Estimates on the number of foreign jihadists in Syria and Iraq vary wildly. The CIA’s estimate is that there are 15,000 fighters from 80 different countries in Syria alone.
That’s a big problem for Syria right now, but it’s a big problem for 80 different countries in the future, if and when those fighters start to return home from their jihad.
Most Western nations with large jihadist populations are vowing detentions of returnees, and Britain has even threatened to revoke citizenship for those who stay in Syria for two years or more.
Making good on the threats, however, depend in large measure on those countries being able to identify the jihadist returnees, and intelligence on who those fighters are is nowhere near as good as officials sometimes claim.
Returnees from Syria who were visiting relatives or working for aid groups are liable to get swept up in the eagerness to capture jihadists, and may even be more vulnerable, since the jihadists tend to be much more covert about sneaking into Syria, and presumably will also be careful when sneaking back out.
Payback is a b_tch i guess. The days of the simian kingdom of wahhabi freaks, Saudi Arabia, are counted once they start to bite the hand that feed them. That is already happening. Turkey (Erdogan) has lost it´s neo-ottoman gamble either way and the eurofags should start paying attention, if you play with fire you get burned, the US does it all the time and never learn and that is to be expected but the Europeans, who does have a long history in contrast to the mere 200 year old settler state, should have known much better, it´s a bit too late now..
Since two years (!) I tried to inform Jason Ditz, that the majority of terror killers in Syria are foreigners! And he always in his articles ignored it and spoke from just rebels or used other definitions who di dkeep this in the dark, beside clear understanding that they would be Syrians.
And now he comes very quitely with this number ….
A better immigration policy would solve much of this.