeared. That is, no one really knows where they are at the moment, or at least the FBI was not revealing many details. This is to be expected in situations where intelligence operations are still under way. What is interesting is the revelation that so few American Moslems could be found actually going to, or trying to, join ISIL. Some 3,000 European Moslems have apparently gone to Syria to join ISIL since 2013. There are believed to be about 2,000 European Moslems fighting in Syria or Iraq right now and about ten percent of those who have gone to fight for ISIL have been killed. Hundreds have returned so far and some of these jihad (Arabic for “struggle”) veterans often seek out new recruits. These jihadis are very effective at attracting new volunteers. As small as the number of actual Islamic radicals there now are in Europe, a far larger number (over ten percent) of European Moslems will admit to admiring the goals and methods of Islamic terrorists. Most of those who did go to Syria are now more radicalized than when they left and police fear they may contribute to more Islamic terrorism in Europe.



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My Comment: I remembered reading years ago a comment from former U.S. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld that as the war started to intensify in Iraq and Afghanistan .... Al Qaeda and other extremist groups had no trouble recruiting fighters even as the U.S. military continued to slaughter them in every battle. I suspect that this trend is happening right now .... and it is favoring the Islamic State. A million potential recruits for the Islamic State .... my gut is telling me that their support is far more greater than that.