Ciara Kelly is not inclined towards viewing Lisa Smith with sympathy.



I first heard of Isil five or six years ago. Islamist jihadists rampaged across Syria and Iraq, proclaiming a war of terror against the west and imposing Sharia law on those who lived within their caliphate. Often seen whooping and waving black flags from the backs of jeeps, they seemed almost cartoonish in their capacity for medieval levels of violence and barbarity as depicted in our news bulletins.

But I remember clearly the first time I became afraid and was sickened by them. It wasn't after any of the European terrorist attacks, such as Nice, where a truck mowed down civilians taking an evening stroll along the prom.

Or Paris, where young people enjoying a music gig were shot dead in cold blood; an iPhone video of a heavily pregnant woman, hanging from a second-storey window in fear for her life, still stays with me. 

Continue reading @ The Independent.

Why I Have Zero Sympathy For Lisa Smith

Ciara Kelly is not inclined towards viewing Lisa Smith with sympathy.



I first heard of Isil five or six years ago. Islamist jihadists rampaged across Syria and Iraq, proclaiming a war of terror against the west and imposing Sharia law on those who lived within their caliphate. Often seen whooping and waving black flags from the backs of jeeps, they seemed almost cartoonish in their capacity for medieval levels of violence and barbarity as depicted in our news bulletins.

But I remember clearly the first time I became afraid and was sickened by them. It wasn't after any of the European terrorist attacks, such as Nice, where a truck mowed down civilians taking an evening stroll along the prom.

Or Paris, where young people enjoying a music gig were shot dead in cold blood; an iPhone video of a heavily pregnant woman, hanging from a second-storey window in fear for her life, still stays with me. 

Continue reading @ The Independent.

16 comments:

  1. I hope she has a raucous “housewarming” to welcome her back.

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  2. I pretty much agree with Ms Kelly here, but would ask her 'what about the daughter'? The baby is not guilty of any crime, was not involved in any way with ISIL, is not responsible for her mother's actions, and is an Irish citizen. Do we basically throw away the baby with the mother? That seems to be what Ms Kelly is suggesting. Should the daughter be punished for the mother's crimes? Finally, since we probably don't want to advocate removing the baby from the mother, perhaps on that basis a case might be justified for repatriating them both to Ireland? Just sayin' or askin'.

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    1. Jeff - interesting point. I wonder how it would play out legally if the child is treated as an individual in its own right and not through association with the mother. The baby could then be allowed back without the mother and the only person preventing the baby coming back would be the mother. In that scenario the mother might be seen to be punishing the child for her own crimes. There may well be people who feel that separation is a choice for the mother rather than the state. If the mother comes to Ireland and is, as Christy suggests, tried for war crimes, presumably she and the child will be separated while she is in prison.

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  3. The article is written in a state of bewilderment on what can be done with Lisa Smith other than leave her where she is. There is prema facie case to put Smith on trial for war crimes. Irish law has been enacted to establish a war crime tribunal within Irish jurisdiction and Yazidi and other victims have appealed for nations to try its citizens for war crimes if they were part of ISIS.

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  4. Christy, I would like to hear what those Syrian families rehoused in Ireland think about this.

    But when she is finally back, brace yourselves for what will seem like an endless stream of Muslims platformed by the media who are worrying that the hostility generated around her return is making them feel threatened. We will hear how they are personally worried about some backlash.

    Ordinary folks will continue to part with resources to fund her and others new to the parish, but this will not be offered as a balance to such concerns.

    We will be asked to alter our tone continuously, until we are only able to cheer her return and disavow those that don’t.

    Our political class will congratulate themselves on showing leadership against the intolerant and reactionary sentiments that erupted initially.

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  5. Jeff Sluka

    Lisa Smith should not escape accountability because she is a parent... The Irish prison system is full of parents charged or convicted of serious offences.

    Smith should, figuratively speaking, swing for her part in war crimes. She will likely keep hold of the child as a bargaining chip to evade her own accountability and hasten her return to Ireland... otherwise I am sure arrangments could be made for the child to be brought back to Ireland in advance of any decision about her fate.

    DD
    Predicably you will be right... the 'moderate' Muslim community will capitalise on being the victims and scant regard will be paid to their extreme religious views and practices... as I have said before ISIS extremism created an acceptible level of Islamic extremism where all other forms of Islamic extremism is now considered 'moderate' in comparison to ISIS.

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  6. Christy, the religious extremism that worries me most at the minute in Ireland is not Islamic but Christian - those priest led gangs that gathered outside Holles Street Maternity Hospital with white coffins trying to intimidate women. On top of it we have mass mobilisation aimed at reversing the Repeal referendum of last summer. And of course up North we will have much opposition to the extension of same sex marriage and abortion to the place.

    There doesn't actually seem to be any comparable threat from Muslims - that is not to say it will not emerge. Let the religious virus go untreated and it will spread.

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  7. AM

    That's true. I have heard of prolife medical staff making their disapproval known to women undergoing or contemplating terminations.

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    1. Christy - when it is none of their fuckin business.

      I am a faithophobe - fearful of all religions. I am as equally repulsed by Christianity as I am by Islam. Ialamism was long a threat before Isis. Qutb shaped much of it but it is interesting to follow his thinking

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  8. As a humanist I defend the right of religious adherents to practice their faith just so long as they do not demand that the state upholds their beliefs. Mosques do not scare me (they are ascetically quite pleasing) but Islamist bigots protesting outside Parkfield Community School in Birmingham over children receiving essential lessons in LTGB+ matters do. Ditto Christian churches and anti-abortion protesters outside abortion and family planning clinics.

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    1. Barry I too defend their right to practice their faith - on themselves and not on me. I don't want mosques, chapels, synagogues, temples, unicorn stables, churches - none of it. Nor do I want to noise pollution from their bells or calls to prayer. Religion is a frightening concept - to accept and defer to, pretending it is somehow good, the existence of something as intrinsically evil as god, is deeply worrying. Stephen Fry summed it up when he detailed the type of questions he would ask the old bastard.

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  9. AM

    Maulana Mawdudi is/was the architect of modern day Islamism -Qutb was one of his his followers.

    Christianity in Ireland has lost a lot of ground and authority. Its knows it no longer has the clout to direct its campaigns about morality at the general population. Its 2 main target area's are directed at marginalised sections of the popluation -the LGBT community and women or girls wanting to terminate a pregnancy. They gain milage only because there are enough non-practicing christains still caught up on old taboos that they will tolerate or support their extremist views about transgender and abortion. Ultimately they are lossing ground in the bigger picture, perhaps not at a pace we would like -I think they scored an own goals using white coffins as a protest prop.

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  10. Christy - I don't follow the byzantine history of it that closely and am not familiar with the name. At least I don't recall it from I don't recall it standing out from Qutb in a biography I recently read on him. I always took Qutb to be the most influential of today's political Islam and picked this up from an essay a few minutes ago:

    Islam Mawdudi and Qutb had much in common. Indeed, Mawdudi influenced Qutb. Nevertheless, while their ideologies may have meshed, Qutb’s circumstances led him to posit a radically different vision in terms of implementation. While Mawdudi worked largely within India’s secular government to change it from within and was largely successful in effecting the desired moderate change he sought and in spreading it abroad, Qutb fought against Egypt’s government from without to bring about the radical change he desired and ultimately failed to effect that change. Nevertheless, his influence was far-reaching and remains in effect today.

    I think they scored an own goal with the white coffins too. And they are losing ground but the dangerous notion of Christian values growing and taking political form worries me - the right wing which is enhancing its position across Europe and the States will find common bedfellows in Christian nationalism.

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  11. AM

    Neither do I -but I once did do a lot of reseach on re-actionary and revolutionary movements from 1950-1970s.

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  12. Not so much about Lisa Smith, but an interesting paper on how Rawls fell to ISIS, the details on how they targeted their executions to ensure any potential opponents where set in disarray:

    https://d1y8sb8igg2f8e.cloudfront.net/documents/How_Raqqa_Became_the_Capital_of_ISIS_2019-07-23_145328.pdf

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  13. This are the papers key finding to pique others interest:

    Key Findings:
    • Proxy warfare may be an effective method of seizing and holding territory in the short-term. But it faces substantial long-term challenges in stabilizing governance and security.
    ◦ In Raqqa, sponsors succeeded in supporting proxy forces’ efforts to seize the city from the Syrian government in March 2013. But competition between sponsors and poor coordination among local forces prevented these groups from consolidating their gains.
    ◦ In Raqqa, proxy forces turned out to be unreliable governors due to rivalries among the various sponsors, making their control over the city brittle and short-lived.
    • Support for ISIS in Raqqa was based more on its ability to exploit the security vacuum created by the proxy war and broader civil war than its capacity to address local grievances.
    ◦ Initially, ISIS’ takeover of Raqqa coincided with a decline in the level of violence. The roots of this decline may have come from ISIS’ reliance on highly targeted violence, but it also may have been a product of a decline in Syrian government air strikes. Regardless of the cause, ISIS was able to use the relative quiet to bolster its claim to be able to provide security in contrast to its competition under the opposition.

    • ISIS proved to be better at seizing territory where its opponents were weak than at governing that territory after it was captured.
    ◦ While in control of Raqqa, ISIS failed to effectively govern the city and deliver relief from oft-cited grievances. Instead, conditions in Raqqa deteriorated consistently following ISIS’ takeover, according to surveys.
    ◦ Perceptions of security among residents of Raqqa consistently declined under ISIS rule while remaining relatively stable in the rest of Syria over the same time period.
    ◦ Access to electricity declined under ISIS, with Raqqa residents going from having very good access to electricity compared to Syria overall to having similarly poor access.
    ◦ Always spotty across Syria, access to bread declined in Raqqa under ISIS rule. This occurred despite Raqqa being the traditional breadbasket for Syria—providing food not just for its own residents but for all Syrians.
    • ISIS captured Raqqa with a pre-planned strategy predicated on dividing and conquering local competitors. This is now part of ISIS’ institutional memory and could re-emerge under present conditions in Raqqa and eastern Syria.
    ◦ ISIS carefully mapped local social networks using individualized targeted violence to prevent opponents from unifying. Once opponents were isolated, ISIS could defeat them one by one.
    ◦ Security and governance vacuums remain a challenge today in Raqqa despite the group’s loss of the city to U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Should the SDF leave Raqqa abruptly, ISIS could re-deploy the strategy it used to capture Raqqa in 2013.

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