The three young girls who have purportedly fled to Syria

gillybob The internet and other more or less instant forms of the media have indeed made the world a different place, but I would disagree strongly with your assertion that "most of the world has thankfully become more civilised".

Mystified. Boko Haram doing a good job of recruiting child soldiers I suspect along with many other organisations. People are selective Gillybob in the information they believe - once an opinion formed they will tend to believe things that confirm their beliefs and discount contradictory information. There are countless examples of adults doing this. In this case young people know that what they see in terms of images is not always "true" and so will dismiss them as anti-muslim propaganda.

Agree Jess and there is evidence to suggest that once people form an opinion it is very difficult to change that point of view.

I personally am always happy to see a different point of view Anya I am always willing to be talked around, proved wrong even. I am (I think) open minded. Most people form an opinion from the evidence around them, what they can see, hear and/or their own life experiences and yes we do tend to stick with them until we learn otherwise.

Anyway getting back on topic, I have yet to see or hear anything that makes me believe that these girls were tricked,hoodwinked,groomed, call it what you will, into traveling to Syria but as I said in a previous post I will be more than happy to be proved wrong.

Yes Boko Haram are recruiting child soldiers. JessM They are evil. These young women were brought up in the safety of Britain. Syria is not their home country, it is not their war. They were not rounded up on some street corner or whilst at school, whatever. They traveled there of their own free will. Again no comparison.

Gillybob "they could be forgiven if there was no internet" I agree. Drawing analogies between these girls and those believing they were doing the right thing in volunteering for both world wars on either side or the Spanish Civil War isn't really a fair comparison. As for the medieval times, dog eat dog world, Crusaders were little better than the marauding terrorists of their day - completely accept that, but really too far back to be relevant accept to say that I thought we had left some of the barbarity of those times behind, but seemingly not.

The girls from London followed the privately educated medical student from Glasgow on Twitter. They would have been well aware of her profile, her parents are also distraught, particularly over a photograph of her wearing a white coat, standing next to a small child with a severed head in her hand. How anyone in their right mind could be encouraged by such an image I don't know let alone girls aged 15 and 16. Those going know what is happening out there. The images that we are fed are orchestrated by the terrorists intended to frighten and disgust, I find it hard to understand why therefore they have the opposite affect on those that seek to go to Syria. A foreign country where ISIS, many of whom are not Syrians, are an occupying militia.

There was an extraordinary interview on R4Today this morning with a woman (retired nurse?) who had worked in Stoke Mandeville. She seemed to be arguing that because she had only ever seen Saville spreading cheer and raising money she had no reason to believe that he had done anything wrong.
Selective indeed.

I only saw Saville running past me once or twice in the Great North Run JessM but I still thought he was a creep so the retired nurse could probably only base her judgement on what she had seen/heard/experienced. There were a lot of people who were fooled by him, for a very long time.

Can't quite see what this has got to do with the three young women who have gone to Syria though. Never mind. Digression is a normal part of conversation.

I don't think there is any doubt that Jimmy Saville had two personas, the magnanimous one, clearly he was some sort of a psychopath who possibly thought any good works counter balanced his vileness. We now know loads of people in authority knew what he did and turned a blind eye, which will pose the question for ever more, why they colluded in that deceit and allow him to get away with his wrong doings for his entire life.

I don't see anything selective in believing ISIS are as wicked as any of the worst totalitarian, fascist regimes. Would you say our knowledge of Hitler is selectively biased against him and those who willingly implemented many of the awful atrocities committed by the Nazis JessM?

There is a difference between someone saying they never thought someone was bad, they did not see his/her wrong doings, they only ever saw the goodside etc to someone who sees something with their own eyes and still cannot (or refuses to) believe they are bad.

I was trying to imply that people of all ages are selective in what they believe.

Re Hitler - I guess that the vast majority of young men who fought for Hitler thought they were doing the right thing - fighting for the fatherland etc. They did not think he was a bad man and that they wanted to do bad things on his behalf did they? (parking the benefit of hindsight for just a moment)

Propaganda is a powerful thing. I just think it is unreasonable to condemn children and young adults for falling prey to it when many adults get an idea into their heads and despite lots of contrary evidence are not swayed (e.g. the nurse above).

Some one once said never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. Take your pick. ISIS Twitter Facebook and young girls

Crikey. If one of my kids gave me a stuffed teddy bear I would soon tell them what to do with it.

The Crusades, or the British Empire or the Slave Trade or the Nazi Death Camps or or or ---- may seem past history best forgotten to some , but for others they are still alive and powerful. Police in Edmonton announced today that they are close to identifying the female recruiter of the 3 young women who left Western Canada recently and who are now in Syria. Yes we can all be influenced, young and naive, old and cynical or anywhere in between, but is there an element of choice in what we beleive?

Apparently 'Jihadist John' has been named too.
I fully believe there is an element of choice in what we believe and fortunately the vast majority of people make the correct choice.
The consequences for those who make the 'wrong' choice can be devastating to others as well as themselves.

Yes. They've named him. But does that help at all?

I can't feel any sympathy for these girls. They must have known the dreadful things these people do. I hope they never get to come back to the UK. I don't care if they were "groomed" or not. That can't excuse it.

The young followers of Hitler did not know how evil he was. Or what crimes would be perpetrated. These girls knew and were therefore complicit.

While I feel disgust at the jihardists and their fifteenth century ideals. The US has bombed thirty three countries since the Second World War. They have moved borders and overthrown democratically elected governments. I remember when we joined in the War on Terror thinking we will pay for this. Well we certainly are paying for this, but we live in peaceful countries, not like those who are now being terrorised by IS. Imagine your seven year old GD being sent into a market place with a bomb strapped to her. Finding out your son was beheaded or put in a cage and burnt alive. I can't imagine the grief these families are experiencing. I can imagine the absolute hatred some of these people who have illegal wars brought upon their countries have for the west.

The US (with our help) has caused the deaths of approximately 20 to 30 million people since World War Two. Who would have thought that many people would lose their lives after the end of the war.

Update the list, I forgot Syria, which they have bombed two sides.

Listening to the news this morning it's just occurred to me that surely these girls know that murder is wrong regardless of being innocent, naive etc? It's in the Koran so that's no excuse either for joining the jihadists. 'Grooming'? Perhaps so, but still no excuse.

Of course they know it's wrong loopylou. They will have undoubtedly seen the news reports and the harrowing videos of innocent people being burned alive and having their heads chopped off like something in some sick horror film. They know what kind of people ISIS are and what they stand for. Despite what some others might think. We are after all, each entitled to our own opinion and mine happens to be that if they so desperately want to be with these evil monsters then we are better off without them on our streets. These are not "innocent,naive" young women. These are clever and well educated young women who have made an educated decision, which must have taken quite a bit of plotting and planning too.

Exactly jingle. The young followers of Hitler had no idea until it was too late. These girls have seen it with their own eyes !

These fifteen year old girls have made an educated decision , yet we have recently had men going to jail for sexual abuse on sixteen and seventeen year old vulnerable ! girls who chose to have sex in the hope of finding work as Models or getting on telly

I agree, Mishap. The family did not seem sincere to me either. Scotland Yard officer stated some months ago on BBC that family and friends are very likely to know what is being planned. If it is a cultural thing, surely the authorities are breaching Human Rights in stopping them from joining their kin in other countries. These girls are portrayed as academics. They surely then know how to work out right from wrong. Still. They can always come back here and continue their education or whatever. They would get great assistance to re-integrate into the community. Off on another subject. Has anyone read "Agent Storm"? Worth reading if you want to follow how the caliphate operates. And I am not an academic either.

Does anyone else have FreeSat. There was an old Western movie on earlier today. It was about a young girl from a religious community who fell in love with the bad guy and went to join him. Who would have thunk it all those years ago.

I have been reading about the many religious groups,including IS ,that believe we are heading for the End of Days. IS believes that the Mahdi-saviour - will come to the area they have seized and that they are fighting for good against evil in the battles that will rage all over the earth till the Mahdi comes. It astonished me to read that Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu,Buddhist, Zoarastrian and other religions believe close versions that this will happen. Apparently more than 60 young British women have gone to Syria to be on the side of good against evil leading to the End of Days.

That is not what the bible says. So christians and Jews dont believe anything near that. I am not sure where and what you have been reading.