“Radicalization” is the new buzz-word. Politicians in particular use it
when trying to rationalize to themselves why British-born people might wish to
leave the comfort of the United Kingdom in search of a shallow grave in the
Middle East, while at the same time so many people are trying to dodge shallow
graves all over the third world in favour of the comfort of the United Kingdom.
Flying
the family nest in search of adventure is nothing new; and flying the family
nest for ideological reasons is not new either, from the Crusaders in the
Middle Ages, to the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War (1936-9) and
any number of adventurers, privateers, soldiers of fortune and pilgrim fathers
in between.
Volunteers
for the International Brigade went to support the Spanish Government of the day
against an insurrection of the Spanish military. They weren’t representing
their countries of origin, nor were they necessarily representing their
homeland’s foreign policy. It was a case of responding to the call to arms as
individual militiamen.
That
call came through the Communist Party, attracting left-wing support for a
left-wing government that was too left-wing for its own military’s taste. Support for the rebellious Spanish army
in 1936 came from Germany and Italy, both of which had right-wing governments
at the time, and they used the war to test new equipment and to give their
frontline men combat experience. Britain’s fascists under Sir Oswald Moseley
were also supporters, so the British government found its people adopting the
traditional British position of supplying both sides.
When
the International Brigade was disbanded in 1939, volunteers from fascist
countries were given honorary Spanish citizenship, as they could not go home.
Most others went back to mixed receptions in their native countries. Several
thousand Americans of all ethnic backgrounds fought in Spain. We pause to
remember Oliver Law, the first African American in the history of the United
States to command a racially integrated military force of his countrymen, as
officer commanding the Abraham Lincoln Brigade for the last four days of his
life. Returning American were labelled ‘premature anti-fascists’ by the
FBI—i.e. were suspected of not being proper Americans. Those who served their
country in WW2 (despite difficulties such as not getting promotions) and
survived, got caught up in the McCarthy red scare afterwards, since he (more
accurately his assistant Bobby Kennedy) remembered that the fight to save
Spanish democracy was communist organized. Belgian and Dutch volunteers lost
their citizenships for having served in a foreign army.
British
volunteers seem to have been ignored by the establishment and welcomed home by
the people who appreciated their sacrifice. The welcoming committee included
Walthamstow MP Clement Attlee, later a Prime Minister of the UK. Any concerns
Secret Squirrel or the British right wing may have had about the 305 returnees
being terrorists, or of unsound mind, intemperate habits or communist leanings
were short-lived: war against Germany in 1939 saw most of them back in uniform
serving under British colours.
A
mixed bag of individual odysseys, then, that painted the final panels in the
history of that conflict. They have to be considered individually rather than
as a pattern, since no pattern emerges, but since in a democracy it is the
people who make war, governments should pay attention as to whom public opinion
is supporting.
For the current conflict in the Middle East, what
are we to make of the volunteers trying to get into the fight? Or out of it
afterwards? They haven’t been summoned, was our first thought. We heard a radio
report detailing a Syrian rebel commander’s complaints about British
volunteers. His problem was that they were untrained. They didn’t speak the
language, they slept too long, ate too much, and expected far more home
comforts than irregular warfare in a Third-World country usually provides.
Ideology
doesn’t have much to offer, except possibly as a kick-start. British Moslems
teach their children the principles of their faith through the Mosques, Islamic
centres and Madrassas that they fund. British Christians do the same through
churches, Sunday Schools and faith-based schools. Neither radicalizes anybody
in the mainstream; that is the role of individuals who appoint themselves to do
so. As an example, consider the opening scene of the movie All Quiet on the
Western Front: Arnold Lucy
radicalizes his classroom of young men to rush out and enlist. (Donald
Pleasance was scarier but less radical in the 1979 re-make.)
So
what would yer average jihadi warlord make of British tourists wanting to join
the fight?—apart from that they don’t have the language, the training, etc.
Well, as in Spain, propaganda. They make a statement by their presence. No
matter if the first drone to happen along kills them, as long as their accents
have been recorded on someone’s mobile beforehand.
The
eventual outcome of tourist terrorism, as with tourist mercenary or tourist
security work, is that those young people who survive the adventure will ‘find
themselves’ (with any luck, but not necessarily, in one piece). It used to be
said that there are no atheists in foxholes, and that may be true, but only of
those who were trained not to be atheists. We assume that our supposedly
radicalized wannabe jihadi tourists have sufficient training to draw comfort
from their scriptures, but knowing when to dig in, what not to tread on and who
the enemy actually is, may also come in handy. After some experience of the
food, sleeping arrangements, drones, incoming fire, discipline, footwear,
prayer times and travel arrangements, most will know, after a few weeks,
whether they want to be in, or out.
As
to what they do next, that is largely a matter for Islamic State. Volunteers
are usually committed for the duration, so there may not be an exit strategy
that meets with local approval. Assuming there is a way out, the UK Government
wants to have a bigger role in debriefing those returning (and presumably
rejects) than they did when the International Brigade came home. First
indications are that they want to emulate the American position of the late
1930s and treat any returnees as suspicious.
Of
what, is undecided; but at least some sort of debrief, even a hostile one, may
help those returning make the adjustment to the comforts that the UK provides
its residents, assuming that the UK government lets them in and releases them
into the wild.
Somewhat
more sinister is the vague threat of preventing them leaving, since, as an
arbitrary power being given to undertrained people, it could affect any or all
of us wishing to take a holiday. Turkey is nice at this time of year and in
2015 will host centenary events to remember the Gallipoli campaign.
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