Dave’s mother, Janet, whose son has committed inexplicable acts of terror, blowing up and dismembering many women and children in Syria and Iraq by operating drones, shakes her head in despair as she says, ‘He cannot see it as state sponsored terrorism, he has been brainwashed to call it ‘collateral damage”. She hopes her experiences can help other parents stop their children from following in her son’s path ‘of dropping terror from the skies which in turn creates hate which causes retaliatory terrorism’.
‘Dave was a nice young man, into computers, some would call him a nerd, he spent a lot of time on his own playing computer games in his room, he did lack purpose and confidence. Then it all started with a video he seen online that radicalised him. It was from the armed services and said he would learn new skills, get fit, see the world, find a mission in life if he joined. We tried to stop him, but after meeting army recruiters, we couldn’t get his mind changed, he was completely brainwashed. We only learned recently that he is now a drone operator’.
Now the children’s charity NSPCC is stepping in, it said counsellors had been trained to spot warning signs of radicalisation to commit terror such as young people ‘talking as if from a scripted speech about patriotism and the need to protect freedom. Recent terrorist acts by western air forces mass murdering civilians in Syria, combined with no regret or responsibility, highlighted the growing problem of individuals being brainwashed into finding mass murder acceptable’, it added.
The training for NSPCC counsellors explains how army recruiters befriend vulnerable targets, feed them patriotic ideologies and persuade them to kill with detachment, without feeling.
The charity said potential recruits for the terror mission orchestrated by the arm forces often had low self-esteem or a troubled background, army recruiters tell them they can be part of something special’ when they join the army. NSPCC chief executive said: ‘Let young people see photos of victims, and meet family members of those that have been blown to pieces by terror dropped from the skies to see if they still feel they will be part of something special. Being brainwashed to want to conduct terrorism in any form, whether dropping from the skies or strapped to someone’s chest must be tackled at source.
The message that murder of innocents, state sanctioned or not, is somehow justifiable on religious or patriotic grounds must be challenged. Haven’t we learnt yet that violence only begets more violence. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that hate and thirst for vengeance caused by dropping bombs on Muslim countries, can’t be solved by yet more bombing of Muslim countries. Its like trying to fix a hole in the wall with a sledge hammer’.
