She was a victum of teenage brainwashing but this is no excuse all these years later. How many young children in Europe and the UK ruined their lives by foolisly falling for the ISIS propaganda.? Its very very sad but I find it hard to feel sympathy for her now.
3
Seems like 27 is old enough to take the consequences for actions taken.
Working for terrorists against your own country would seem like reason enough to forfeit your citizenship in your home country.
4
She is guilty of crimes against humanity and deserves to be treated accordingly.
7
No. Simple as that. No, to extremists across all spectrums.
3
It's disgusting she mentions a difficult childhood.
Her actions created difficult childhoods for many other children. Made life worse for hundreds of thousands. Aided in the death and end of many people's childhood. And she complains of something that many of her victims would wish for.
9
She wants to go "home"? She left her children behind in that country and trained as a terrorist. Why would France or her family want her back? Why would she be considered anything but a threat?
7
Twice, the article states that Konig is the daughter of a gendarme/policeman. Then, we learn her father died when she was 2! So what, what her father did? Why ignore the fact of what her mother did? Not the point of the article, I get that, but such sexism is inexcusable.
5
Five years of cutting off heads or consorting with those that do now it's time to be forgiven and come home?
I don't think so.
Where would she stand if ISIS won?
Let her stand before the Kurdish people she has harmed and be judged
10
How many innocents were murdered because of her words and actions?
Who would be surprised if these wanna be returnees got home, formed a cell, and committed a murderous terrorist act in their once home nation.
I believe that is the new ISIS strategy.
Let her reap what she has sown and do her time in lands she helped destroy.
It's unlikely she will be in a beheading video, unlike so many of her victims.
You don't invite scorpions back into your home.
7
It's never too early to be a fool, but it's often too late.
3
I hope that even the biggest "open borders" fanatics agree that she has no right of return, except behind bars.
7
• A woman who left France and became a prominent propagandist and recruiter for the Islamic State has asked her family, friends and country for a pardon.
"Every man [and woman] is his own hell." ~ H.L. MENCKEN
No one, absolutely NO ONE from ANY country who leaves to join Jihad anywhere should be allowed back in their own or any other against which they took arms. Their choice. Let them live in Syria or wherever. NO excuses or tails of woe.
“If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.” ~ DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
12
Converted as a converted as a child...
...it is unlikely that she has abandoned “Orthodox” Islam and is bound to bring Jihad (struggle) with her
7
I think she should be treated the same way as sadistic females who tormented people in Nazi concentration camps.
11
You fight for a foreign nation or, even worse, a terrorist organization, you loose your citizenship and are not allowed to return anymore. If ISIS would still be thriving, these idiots would still be happily torturing and killing other people. I have no pity for them. If they would like to redeem themselves let them rebuild what they have broken for the rest of their lives. Don't let them return to a cushy life after all the suffering that they have caused.
8
I don't think I have ever read a more grotesque spectacle of self-righteous and frankly racist hypocrisy than in these comments. So this woman belonged to a repugnant, reactionary terrorist group. Yes. She may have committed direct crimes for which she should be punished, if proven. Yes.
Well, what of all the former Nazis and Fascists who killed, raped and tortured tens of millions? What happened to them? They were nearly all welcomed home, given jobs in high places and lived long comfortable lives. Most of the post-WWII governments, police and military in Europe were made up of war criminals, members of fascist and Nazi parties. That is a fact. The Vichy thugs, like Maurice Papón, were then sent to slaughter the Vietnamese and then 1 million Algerians. Then Papón was made Chief of Police for Paris as a reward for being a Nazi, murderer of Jews, and then killer and torturer of Algerians. Oh please, speak to me of Western Values.
Now you readers want to sanction executions, denial of citizenship, exile, torture? Please. Have you sense of history or shame?
4
How do the horrible acts of others, punished or not, obviate this woman's actions? She is responsible for her choices. I doubt that many commenters here have behaved in similarly heinous ways. I also doubt that your are so pure of virtue as to so indignantly judge others' opinions.
10
Turn her over to the Yazidis. Maybe the humble people she helped inslave will forgive her. Until then no Western nation should allow her anywhere near their border...with a little R R she'll just don the burka again re-take up the cause.
14
She should be treated the same way we would have treated someone who was in the SS during the Nazi time. She chose to join a terrorist killing machine and deserves no mercy. She chose to go to Syria not as a child but when she was 27 years old. She knew that her actions then would have consequences.
10
Wow, cannot believe that the comments are almost uniformly harsh and condemning of this woman. There's hope for the times readership. As DJT would say, she's a loser!
2
No. Absolutely not. She abandoned her children, her family and friends, her country and civilization itself to propagandize for a horde of blood-drunk religious maniacs. She cannot be trusted at all.
Leave her in the clutches of Daesh. She will never deserve better. How many died needlessly thanks to her propagandizing?
7
What a paltry coward she is. Joining IS, running away from the responsibility she had towards her children, committing war crimes and now, knowing that this beautiful caliphate is no more on the horizon, crying for the snuggly justice of Europe, in her case France.
No Koenig, you are not welcome. The Kurds are way too nice to you and they should hand you over to the Syrian authorities.
13
There should be no quarter for ISIS members, past or present. If you were vile enough to join then you must pay the consequences, the first of which is NO RETURN.
8
In my many years of reading the New York Times online, I have never before seen such a unanimous opinion expressed in the comments under an article.
7
No sympathy here. France owes this woman nothing. In fact, if she tries to return they should lock her up and throw away the key. Funny how now that their precious caliphate has collapsed, these jihadists think they can just pack up and go home. It shouldn’t be allowed in any country.
9
Were we talking about a handsome young man, the issue would not be difficult. I see no reason why being an attractive young woman should be the basis for a different result. She appears to have supported and furthered the activities of a vicious, murderous terrorist organization--ISIS--and probably deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison.
6
Although several European countries collaborated with the Nazi occupations during WWII, the Vichy government of France stood out. I would be surprised if the French citizens, especially those who learned their history and remember the French resistance, could welcome back Islamic State collaborators. The Islamic State would readily destroy all that the French value.
Justifying her behavior as a mental illness easily implies that all states that embrace the values of the Nazis or the Islamic State are populated with leaders and citizens who are mentally ill. I believe that those leaders and at least some of their citizens chose those values and their subsequent courses of action and are now seeing the consequences of those actions.
3
"She Left France to Fight in Syria. Now She Wants to Return. But Can She?"
Can?... It should be "should?"--
No.
4
I find it remarkable that this is even being considered. To serve in the government or armed forces of another country usually results in the loss of ones citizenship. That it is not a country but an organization and she was a non-combatant should not make a difference. Let them rot in a foreign land and think of those who were beheaded, those who were sold into sex slavery like the Yazidi's.
5
lMany, like Ms. König, were taken into custody or surrendered since the collapse of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa“
Would she and others like her suddenly want to go home if Raqqa hadn’t collapsed?
5
She chose her religious attire over her children? The irony is that her picture appeared in an international publication sans Middle Eastern clothing
2
You make the bed you sleep in it. Those people were barbaric. I would not want them in my society nor my society's prisons.
5
I live in France. Her history makes me believe she won't be happy returning and will find or start a Jihadist cell.
I don't want her back here!
6
Should France allow this woman to return how will the French government justify its decision should she blow herself up and kill innocent French citizens?
6
Considering the evil, murderous nature of ISIS/ISIL, and her role in wittingly aiding and abetting it, a fitting judgement would be to commit her to a life of incarceration and work to help rebuild the physical damage in Syria and Iraq. As for the multitudes murdered by ISIS, perhaps she can eventually discover what the Quran really says about service to one's fellow human being.
6
She made her choice to gladly help a vicious terrorist organization. France would do well to tell her "you made your bed, now lie in it."
4
This is a conundrum. A criminal minded or mentally unstable citizen who has aided in atrocities openly, now wanting to come back. As a parent, a certain altruism creeps in regarding your children. Yes the woman is a murderer, perhaps mentally unstable, certainly not of keen intelligence. BUT she is a child of FRANCE.
Bring her back and let her face the wrath of the French citizenry, take whatever intelligence she can offer, place her in jail for life, treat her for her mental issues. Please, please do not abandon your child, even if she chose the path of evil.
Like in a marriage...citizenship should be construed as for better or worse. Plus let other foolish people witness that stupid rebellion does not make one a hero. This is not about her parents or family begging. This is about the connection between a country and her citizens.
1
If my own child did this, they would not be welcome home. Ever.
2
the only way she should be allowed back to France is if she is indicted for treason/terrorism- whatever the laws are in France. Immediately. Imprison her without bail pending trial as she has proved she is dangerous.
From the French press she was not just a recruiter, she was violet. And NOT an impressionable child when she went but 27. A similar care here: the same.
2
In the back of my mind is the fact that she didn't renounce Islam. ISIS would love to sneak in another self destructive terrorist and with her a French citizen, what a disguised opportunity.
4
Besides the actual treason and terrorism aspect of her choice, there's the cost to government and society should she be allowed to return to France. Is someone like this likely to assimilate back into society, work and care for her kids? Or is she likely to be dependent on welfare benefits, subsidized housing, extensive health care, and to pick up her self-admitted habit of drug use, upon returning to Europe?
She left her kids so she could go play jihadi in another country: presumably, they've gotten used to their new caregivers and have a routine in place. Having her return and be part of their lives again would no doubt be damaging to them. Her advocate says she left in part to try to find a man...she left her children and became a terrorist to find herself a man. How is that decision-making process going to work out back home in France, when she takes up her desperate ways. Women like this are the ones who look away when some temporary boyfriend or husband is abusing their children.
There's absolutely zero benefit to allowing her to return to France.
3
Choices have to have consequences. This woman and other people who chose to join the Islamist war against everyone outside their own particular sect now find themselves on the losing side and don't like the consequences. I believe they will turn on their old countries after they return and should not be trusted. If they had children while betraying their home countries the children might be a safe risk depending on age and level of indoctrination. Remember, These people took part in mass murder, public beheadings and other disgusting crimes. I have little sympathy.
3
Although I see this woman's plight and empathize her difficult childhood, remember: we are still in a war against terrorism. Ms. König does not look genuine in her video and her motive to return is highly questionable. Now that Raqqa has fallen, leveraging foreign fighters to penetrate enemies' camp is IS's last resort to resurrection. In addition, using women (remember the girls who escaped from the bombs that IS tied to their body?) and taking advantage of people's kindness have always been IS's tactics. I hope this time, France, as well as other European countries, will get smarter, for the greater good.
2
I understand why children should be repatriated. But why should adult women who freely choose to go there get special privileges or special consideration? There should be gender equality especially in a progressive state like France.
2
Choices have consequences. Uncoupling the two is not good policy.
1
If she sneaks back into France then by all means prosecute her and throw away the key. Someone else is already taking care of her children, so no need to take them away.
As to her regrets at rotting in a Kurdish Syrian jail, she chose her bed, may she now lay in it.
4
Not allowing her to return to France leaves her stateless, and therefore a burden on wherever she is. So she should be allowed back to France and then charged with treason against the State.
2
'Prominent' was she?
Let buy her way back in, and prove her right to live free in France, by providing detailed, actionable evidence against those she sought to aid.
And perhaps a year or so of explaining herself face to face with survivors of victims of her dilligent service to ISIS.
“A Kurdish state does not exist, and French citizens cannot be judged by the Kurds,”
--Marie Dosé, König;s lawyer
Why? Americans who commit crimes overseas are judged by the place in which they find themselves. The Kurds, the Syrians -- who cares? There's no question as to her guilt because she has admitted everything!
From her life story we know that she's flighty and makes awful, sudden decisions. If ANYone is likely to take a 'wrong turn' when they return to France it's her! What would she do when she felt like everyone was staring at her and people recognized her and called her names? Head to Ireland to try to revive the IRA?
3
Given the anti-social psychology which motivates young people who went to participate in the civil war in Syria, the French would be justified in not allowing them to return to France.
We all make choices in life and some choices are so bad that there is no coming back and joining ISIS is one of them. She now must suffer the consequences. She is not fit to be a mother or a french citizen. Maybe in a French prison with a life sentence.
1
She made her bed - a particularly barbaric and sadistic bed, might I add
Now she has to lie in it.
Where was her sense of empathy, compassion and decency when it was urgently needed?
2
Here it is, a rebel who wants to be provocative and yearns for acceptance at the same time. Talking about oxymoron. I don't have much sympathy for people like this woman, who cannot find their place in society, then turn around and advocate the killings of innocent. Whenever it suits them, they demand their "rights". Yet, what of the rights of those who want a peaceful society, and those who were maimed and killed? If she so truly despises her birth country, that she turns her back against her birth country, then so be it. Yes, she has a French passport and she should be brought back, but so too should she face justice upon her return. Her propaganda antics for ISIS was sufficient enough to be convicted as accessory to murder, many times over, on top of crime against humanity.
3
Sorry, but this young woman made some terrible decisions. And her actions as a propagandist likely contributed to increasing terrorists, and thereby terrorist acts. While she may be accepted back by family and country, she should stand trial for conspiracy and go to jail. If there is no punishment, there is no reason for anyone to behave well in society, to care for their fellow humans regardless of religion, gender, etc. This growing attitude by the NYTimes and readers goes beyond reason, beyond 'everyone deserves a second chance.' Some decisions we make in life, actually do affect others. When we affect others, not matter the reason, there are repercussions we must face. Why is that no longer true here on the pages of the NYTimes?
1
Her victims deserve a second chance - and many will never get one. The destroyed cities and lives deserve a second chance - and they will have to struggle and fight and suffer for it.
I don't believe everyone deserves a second chance, and in particular not one given as an undeserved gift. If she wants a second chance, she can work for the Kurds and her captors and win forgiveness from those she harmed.
1
I say let the Kurds figure it out and we don't follow up on this story ever again. They know what to do.
3
Lots of people feel isolated, discriminated against. Fortunately, they don't all vengefully decide to quit their country and recruit mercenaries against their country. Well, things didn't turn out as she'd planned, and now that she is about to be held accountable for her actions and stand trial, she suddenly wants to come home and forget about the whole thing. And if ISIS were doing better, you can be sure she wouldn't be knocking on France's doors, calling it "home" again.
2
How do we know that she is not trying to come back in order to continuing recruiting? No repatriation.
1
She has comitted crimes in syria and iraq. She should pay for those crimes under the legal system of those countries. And then, when and if she has served her sentences there, she should return to france to face life in prison with no possibility of parole for her crimes supporting and fomenting terror against france.
3
Anyone who joined ISIS after it became clear what it is became a co-conspirator in unspeakable war crimes. The best outcome would be for them to be tried in the countries where ISIS wreaked the major havoc. In the unfortunate event they escape the death penalty, they should never be allowed to return to Europe.
18
I think this woman has mental issues. Making tea in that outfit solely to be provocative. Leaving her children. Fighting for a cause that she most likely doesn't understand and converting to a religion as a teenager again for attention. None the less France has no obligation to her.
46
French women who collaborated with the Germans during WWII were publicly scorned, sometimes beaten and heads shaved, and then shunned. The French seemed to know then how to treat traitors. Why should this woman expect anything different if she is returned to France? She needs a lot of jail time. Or maybe confinement to a mental institution.
52
Sadly you've watched too many bad movies. No mon ami, the Vichy collaborators faced no punishment. They were quickly reintegrated into de Gaulle's government, the police and French army. The dirtier ones were sent to kill Vietnamese and then Algerians. The poor women who were lynched in an absurd theater of cleansing French manhood were often starving and had no way to stay alive or feed their children except through prostitution (at French-owned brothels).
The so-called hand-wringing would laughable if not so serious. The French, Germans, etc. all protected former Nazi and fascists after WWII. France even made a Vichy/Nazi war criminal Maurice Papón the head of Paris Police to kill Algerians in the 1960s. The entire post-WWII German security forces were made up of former Nazis and members of the SS. Of course the public 'retribution' was directed against poor women, while the rich Krupps and other Nazi benefactors were unmolested in Germany, France, and the rest of Europe.
I suggest readers get off their mighty moral high horses and put things in perspective. Should terrorists who committed crimes be punished? Absolutely. It's a long list to add the IS terrorists, better to start with a lot of rich old men. What about the 1 million Algerians butchered by the French? What about the French terrorists who tortured women and children? Oh yes, those civilizing European 'values' must be upheld. Let's get to work.
2
Abandoned her kids, decided to go from living in a free society to seeing the world through a tiny slit, joined a violent group waging terrorism worldwide; now she “changed” her mind...sounds like someone needs to be committed to an asylum rather than pardoned.
43
"seeing the world through a tiny slit"
The veil is a good metaphor, RachelK. People who support ISIS have narrowed their outlook. They refuse to see anything that contradicts their fundamentalist belief.
2
an asylum maybe: only after she is tried for terrorism/treason- whatever the French laws are ---and then they can decide prison or the asylum.
Let her find her ISIS allies and stay with them. She's nothing but trouble.
46
Stop wringing your hands! No, no, she can stay wherever she is now.!
43
Having traveled to Europe many times I can say the “vibe” has changed with the large influx of Muslims and Africans. In the cities especially, it’s just feels a little more unsafe. But People, especially woman, dare not express their unease and trepidation without Fear of being labeled, that horrible word: Racist.
26
Unfortunately, no reasonable, objective conversation can be had on the topic, for that very reason.
1
Africans have been in Paris and France since before you were born. What has changed thankfully, is they can no longer be thrown with impunity from bridges to drown.
I'll take my real world over your dystopian fantasy any day.
3
No
You make your bed, and you lie in it.
She should be handed over to the Syrian Governent to be tried under Syrian law.
34
Emilie has decades left to pray in Saudi Arabia for the sake of all the Islamic and non-Islamic people that she harmed and killed.
Anyone who went to the ISIS summer camps of death have no place in the free world.
55
"You know how I turned my back on you, worked for and championed a wanna-be nation state that swore to destroy you, executed terrorist attacks against you and got others to do the same? I'm reallly sorry. Can I have my old life back? Pleeeassssee???"
(Save us from drama-queens)
30
In handcuffs. Her work as a recruiter helped kill many. She was a necessary and willing accessory to a killing machine, which continues to function as I write these lines. Forgiveness ?Perhaps. Freedom? Perhaps when she is able to repay her debt to society. It would be a long time.
19
She's a war criminal and should be tried as one in the country where she fought. Actions have consequences and she thought little of her children to abandon them to pursue the jihadi lifestyle.
39
I disagree with a trial. Keep her in Saudi Arabia, and the prison it is, for its citizens;no expense to France.
1
No she can’t come back. Anyone who joins ISIS or a terrorist org should forfeit citizenship from any other country. They are stranded where they are. May make a few folks rethink their orig plan.
27
Tell her to forget it. You reap what you sow woman. You deserve your fate. Don't let her back France.
22
She is a monster - and the worst type of monster.
She is the type of monster that thinks it is justified and doing good deeds. The type of monster that can conceal what it is. The type of monster that, after doing monstronous misdeeds and aiding in creating a land run by monsters, wants everyone to forget about it.
38
I weep for her. Sure, she is responsible for God knows how many people beheaded, women raped. But it is the French who are responsible for not treating her as a victim and creating a "safe space" for her while she seeks a man with a big!....
9
Don’t weep for her. And don’t paint all of France with your disjointed paintbrush. You sound like you need as much therapy as she does.
1
Nothing but contempt for this appalling woman. She should not be trusted - if she could do this once, she can do it again. Although she deserves the death penalty for aiding the immense humanitarian disaster Daesh caused, at the very least she should be turned over to one of the NGOs, if they would take her, and spend the rest of her life trying to clean up the destruction she helped to cause.
23
Are these people "prodigals?" They leave their home to run away to a circus, but when things go wrong they want to go back, as if there were no consequences to their decisions.
Maybe she would like to live in Canada, where Canadian jihadists are given a Biblical welcome. They aren't even patted down on arrival.
8
Very incorrect comparison. Kadar was 9 when he went to Afghanistan with parents. Won a lawsuit because Canadian Law requires we protect citizens in detention and not assist in torture and legally questionable detention of citizen especially of minors.
1
Ms. Konig saying "I am not a monster" reminds me of Richard Nixon saying "I am not a crook"
She abandoned her children, advocated a theocratic government that eliminated women's rights altogether and enslaved and raped women of other faiths, and now doesn't want to live in the limbo she helped create.
I have often felt that we should have treated the men in GITMO well rather than torturing them, to show them how a truly humane government behaved. (We certainly shouldn't have detained and tortured 15-year-old boys.) But turn them loose to keep promoting the organized crime of terrorism? If there's any plausible proof of criminal activity, that seems unwise.
Perhaps France should repatriate Ms. Konig into a prison cell and give her work that actually contributes to a multi-cultural society rather than tearing it down.
8
This criminal is lucky she’s alive. Debriefing her for intel and making her perform extensive community service to rebuild Kurdish territory make the most sense.
Upon that, there should be some pathway for her to return home. Will she embrace the society that has an actual justice system and that takes her back?Who knows. But if there’s an upside to leaving her abandoned and angry, I’m not seeing it.
5
She should be tried in Syria for her crimes.
15
The better questions is, do we care?
This is not a problem for Americans, please stick to the point.
4
Because there are plenty of Americans like here who joined ISIS and want to come back as if nothing happened?
People make mistakes that will effect their lives forever, but I think France should not take her back. There must be consequences for destructive, criminal behavior. It's too bad for her family. I'm sorry for them.
6
She consciously chose, unwisely, to lead an alternative way of life. One thing I've always preached is that the decisions you make decide the life you lead. Now it's time to live the consequences.
8
After she goes on trial and serves out her sentence for helping to murder people she can come back to France. Quite the mulligan she’s seeking.
6
Now here‘s a case where a “Muslim ban” seems called for.
9
Dear Heather,
Not really, the vast majority of Muslims aren't violent nor terrorists. This woman is apparently more of a sociopath or even psychopath, than an actual Muslim.
This article show no sense of remorse on her part. She simply wants to go back to France because it is a good life. Has anything she represented in her support of IS changed? I don't see it. Everything in her history shows her as a committed militant in a fight against France and ideas that do not agree with hers. I am surprised that I feel this way, but I would continue to let her cook her crepes with the Kurds!
8
I'd assume the Kurds don't want her either.
1
Sounds like she is one screwed up woman. I feel bad for her tough life, but I would not want her back in society, free to do whatever. She aided ISIS, and that should be a crime. perhaps prison in France so her family could visit her. Treat her kindly, but do not let her out of prison.
1
Prison in France is where many get radicalized/converted/recruited. I don't know what the female inmate population looks like, but the male is over 50% muslim (stats by ethnicity or faith aren't legal, so no official stats; but assessments are made according to demands for imams). In any case, locking her up and giving her access to other impressionable and undereducated minds isn't the great solution it might look like...
1
This would appear to be a joke. I find it hard to believe that anyone cares about where she wants to go now. Your constitutional protections end once you leave your country. Done.
This is nothing more than feminists trying to normalize even the most disgusting behaviors. If this was a man noone would give this a second thought.
6
I think France should welcome her back — to a prison cell.
4
Why should a European have special rights? What about the minorities who were raped and enslaved by ISIS? What about their human rights? This women deserves prison time in Syria
8
Konig aided and abetted the rape, torture and murder of thousands upon thousands by joining and promoting ISIS. She explicitly rejected the protections and norms of the West. Let her rot and reap what she sowed.
6
Maybe Emilie's future should be decided by the next-of-kin of those massacred in Paris by Islamic State in 2015, and/or by those who lost loved ones in the 2016 Nice truck massacre.
She voluntarily went to work for an avowed enemy of the French state. Let her rot.
6
This woman should not be allowed to go home. France should not have to nurture a probable viper in its nest. She made her bed and she should now lay in it.
5
No surprise that France (and Europe) is wringing its hands about what to do with people like this woman, given how the Europeans opened the flood gates to Muslim immigration and seem paralyzed to deal with all the adversity that comes with it — ie, brutal terrorist attacks, the loss of European values in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, the general increase in crime from male migrants, and potential widescale societal destabilization over the next several decades.
Despite all this, France is thinking about bringing this kook back into the country to poison her kids, and serve as a role model for other French wackos....all because she might not get a “fair trial” in the country where she’s done so much damage.
And the Europeans call this “Civilization.”
8
Maybe Trump would find a place for this woman at Gitmo.
2
She should meet with the justice of where she is and not be allowed back. She is only recanting because she was caught .... she gets what she deserves.
4
Citizenship in 2018 doesn’t have the same meaning as it once did. Anyone can acquire citizenship in the country of their choice if not born there. Remember Julian Assange? This woman would make Patty Hearst green with envy. In some ways she is no different from that teenage daughter that once terrorized the parents and destroyed the family who needs a bail out years later when the party was over. As long as the world is still defined by countries, the law has to catch up with these citizens without borders when their whims and personal grievances can lead to unimaginable harms to others.
Hearst was kidnapped.
As my mother would say, "let her stew in her own juice." In the U.S., joining a foreign military is cause for loss of citizenship. So too, here, I would proffer.
4
This woman is equal to Charlie Manson’s Heller Skelter girls, who have had to live with their drug-addled vicious acts by serving life sentences, and have never been allowed back into free society. There are some “mistakes” that a change a life’s direction irreversibly.
3
Now that ISIL is on the run, naturally she wants a do-over. Ask the victims of the Parisian terrorist attacks if they’d support giving her a pass. While a French citizen, she committed acts of treason. I suggest she’d be welcome to resume life as a French citizen after she pays her debt to society.
Having said that, the French (and is, and everyone) must recognize the inevitable effect of laws, such as the legality of a kind of clothing, which marginalize legitimate members of a society. Paranoia & jingoism create conditions which create greater paranoia & jingoism. Imagine, instead, the power of a cohort of hijab-wearing Muslims passionately declaring how great France is.
1
"Imagine, instead, the power of a cohort of hijab-wearing Muslims passionately declaring how great France is."
That's highly unlikely, and mostly wishful thinking. Remember, she only felt the urge to wear the full veil once it was outlawed; not as a means to live her new faith to the fullest, but as an act of rebellion. What most of these jihadists have in common is a life of petty crime, general aimlessness, lack of ambition or direction, and a general inability and/or unwillingness to assimilate with society at large, followed by a sudden interest in a faith that provides the structure and boundaries they lack in their personal life, and the edge of still being "different".
Their motivation is the rejection of mainstream society and its values, not assimilation or even the acceptance by others of their "difference". If that were to happen, they would likely look for another fight rather than settle down.
Let’s see if I understand her thinking:
My country was disrespectful to me because of my choice of clothing and my belief system. So I join a group fighting violently, outside the rule of law, for an end to secular, free society. Now that I’m jailed by the people I tried to kill and enslave, may I please go back to my civilized, free country of laws?
No.
9
A lot of the victims of the Islamic State cried for mercy and got nothing but a violent death, usually by decapitation. And yet, she was drawn to that and did what she could to advance that way of life. Now is she who wants mercy. I don't know. I guess I would like to see more information on this woman. Does she regret the death and destruction the Islamic State (and others) have wreaked on the innocents of Syria and Iraq? Is she repentant? Or is this simply a matter of "oh, the Islamic State failed in Syria so now I want to go back to Europe so I can act all morally superior to the French?" Frankly, I wouldn't want this violent woman living anywhere near me.
6
Europe suddenly understands why it's been so difficult to close down the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
5
So this woman espoused mass killing, rape, murder, beheadings, and mayhem and now wants to go back home to the suburbs and be a housewife?
If she wasn't French what would her fate be?
5
Over the past months we all have read countless articles about the criminal abuse and mistreatment of women (and some men) in the film industry, in media, in politics and in society generally.
At the same time, there is a separate but related discussion taking place. Prominent women (and some men) in Hollywood and elsewhere are arguing for equal treatment for women. Specifically, they want equal pay, more women as directors, and in other key roles. The demand is rooted in the firm belief that women are every bit the equal of men when it comes to intelligence, creativity, ability to make and be held accountable for decisions, etc. A compelling argument!
And then I come across this article which seemingly takes as an indisputable truth that it somehow is appropriate to take into account the sex of a traitor when considering appropriate action. Apparently, because she is a woman she is not intelligent enough to make important decisions or to be held accountable for those decisions, as a man would be. Being a frail feeble woman we are to have sympathy for her that we would never extend to a man in the same situation, a regular damsel in distress.
There is a valid question of what we do with people, men and women, who have betrayed their countries through their ISIS activities. That decision SHOULD appropriately reflect the specific actions each took; it SHOULD NOT be affected by the sex of the traitor. Equality is is not equality if only applied when to ones benefit.
7
What a brilliant strategy she is trying to employ (AGAINST ANY GULLIBLE FOOL WHO WILL SWALLOW IT)
Now that this morally bankrupt she-demon of a traitor has been (THANKFULLY) captured, she is begging those she so easily betrayed not only for forgiveness, but incredibly for yet another go at them.
The second time around, perhaps she can work from within, with the bomb-planting group.
In my opinion, she should be hanged!
6
It's immensely-disturbing to all of Western-Civilization to see a woman in a burka, especially if that person is in the U.S. or Europe.
The image conjures fear, anxiety and horror.
The provocative photo in your article could only appeal to subversives or other like-minded jihadists / islamists / terrorists, etc...it should probably be removed from your website.
3
There is nothing in The Quran that says you have to wear a veil. She seems to see no link between what she has done and how people might regard her.
5
Ha! All those 'rebels' who grow up in affluent secular countries that guarantee citizens' right go scurrying right back to them once they're in real trouble. Sorry, Ms Konig, you chose to support the murderous Daesh as an adult, you don't get to go back home as if nothing had happened. Stay right there, and pay your debt to Syrian society.
8
Reading her background story she tends to make bad decisions, and likely will make more. First husband a drug dealer, two children, meets muslim guy on internet, heads off to Syria to marry and join jihadist. Now that didn’t work out and wants to come back. Others have to keep bailing her out of her decisions. Time to work it out yourself, like all those refugees who have to manage without mummy and daddy to bail them out of a horrible situation over which THEY had no control.
3
Very easy to be enraged at the traitorous young woman who thought ISIS would provide her with a virile man to satisfy her wants. Who supported the organization which sent shooters to kill her countrymen. Who thought Allah was the only true God. Nothing here about any sense of wrongdoing, any sense that ISIS was wrong, that radical Islam is full of false and bad ideas.
But. In both Christianity and Buddhism, (see the Lotus Sutra) we have the story of the Prodigal Son. Why not the Prodigal Daughter? If she is sorry, if she feels she was wrong, jihadism is wrong, and wants to undo some of the harm she may have caused, does not our reigning mythology instruct us to rejoice at her return? Jail time? No doubt. Service to the anti-terror units? Definitely. Trips to go clean up Syria? Maybe so. But the highest wisdom we have urges us toward forgiveness.
1
I wonder how many people died as a result of her collaboration with this enemy. Was the "prodigal son" responsible for the deaths of people who didn't agree with him? And I can't even contemplate any officials in anti-terror units ever trusting her. What she is experiencing now are the consequences of her actions for collaborating with terrorists and enemies of the free world. Do you really believe she could ever add anything positive to France or would the anti-terror units have to spend the rest of her life tracking her movements? She seems very hostile, and being wrong about her choices likely won't make her a productive citizen of France. What does she have to offer France? Does she have a college degree or any skill sets that would allow her to be a productive citizen? Or will she come home, attempt to reunite with her children, and indoctrinate them into a jihadist way of thinking? I am very sure it's much more pleasant to be a jihadist in France than in the Middle East.
1
Thank you for this comment. It is easy to be angry at someone who willingly joined a vile and evil cult of death. But I agree that we are spiritually required to show mercy, even when none has been shown by the perpetrator. It is also the way we distinguish ourselves as civilized people of rules and laws, who are distinct from hateful killers. We must treat people humanely, even (and especially) when we are traumatized and angry by how awful they have been. This does not mean allowing her to escape the consequences of her actions. She should be tried as an accessory to murder and serve her time. But is incumbent upon us as civilized people to allow her the opportunity to be rehabilitated. It ultimately benefits us as a society to try to return people to the fold, rather than casting them out permanently (which increases the likelihood that they will cause future harm).
1
This answer is easy. Welcome her (and others) back (to safety) with OPEN ARMS, and a JAIL CELL (for acts she committed).
no-brainer.
1
I think that they ought to tell her she IS home. Goodbye and good luck.
3
of course not
the battlefield is her future
live by the sword.......
2
Nope, nope and nope. She should not be allowed to come back and she should set an example for other people who think this is a good idea. These people go to war zones and engage in activities where many people are beheaded, punished and torture, they are accessories. You can't dress up as a jihadist and then say you are just a regularly French girl. Sorry. Stay there, you made a choice.
4
There is no way this glib terrorist should be ever allowed out of prison.
2
If France takes her back, minimum 5 years in prison and then rehabilitation. Her children should go to loving foster homes not preachers of hatred
1
And what did she do over there for ISIS? Bake cookies? I fear not. It would be big of the NYT to actually discuss what her role there was. I'd suspect she did more than recruit for them on social media.
The price she should pay is that suitable for her crimes just as former Nazis were held responsible for what they did. She essentially gave up her French citizenship by swearing allegiance to ISIS.
Plenty of children are deserted by their fathers or never even know them; they don't join ISIS. Her childhood is no excuse for her actions.
What would France have to gain by allowing her return unless straight to a jail cell? Is she an influence you'd want to have on her young children that she herself deserted? France has enough problems already with terrorism. What they don't need is someone else who is deliberately provoking others such as by wearing the banned burka and a sworn follower of terrorists. It's not as if she has realized how wrong she was even; she only wants out due to being captured and the collapse of ISIS.
I find it shameful that the NYT seems to be trying to paint her in a sympathetic fashion. How many died due to her actions? How many lives and families were destroyed?
4
Do you know how much good this woman can do deterring others from doing the same?
1
Very tough to have sympathy for those people. They supported that regime. They lived their jihadi dreams now they want to return to mommy or daddy’s house. As if all that misery and blood never happened. Very tough to feel empathy or sympathy.
Ms. Konig should be tried for war crimes by the United Nations.
Sorry Emilie, you bought the ticket, now take the ride. It will not be smooth.
1
Think about young Muslim men/women born in Europe, converted to extremist ideology and fighting in Syria as healthy cells of a body turned malign.
If they are allowed to return to their European born countries, their ideological extremism disease could:
(a) infect the social body in their respective countries, and (b) they could bring death and destruction by means of terrorist attacks. European public opinion will probably be against their return.
1
The fact that this is even a topic for discussion is insane. She should never be allowed to see the light of day.
3
France has experience with treatment of collaborators. Look what they did at the end of WWII. Even after the frenzied period ended, something like 50,000 citizens pretty much lost all their rights, including getting decent jobs, and a bunch were executed. A very few were allowed to hold government positions after a few years, weird exceptions.
1
Islam was more important to her than her two young children? Don’t trust her.
3
It's hard to feel sympathy for a person who basically renounced their French citizenship, then spent a few years as a propagandist for a death cult. How many people died or ruined their lives, in part, due to this woman's actions?
3
French prison is too good for her. She can spend the rest of her life in Syria rebuilding the communities that she helped destroy. Having people criticize your wardrobe is not an excuse for supporting an organization bent on violence, rape and child abuse.
4
"Uh...so, the whole recruiting for ISIS thing didn't work out, mind if I move in next door and pretend that I'm capable of coexisting with you?" - This woman.
1
I didn’t read the article yet but the answer is NO.
2
when one becomes a theocrat one forfeits all claim to normal human dignity. let her rot in the fundamentalist "paradise" she chose.
1
Bring her to the upper west side of Manhattan, I'm sure she'll be welcomed by many....
2
Allowing terrorists to return to France is about as dumb as allowing illegals and Haitians and Guatemalans to stay in the US.
What's the benefit?
3
By joining the Islamic State, Konig is complicit in the rape, torture and murder of thousands upon thousands. She rejected Western protections and norms by her actions. If the US can try South American drug lords, then the Kurds can certainly try anyone found in their war zone. Let her rot over there and reap what she sowed.
3
Why doesn't the NYT call the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria what everyone else calls it- Rojava?
2
Allowed back in France? Only if The French are allowed to treat her as they did other female Nazi collaborators after being liberated. Namely, shave her head and parade her down the street. Perhaps draped withe the black flag of ISIS and little more.
2
If the ISIS caliphate is what she wanted, great, give to her. There are some decisions there are no coming back from. Being a ISIS recruiter is like being a SS officer in Germany. You not only drank the Kool-Aid, but made a huge batch for others. Civilized society owes her nothing but a jail cell for rest of her life, and thats being charitable.
2
Firstly, don’t call her ( or other terrorists)”fighters.” Have some gumption: they are “TRAITORS” or “RELIGIOUS NUTS” or “GUERRILAS.” Don’t be afraid to be a bit polemical in this, especially when they are REALLY BAD GUYS.
The solution is clear to me: preferably leave her in the Kurd prison camp to rot; who cares what happens to her? Why doesn’t the NYT investigate what happened to her 2 poor little kids she abandoned in France to go be a jihadi?
Alternatively, deport her back ( although why France would want back someone like this, who actively sought to undermine France and the West escapes me), try her for treason, if convicted send her to a tough jail— which is better treatment she and her ISIS pals would’ve ever given their prisoners.
On second thought, maybe just summarily behead her? ( Kidding...but of course ISIS did not kid about stuff like that...)
2
Too bad France doesn't have the death penalty.
2
I wonder if France would consider taking her back if she was of Arab descent? Or if she was a man?
1
Try them in the same court room as Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg and then hang them in the same basement. These people are worse than the Nazi's because they already knew what they were signing up for. It is as if newsreels were running in Britain and the US in 1942 showing what was going on at Dachau and people said "I want in. Sign me up!".
We are crazy beyond belief if we let these people walk our streets. Really they should get summary drum head military tribunals and executed in the field. The only thing that needs to be determined is if they joined ISIS or were captives. If they joined, even just to make coffee and sweep the floors, they are guilty of conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity.
2
Are we supposed to sympathize with this young woman’s plight? She is a war criminal who is about to be tried by the Kurdish forces in Raqqa - after being granted permission by the Americans (the UN would rather avoid setting up another costly ad hoc tribunal to deal with Daesh war criminals) - and now wants out. Yeah, okay. France, if they do allow her return, should immediately detain and try her for her war crimes, as their courts are capable of prosecuting international crimes. If not, let the Kurds deal with her like they are dealing with the rest of Raqqa’s Daesh members. Shame on the NYT for attempting to show the human side of murderous Daesh members. They don’t get to have that luxury with the buckets and buckets of blood on their hands.
81
Taking her back without serious measure means that France is setting up a precedent to allow terrorists back into their country.
She should be treated as a terrorist and bear the consequence according to France or international law.
She was an ISIS recruiter? OMG! Shame on you! Then she should be instrumental to give valuable information to the authorities and agencies fighting terrorism. Otherwise she is useless and would be bad role model.
I also like the earlier comments and agree that she should stay there and be part of the "clean up crew" and see the destruction she created.
Compassion to people like her without any consequences sends the wrong message. We need to deter people to join groups like this!
35
Had Konig set off to rob banks or traffic in drugs, would she be welcomed back with with a pardon? Why should setting off to fight for the Islamic State be any different?
26
Really? You can't discern a difference between committing a simple, even heinous crime and participating in an Islamic state movement committed to and actively pursuing the systemic enslavement and rape of women and children and the death of all infidels? This woman was not only the willing mouthpiece/recruiter for Isis, she also actively took up arms for them. France would be stupid and suicidal to allow her to return and to spread her violent/evil/treasonous ideology either on the outside or behind bars.
3
Katie: You may have misunderstood Jim’s post as you are both in agreement. He was giving a less serious criminal example in which the answer would also have been “no.”
None of the ISIS fighters should be allowed to return, unless they're immediately ushered to a jail cell.
Their crimes may not all be in the past. Some may occur in the future.
23
She should not get a second chance. But she certainly would be valuable on an intel basis so there is possibly a deal to be made. But the other risk of accepting these people back is she has gone public so could be the target of an ISIS attack that has collateral damage.
What this story shows is that personal, not political motivations people have for joining terrorist organizations...personal vendettas, a need to act out against a society they feel as wronged them, in and in this case "finding a man"
14
"she left her two small children to go to Syria, eventually becoming a prominent propagandist and recruiter for the Islamic State"
I didn't need to read much more beyond that to formulate my opinion. How many innocent children have died a result of her direct or indirect involvement? Would she have thought twice if she were sent to blow up her own? She should be treated as any other convicted of war crimes. No better.
38
she should fulfill a life sentence doing manual labor helping to rebuild regions decimated by Daesh/ISIS...she has foregone her right to return...
34
As much as I believe in forgiveness, this is a social case.
when you read in the same piece , ISIS recruiter, drugs, clubs , you know that this person have psychological issues, she is looking to belong to something , a need to provoke , she is more than a lost adolescent looking for direction, she is dangerous and a criminal , in my humble opinion she should face trial.
15
This horrific creature actively participated in promoting an attempted genocide -- by ISIS against the Yazidi -- and people are actually considering letting her back into Europe? Why isn't she in front of the Hague?
35
She can never truly go home again, in any sense of the word - none of them can or should be allowed to resume a Western life that they railed against to such a degree they thought joining a terrorist group was a good idea.
22
Ms. König should have her dreams realized. France must revoke her citizenship and allow her to live her life in her adopted country, Syria where she would feel at home instead of feeling scorned as she did in France.
19
As someone who has spent considerable time in France... I have a feeling they'll take her back and give her a sizeable prison sentence.
But in the end, she'll be in her native country and her kids can see her from behind bars.
10
As one reader pointed out, this ridiculous woman also acted as a fighter and muttawah (religious police) who flogged women who didn't meet ISIS standards of attire. She was 27 when she left, a full-grown woman responsible for her own actions. Now her glorious ISIS is defeated on the geographical battlefield, she wants to come home to the good life. If she was harassed and alienated in France for going around full-on black, there was no need to join a cult of serial killers and child rapists. She could have emigrated to a number of peaceful Arab countries such as the UAE or Oman. She deserves only contempt.
42
It is very difficult to have sympathy for Ms. Konig. She is not asking to be forgiven for childish pranks. She made her bed and now let her sleep in it. That seems like a just consequence.
17
By joining ISIS, this woman gave up all rights of citizenship to France.
She reminds of the old joke regarding the guy who kills his parents and pleads for mercy because he is now an orphan. The difference is her actions were no joke.
24
You fight for a rebel army then demand mercy? Go directly to jail
9
She got caught. Now she's sorry.
8
Except she isn't even sorry for her own crimes and the crimes of the movement she helped build.
Treating this woman with some leniency will perhaps encourage others who are considering leaving terrorist groups to actually do so; each person who returns home is one less fighter they can send to the battlefield. Yes, she should be held accountable for whatever crimes she might have committed, but this is an opportunity to have an effect on a much larger number of people. Moreover, she would be able to provide valuable information on both the Islamic State and how they radicalize young Westerners; most terrorist attacks in Europe are carried out by natives who have been recruited on-line.
2
How is France's supposed to know that she is not a double agent? If she is really contrite... that's tough. She made a decision and that comes with consequences. She joined an organization that did unforgivable acts, not only to European countries, but made their ownchildren suffer and destroy her once beautiful country. What they did to Palmyra was painful to watch
9
Prison for life is the only answer to these cases. How can we make good decisions on murky cases ones when we can't get the clear cut ones correct?
8
Of course she wants out, she's in a prison camp. European countries whose citizens or residents left to fight for ISIS should revoke their citizenship or other resident status and refuse re-entry to adults who made that choice. There is no way to assure that they won't resume terroristic beliefs and acts once back in their home countries. There is no reason to distinguish between women loyal to ISIS and men loyal to ISIS: both can kill, and have killed. The cruel, violent nature of ISIS has not been a secret for several years. At a minimum, a European who chose to support ISIS should only return to his/her home country to stand trial for supporting terrorism, and should be imprisoned there. Juveniles are a different matter; they could return but only on condition of meaningful rehabilitation and ongoing supervision.
8
Really? “She felt so scorned in France she left her two little children behind?”
How about she felt her calling to become a part of a bloody caliphate that raped and pillaged was so strong that she chose to abandon her children that she exaltedly joined it and went as far as becoming one of it more prominent recruiters.
Now she wants to come back? She was a part of ISIS and as such should be tried as a war criminal.
And push-lease, let’s not make her a feminist icon... consider the treatment of women by ISIS, not the least the Yazidis women.
This is a shame because the article is otherwise interesting as it highlights the very real problem of the ISIS would-be repatriates. The poor choice of words of the author distracts from the actual point and makes the author look sympathetic to Emily Koenig.
8
There are, at least, a million other people who deserve to be let into France before this person.
6
Sadly I have limited sympathy for this woman as she was an adult when she made her own disastrous choices. There has to be a way to make her amends for what she has done, and not simply her saying she is regretful. It is important to show both justice and mercy in these situations.
I do feel that the numerous teenagers who were swayed by her damaging propaganda do deserve sympathy and repatriation.
3
She was a a member of a self proclaimed foreign government that had declared war and launched attacks on France, and part of her role was recruiting and spreading propaganda to support such attacks. Seems like treason to me... if she is returned to France, it can only be to face trial and jail for her actions.
8
File under: "Fool me once ..." The real warning sign is not that she abandoned her country and any shred of common sense, but that she abandoned her children.
Leave the terrorist converts where they are and let the Middle East deal with them. It is, after all, their new home.
4
She should be allowed in, arrested on arrival, court martialed for consorting with the enemy & treason, put in front of a firing squad and executed. No privileges, no excuses, no mitigating circumstances allowed. This is war, civilian laws are irrelevant.
8
I think that anyone who leaves their country to fight "against" their country should not be allowed to return. Particularly if she still ascribes to the same philosophy. The completely covered face burqa is not allowed in France for security reasons. I don't think it should be allowed in the United States either. She made her bed, now she can lie in it.
5
Personally I think that she should stay and rot in Iraq. She knew what she was doing, understood what ISIS attitude to prisoners and non-believers, participated in recruitment and was in an influential position. She fled to the Kurds because she knew she could expect a bullet in the head if Syrian or Iraqi forces got hold her. Enjoy the consequences of your choice.
4
Clearly, the French and other European countries whose citizens have become war criminals for ISIS should pay for their crimes. Since the countries they committed these crimes in were Syria and Iraq, these people should be turned over to the Assad government and the Iraqi government who will deal with them accordingly. If they execute them, the Europeans should be suitably grateful. They will never have to deal with these psychopaths again.
2
There are, no doubt, untold families that have been destroyed in evil, barbarous ways by the actions of this woman and others of her like. Leave her where she is and if the remainder of her life leaves her lonely, impoverished and despised then she will have reaped what she has sowed.
3
If ISIS would have won, she would have stayed. That is what she was fighting for. Now she lost and wishes to come back? There was no regret, she was held prisoner and it seems pretty obvious to me that she should live her faith now....
6
She let her country knowing hat she was doing. She wasn't an adolescent or a child.
And she left her children without thinking about them at all, she was only thinking about the islamic state.
Now that things went bad for them she wants forgiveness.
She must pay for what she has done, she helped terrorists to kill many innocent people,
That is life as it is.
1
Why warm a serpent on your breast? This woman was a full-term adult and a parent who chose to abet violence everywhere.
Her serial choices to be on the social margins, dancing in clubs, drugs, the anti-social costuming of herself reflect a pattern of searching for the gangster life.
The real harm she must have done in France and internationally should rule out treating her "adventures" as a 5-year Gap Year. Let her face the justice system where she is.
4
I'd tell her, "I'm going to read you your rights . . . . you have none. You gave them up when you became and enemy of our country and the world in general."
She made her choice and gave her allegiance to others. It will be a message to others who think they might want to go play terrorist for a the summer, if not longer.
2
Given that she gave material support to a terrorist organization that engaged in war crimes - supporting men who codified and justified their use of rape and slavery on all "non believers" - an organization who burned alive captives on video, who beheaded captives on video, who used children as human shields - there is really only one course for her - her French citizenship needs to be taken away and she should be condemned to life imprisonment in a Syrian prison.
5
If one removes the anger and vindictiveness one might feel sorry for her. But, finally it's just too much. Like many woman, they want special treatment. She's sorry now so we should embrace her. Sure, let a man behave this way and see how far he gets. Tell that to #metoo.
3
Has she renounced the veil? Does she still favor Sharia law for France? Does she still favor killing all Jews? These questions are not addressed in this article. Perhaps the EU could rent space in Gitmo for this group of former citizens who took up arms against us and clearly renounced their desire live in France, etc! Don't actions count for anything?
4
Subtext here is that adult women should be treated differently than men who engage in same activities. Because of what: their inherently gentle nature, their weak characters that make them more emotionally malleable than men?Would we even be having this discussion if it were Anwar-al-Awlaki, greatest propagandist and terrorist recruiter of them all, had grown tired of mayhem and wanted to come home to the States? Bottom line here appears to be less a change of heart than her new life circumstances that put here not in a position of privilege, rather that of prisoner or refugee, the former due to her own actions and decisions over a period of more than a decade.
5
One word: prison.
2
Poor baby. Actions have consequences, monster or not. She apologized? Try again, from prison.
2
As a born citizen of France, France has the obligation to allow her to return. France also has the obligation of a nation in the world community to prosecute her for being a propagandist for a terrorist orginazation.
France would not pardon Goebbels had he survived WW2, it should not pardon this terrorist.
3
Ms. König's views and actions are completely incompatible with civilized society.
She abandoned her family for a genocidal terrorist group that is dedicated to the destruction of human life and our way of life. She doesn't have the luxury of claiming she's "not a monster". It's the kind assurance that depraved individuals deploy in vain to convince themselves they haven't become exactly that.
Let her back into France, but keep her in prison where she belongs.
3
"What should they do when citizens who are former Islamic State fighters or supporters want to return?"
Take 'em back, charge, try and convict 'em for terrorism and let 'em serve 20 to life in a French prison...then revisit the subject of their legal status.
I would be astonished if France allowed her back (unless it would be to a prison for life).
A little bit of a Terrorist is like a little bit pregnant. No such thing. None of these " people" should be allowed back in, to the Country and People they have betrayed, and harmed. They've made their beds, let them lie, and die, in them. They are exactly those WE should exclude, forever. Yes, even Females. Some deeds are unforgivable and irreversible. The Children, let them return, if the Families will accept total responsibility for their care.
The line must be drawn. And, everyone must realize what they are giving up, permanently, for leaving. The entire purpose of these organizations is to terrorize, recruit and KILL. Enough, enough, enough.
1
ISIS is the personification of Evil itself, and this woman was not only part of it but helped it expand. No civilized country should ever let such persons back into the country. They bring Evil with them no mater how contrite they may seem and there should be some price for what they have done. The price is staying where they chose to go, knowing full well that ISIS was killing, torturing, raping, and destroying civilization: they knew full well because ISIS proudly proclaimed and showed exactly what they were doing even to the extent of beheadings and burning people alive in cages. They filmed what they were doing and put it out on the internet. Do you remember? No one should forget and allow such evil into their countries. Then, just maybe, we will not face these things again.
2
A criminal enterprise and criminal undertakings (murder, rape, kidnappings, destruction and theft of property) and Isis differ only in their public statements of purpose: their acts are criminal. She is a criminal, she must face the law.
She managed to get herself there to promote and support depraved brutality, and now France should expend resources to bring her back? I would suggest letting her figure out how to get back and if she succeeds try her and punish her severely. She will have earned her place in society again then.
1
Personally, I believe that when a citizens of one country consorts with the enemy of the state then they should be tried for treason when they are caught or return. It sure seems like treason to me.
So she decided she wanted to join an illegal gang which commits murder, kidnapping, etc, etc to support their murders, kidnappings, etc, etc? Now she has decided she does not want to do that anymore because < insert excuse such as the food is bad, it's hot, the men smell and don't respect me, etc,etc>. Sure let her come back, be put on trial for her crimes, and face her punishment.
How could they let her back in to roam the country freely? France has had its share of terrorist attacks, so letting an ISIS sympathizer like go is out of the question. It's simple self-preservation.
"European countries are opposed to the death penalty and are not confident that countries like Iraq and Syria can hold fair trials." - Why should they be given free anything???
Ten years in jail on return to France.
Glad she's not my daughter; don't know what I'd do if she was...
1
NO. Absolutely NO. Send her back. As an adult she made a deliberate bad decision and now that isis is defeated she wants to return and spoil the rest of the peaceful people.
Let her live in the paradise and goto paradise as she always wanted.
2
Reminds me of Patty Hearst. She joined a murderous gang, was responsible for at least one civilian death, and then decided that being an 'urban gorilla' (sic) doesn't fit her future plans and now she wants to go home. Deadly decisions have unpleasant consequences.
She is a searcher, but like others, she has picked up a Master's degree in the dark arts of terrorism and aided a murderous cult. If allowed back, even if initially repentant she could revert back to her previous mindset if events don't go as she hopes. I would anticipate most people in France would say she should not be allowed to return. It's tough, but she made hard choices and her life is a mess as a result.
4
She rejects her country and culture, and abandons her own children to join the most intolerant, murderous, sub-human ideaology in existence today - working for 5 years as a recruiter for a group that enslaved 7,000 yazidi women and children and decapited and crucified “infidels”, among many other atrocities worldwide. Only God knows how many innocent human lives were destroyed by ISIS with her help. Now that ISIS is virtually defeated, she wants a pardon and wants to go back to her life before.
Sorry, life doesn’t work that way. At least it shouldn’t.
If The Hague is still prosecuting former Nazis and Serbian war criminals, these returning ISIS members shouldn’t get a pass. A lifetime in a French prison would be better than what this woman deserves. And any punishment she receives will be more compassionate than the judgment she felt entitled to dole out as a member of ISIS.
92
The atrocities committed by ISIS were at least equal and perhaps worse than those committed by Nazi Germany. This woman crossed the rubicon when she ELECTIVELY and probably enthusiastically signed on to become a recruiter for ISIS with eyes wide open. Let her live out her fate or as she might have said “her mission” in Syria.
38
She is a traitor who should never be allowed into France or any other civilized nation in the world. Case closed. She made her choice.
33
I would vote for taking her back to France, but then sending her straight to prison for life.
She is a thug who recruited others to join the gang of murdering thugs. The blood of the victims is on her hands. She was harassed for her dress because people are afraid of those in a full body disguise. Only a fool would think that is all right especially in France. That excuse is hollow. She just wanted to join the killers so she went to Syria. She should be allowed back to France, tried and sent to prison for the murderer she is. Her fellow prisoners will make her wish she never joined ISIS. Do women get 72 virgin men when they get to martyr heaven?
20
agree, and her sincerity is especially suspect considering she didn't want to return to France UNTIL she was put in the Kurdish prison.
1
Why would ANY Country want these traitors back? Deadbeat losers will probably always be a drain on the social system wherever they go because of their crazy beliefs. Yank their passports so they can never come back.
20
She's a nasty, disloyal person who chose her fate and her country. Leave her there.
20
IMO, no.
You made your choice. Live with it.
You made yor bed, lie in it.
15
She is a traitor. There's realky noithing else to say.
20
As others have noted; she has made her bed and now must lie in it. Forgiveness is not be out of the question but she must first lie in that bed for a very long time. All the while making recompense to all those she has (however indirectly) harmed.
John~
American Net'Zen
18
Forgiveness is OUT of the question.
3
If she was a recruiter for ISIS she is responsible "indirectly" for people dying, being tortured and raped".
I have zero sympathy for Europeans and Americans who went to join ISIS. I understand the situation is more complex for some of the Iraqis or Syrians who joined while ISIS was taking over their country -- particularly the young people. But Europeans and Americans chose to leave a comfortable life to fight for a violent terrorist group. They should be punished accordingly.
72
This is not only about her, it is about an example to any other citizen of the accommodating, liberal, tolerant, West who thinks joining one of these terrorist groups is akin to a summer camp. Decisions have consequences, and now that she's not able to act as judge and jury in Raqqa she wants to go back to France? To do what? Continue proselytizing to children and young adults about how she was a "hero" of Daesh? Have her stay behind for no less than double the number of years she terrorized people volunteering to help mend the wounds and acknowledge her misdeeds through concrete actions. Then, and only then, should she be considered as a candidate to return to our society.
24
Looks like a textbook case of somebody who is both lashing out and craving acceptance.
5
What's the problem?
It is an International standard that crimes are to be tried and punished in the place they have been committed.
This is not a child, this is a full grown adult who knew what she was doing and where.
So, she decided to go to Syria and fully willingly join a terrorist organization to commit crimes in Syria.
Ergo, she is to be tried by the laws of the place she committed her crimes in.
End of discussion.
And BTW, it is time for countries like the US or the members of the EU to end to try and take their citizens from places they have become criminals in and committed crimes.
It is the responsibility of the legal system under which these crimes have been committed to try and judge them.
There is no cherry picking for the "right" legal system for going to trial.
After all, if I, as a non US citizen, were to commit a crime in the US, I still would be tried and judged in the US and rightly so.
So why establish different treatments for foreigners in other places?
Let the Kurds or the Syrians try and judge her in a legal case in the place she committed her crimes.
Which is so much more than her victims ever got.
40
This woman has committed war crimes, and now she wants forgiveness and redemption. What about all the victims of ISIS? Where do they go to get their lives back? This woman should be allowed to return to France and spend the rest of her life in prison.
18
I agree that each case must be dealt with in its own merit. The cases all seem to be different even if superfluously they appear to be similar. Ms. König? She is a good candidate for the death penalty. The latter is not available in the EU but the Kurds will be happy to take care of that. Just remember the decapitated Westerners.
20
“French citizens cannot be judged by the Kurds” said Marie Dose ....
This is a nakedly racist statement tantamount to the extraterritoriality claimed by European powers in the colonialist era when Europeans nations insisted that their citizens were exempt from the jurisdiction of local laws, as the British did in the waning years of Dynastic China.
Marie Dose appears not to realise that we are no longer in the world of the 19th century.
This woman, in addition to acting as a recruiter, is seen in a video weilding a gun. She is accountable for her actions and has to be held to account in the country where they were perpetrated.
The obverse of Ms. Does’ argument would be that a Syrian could commit murder and mayhem in France but insist that France had no right to try him because he was a Syrian. If Ms. Does agrees with that, then we might say that she is no racist and no hypocrite, simply a very poor lawyer.
24
it's not a racist comment but more about the fact there is no Kurdish country.
However as member of a millitary group, a war military tribunal may apply...or not. That's a procedural matter and international law. I dont know wether or not the kurd millitia status is similar to usual millatary
"Can't shake the Devil's hand, then say you're only kidding."
- They Might Be Giants, expressing a common belief
15
She is a foreign combatant in a still-ongoing war. France's answer should be, "No!" She would come home and orchestrate some kind of bombing or suicide mission and is a poor risk. Let her stew in the predicament that she made for herself.
22
The audacity of this woman to ask to be allowed back into the country and culture she actively tried to destroy. In my opinion, anyone who publicly tries to overthrow their government should lose their citizenship.
21
It's one thing to feel alienated by France's "Burka ban". It's another to join a genocidal terrorist organization. Mrs. Koenig could have emigrated to Saudi Arabia or to any other country where this kind of dress is socially accepted - or even obligated by the government. But by working for ISIS she turned herself into a war criminal, and must face charges.
She has no right to return to the life she knew, and that applies to all ISIS foreign fighters. I understand that states are responsible for their citizens, and that it can be constitutionally impossible to strip a anyone of his or her citizenship. But Mrs Koenig and all other ISIS supporters must be tried for their membership in a terrorist organization - and if possible - for individual crimes. And I think in the case of French citizens treason charges are also in order, because France fought ISIS on the battlefield.
17
"I am not a monster". She's just a person who abandoned her civilization and her children to wear an abaya and to fire a shotgun and to recruit monsters for a monstrous aberration of humanity.
We should all lear from our mistakes but some mistakes require that learning be done from behind bars.
21
France has French Guiana -- a faraway territory short of people and no threat to Brazil because of the cordon sanitaire provided by the Amazon jungle. Ms. Konig has proved herself flexible and adaptable to new circumstances. She and others should be sent on conditional parole to La Guyane Francaise. Obviously, she and other presumably low risk detainees should be kept out of space center, but given the freedom to roam and work. It is cheaper for society than paying for her room and board for a decade in a French prison. fyi Devil's Island was closed in 1953. Despite its image problem, French Guiana is a pleasant place to live and work.
The residents of French Guiana might not view this as a workable solution.
1
We have nearly half the population who voted for Trump. We are going to have to let them come home once the collapse sets in. Sure, let her come home ... maybe she could work against radicalization ... but are we going to ask former evangelicals to work against their Faux news radicalization?
5
Rescind her citizenship, deny her entry, and let her be stateless for life.
(As in Edward Everett Hale's classic - 'The Man without a Country' that many of us old folks had to read in grade school - a book that left a profound impression [at least me on me]). (In the Hale book, Nolan was left to languish on a boat - probably too expensive a solution for this woman).
6
I loved Hale’s great classic as well. Unfortunately the French constitution does not allow for making a citizen stateless. But it can encourage the Iraqis, Kurds and Syrians to disperse justice.
I remember reading aout that when I was in grade school. I felt then and now, that the the penalty was WAY too harsh, in that it was imposed after he made ONE exclamation detrimental to the US. Clearly, this woman's case is different.
Jail in France would be too kind. Let her work her way back - help rebuild the lives and communities she helped destroy. Sweep dust in Raqqa. Raise orphans. Clean the homes of families she helped break. If she's truly remorseful she should pay her dues - not be given a "get out of ISIS free" card.
Justice usually requires a certain amount of penance. For her, it would seem that penance is going to be quite a bit. If she's willing to do the good work to balance the scales, give her a chance I guess. Impossible things do happen. Extraordinary people do make up for their past. We consider this noble when this happens. But it begins and ends with a lot of hard work. She's young. She's got a lot of time to make up for what she's done.
10
How do we know she is who she claims to be? She can be a he under that cloak. Assuming nobody saw her face outside her immediate family so can French people be sure about the identity of this person.
5
She is a professional provocateur, and so is now provoking again - testing, in bad faith, the traditions and values that, had she not joined a murderous gang in ISIS, would have kept her safe in a free country whose liberty includes religious freedom. She renounced the principles of a liberal democracy. She traded egalitarianism for a warped and twisted reading of Islam and she persecuted anyone who didn't agree with her and denied the freedom of anyone who didn't subscribe to extremism. France is in a quandary, and she knows exactly what that quandary entails - acting against the very foundation of a free society and the rule of law, or protecting its citizenry from a future crime. In democratic societies, one cannot be punished for a crime not yet committed, and France has no jurisdiction over crimes committed in other sovereign states. So what does France do? Live according to the rules that protect a free society or bend the law negating the cornerstone of it's own democracy? Either way- a terrorist is dictating the terms.
8
Any way you look at it -- morally, legally, economically -- this willing terrorist should never be permitted to return to France. Period. As for the children she bore while in Syria, perhaps France would agree to accept them on the condition that foster-care be pre-arranged or they become wards of the state.
5
This reminds me of the old story "The Man Without a Country" by Edward Hale. She betrayed France gamboling she was in the right. Proven wrong and captured she now realizes her mistake and wishes to make amends. But she must surely know she is a very dangerous person. How to reconcile her desires with those of France who would probably be better off without her and her big mouth and would like a little peace and tranquility.
3
She should be tried and given a life sentence. It is hard to trust people like her.
6
Absolutely not!
While not condemning, our passing judgement on, her reasonings, she has demonstrates a willingness to embrace violence for a cause — which is none other than ISIS, a self-declared enemy of the United States, and more generally of modernism since the AD 700. What a fiasco — and breach of security — it would be to allow her back in!
4
So after her side lost and she was captured, she wants forgiveness and the right to return home. Best to let the locals where she is prisoner take care of it.
9
She’s only remorseful because her side lost the war. When ISIS was winning she was actively recruiting other women to join her in Waging war against the West.
Clemency for her is a life sentence in jail. I would keep her and other ISIS thugs in Syria and let Assad punish them.
9
Polluter liability: France gave that woman a passport and unleashed her onto Syria, so France has to take her back.
This woman has committed one of the greatest crimes against her country. She has committed treason. She is a traitor. It is common for these people to want to return to the comforts of their home countries after participating in terrorist activities and fighting in foreign wars. I am afraid I have no sympathy for her plight. I respect the right of countries to revoke the passports of individuals who fight for terrorist groups against their country and their country's laws.
9
Ms. Rubin, the writer of this article, is asking the audience if she can go home, and that of course is a complex legal question. Most of us who hear this story have no sympathy for the narcissistic behavior of the subject. She espouses murder, and must therefore be considered a murderess, or at least an accessory before and after the fact. We are all sorry she did not achieve her ambition, which was apparently to find some creepy man to help her achieve her histrionic nightmare, but no one really wants to place their children and home at risk in order to wrap this tawdry dangerously vain woman in the warm blanket of some ideal, but unfocused, version of “forgiveness”.
4
If she's a natural born French citizen who did not relinquish her French citizenship and replace it with something else then it would be appropriate to let her back in. If she broke laws she should be prosecuted. Is losing your mind a violation of law?
1
She didn't loser her mind. As an adult she made a choice to betray her nation and its ideals for the questionable embrace of the most violent, perverted, hateful, evil group on Earth. She would eagerly be there still had it not been for our crushing of Isis and her capture. Why should France do anything but let her rot in place? She would pose an unacceptable threat if permitted to return. Even in a French prison she would be a threat in terms of converting and radicalizing her fellow prisoners.
2
"Is losing your mind a violation of law?"
Respectfully, please stay focused. Every discussion doesn't have to be about Trump. :~)
1
"Many, like Ms. König,...and are now being held in prison camps in the area of Syria controlled by the Syrian Kurds."
"The Kurdish region of Syria, where Ms. König said she was being held in a video released Monday, is a legal gray area. The Kurds administer justice and carry out many government functions, but as a matter of international law the region is still part of Syria — albeit a self-governing one — and not recognized by France or any other country."
it's sounds like a bigger issue than ms. könig and france. in addition, it involves at least the syrian provinces, turkey and iraq.
a 2 or 3 or 4 state solution?
My first reaction was to take Emilie's plea for forgiveness with a mountain of salt. But then again... think about it! We all have done things in our lives that we would not repeat ever again. If each of us was to remain eternally unforgiven for mistakes, we would all lose faith in humanity and ourselves.
If the French authorities are so afraid of this girl, they can put her under surveillance. If that's too much trouble, they are probably not all that concerned either.
1
We have done things we would not repeat? What, like saying something hurtful or having waaay too much cake and getting sick? Pretty different from being a murderer and terrorist.
2
"But, your honor, I only murdered that one person and I'll never, ever do it again so can't you please just let me go free? You can always spend taxpayer dollars keeping me under 24/7 surveillance for the rest of my life if you're worried about what I might do." Yes, we've all done things we would not do again but that doesn't obviate our responsibility for having done the thing we regret.
2
It is actually pretty amazing that Ms. Konig has the nerve to ask to return -- or maybe not.
In any case, my guess is that the European countries would prefer to admit the children of these women but prefer that the women themselves stay far, far away.
There is no mention that Ms. Konig has had a change of heart about her beliefs, only a desire to come back to France because where she is isn't safe for her anymore. She can only be a danger to France.
6
The legal grey area, taken together with the apparent ease with which one can travel abroad and become a combatant in another country's war, suggests to me that the real solution lies, not in case by case evaluation of the individuals, but in bringing into law real legal consequences for such actions, and the removal of said grey area.
2
Yes, she can be forgiven but only after she compensates for her previous behaviour and decisions. She must prove that she understands the consequences of her choices and that she must now earn back the trust to rejoin her French compatriots. Denying her this opportunity would make us no different than her Isil friends but the emphasis here must be on her working very hard to prove that she deserves the right to be forgiven.
If she were welcomed back home, couldn't she then travel anywhere within the EU? That France is even considering her request makes Britain's decision to leave the EU understandable.
9
While in some romantic novel twist of a plot Ms Konig could return to the fold, apply her hard learned experiences to help naive, less experienced people to disentangle the reality of life from the narcotic of Islamic terrorism, it's not worth it. Even a singular success with her individual case is not sufficient to allow such people to re-enter the secular world they once scorned.
France should just say "non."
3
Let's be honest, there are certainly countries with flawed justice systems, but absolutely no one doubts her guilt. And it's just not that hard to deal with a confession, written evidence, and video evidence, all produced by the criminal. The charges may vary, but no matter where she goes on trial, they'll conclude she was a terrorist.
2
There are many dangers at having her back in France:
1- France alone would not have access to the entire info at how many people she killed and helped to kill. The scope is too large and also answers to international laws. The trial would therefore not be fair to all the victims.
2- Once in prison, she would be working on other prisoners and make them terrorists, as prisons are the best place to do so in France. She would have to be in strict confinement, which would cost a lot of money to the society, this very same society she wants to destroy.
How about the International Criminal Court in The Hague for all these people, and let them answer of crime against humanity? That would be the closest thing to a fair trial, and might help us understanding what happened there EXACTLY.
4
If the Kurds keep them, it will only cause them more problems; we owe it to the Kurdish people to take them back if they ask that we do. Concerning these 'repentant' people, they should be given a fair trial. Concerning their children we need to take care of them. Period. This is no time for 'eye for eye' especially from people who did not live the situation. As French, we need to take the high road here.
1
As a French woman I completely disagree: she wasn't one those of misguided teens but a full grown woman who knowingly chose to betray her country, abandon that same family she now remembers, helped recruitment efforts and worse. If not the Kurds, she should be subjected to La Haye international court. It's not a matter of "eye for an eye" but seeking Justice against someone complicit of crimes against humanity ( international terrorism and its apology, civilian massacre, torture, sexual slavery, genocide... ) France can provide any lawyer or court expert to make sure they get a fair trial in the counrty they helped to lay waste upon. Her children, as innocent victims of her actions will be taken care of, it's dishonnest to even think they won't. I'm aware she hasn't been charged yet but honnestly the video eveidence is pretty damning. I'm extremely sorry for her mother and family but..." comme on fait son lit, on se couche".
1
My recollection is that French law provides that it can prosecute French citizens for criminal acts committed outside France (it's a flip side of France's restriction on extradition of French citizens.)
The Kurds and the Iraqis are in a quandary - by their standards many of the westerners arrested committed crimes that, for Iraqis would attract the death penalty, and did so flagrantly, boasting of it - but they do not want to be seen to execute western citizens, including US, UK, Australian, British, French, etc. They also do not want to have to house these individuals longterm as prisoners, affording them what the west would see as decent prison conditions, but locals, many living in refugee camps as a result of their actions as luxury, but fear criticism if they treat them as they tread [mostly poorly] Arab prisoners.
Overall, they'd rather western countries dealt with the problem. But the prisoners home countries are dubious about the admissibility of the evidence that they can obtain, their ability to deny the prisoners bail, and the nature of the convictions that they can obtain. More significantly, western countries, particularly France, are concerned that many of their home grown terrorists were radicalised in prison - the last thing they want is more proselytising extremists in those prisons.
It's quite a conundrum.
2
Her return to Europe should include a stop at the Hague for a trial at the International Criminal Court. From what I've seen and read, the war crimes committed by these extremists were severe and all who participated should be fairly held to account for their part in this so called movement.
4
This young woman has been accused of crimes against her country and the rest of humanity, but she has not been charged and convicted of any crime. First things first. Charge her. If she's convicted, sentence her appropriately. There's a lot of noise in here, but not much light.
1
When crimes are admitted and recorded on video - to pretend like there's some chance she is innocent is a foolish pretense.
1
So, the question of whether to welcome this ISIS fighter home turns out to be a difficult one for French society. Really? Well, that tells me everything I need to know about French society and any ambition it might have to protect its children.
2
I'm generally liberal but I say NO, don't let her come back. She lost the right to be a European citizen.
4
Article 113 of the French Criminal Code Provides:
"French criminal law is applicable to any felony committed by a French national outside the territory of the French Republic. It is applicable to misdemeanours committed by French nationals outside the territory of the French Republic if the
conduct is punishable under the legislation of the country in which it was committed. The present article applies even if the offender has acquired French nationality after the commission of the offence of which he is accused."
Thus, in principle, this woman could be charged and convicted of criminal acts in Syria and Iraq were she to return to France. However, in practice, in these cases criminal proceedings can only be initiated by a public prosecutor following a complaint by the victim or their legal successors - so the families of actual victims would have to make a complaint, assuming that they are alive.
2
Most readers agree there is no good reason to let this woman come back to France. I can't agree more with them. She made her decision as an adult and she should bear the consequences. What most readers seem not to know is that should France let her come back and even put her in jail she could well keep on operating as a terrorist, even worse she could work to radicalize others. This is a big issue in French prisons, a lot of the terrorist are made there.
6
Let's be clear, NYTimes. Its not that she wants to return to France, it's that she doesn't want to face the consequences of being captured during ISIS's defeat.
She was captured as a true believer and there's no indication she isn't still one. Now she's just looking for a more lenient treatment, since she's been caught.
If ISIS was still ascendant, she'd still be sending people to be flogged or killed (BTW, she served in a police force that sent people to be killed for not adhering to ISIS's disgusting rules).
9
Isn’t it good for the future to let her back so that we can find out why did she go to fight in Syria in the first place? Simplistic outbursts of ‘leave her out there’ is just shortsighted. Coalition aerial bombing killed nearly 8,000 civilians in Syria; shouldn’t this crime be also punished. Victors never pay a price
If she goes home she should go to jail. She ditched her country. She needs to pay for her actions. If France really doesn’t want her executed, they need to make a rational and humane decision. Her children are French citizens and can’t sit in a prison camp. France either pays to jail her for life or decides how to punish her and to determine how/if she can be rehabilitated and reintegrated. The kids are innocent. She put them in a terrible position. We don’t need another generation of ISIS fighters. These women need to be dealt with rationally and humanely.
Why not render them stateless. Then Saudi Arabia could take them as refugees.
2
Every immigrant story is presented in this paper as equally awful, bad, and heartbreaking but in this instance it’s a “former” terrorist. The French have had their hands full for years with domestic terrorism, why should they let this person back in? I’ve known a lot of former smokers who caved when given the opportunity.
As we say in my family, Life is about choices.
Looks like she’s regretting a few of hers.
1
Remember the little word that was learned at age 18 months - "NO".
2
Read "The Man Without a Country." The damage that this woman, and all those foreign nationals who did similarly, cannot be measured. How many deaths, how much destruction, did she encourage, engender and embrace? She abandoned the rule of Western law. As cruel as what I now say may be, let her now endure what she embraced and come to realize for herself what she created for so many others who were innocents.
3
Potentially, French government has a golden opportunity to almost destroy ISIS from within: let's take on board that once a criminal always a criminal - ISIS is no more no less than a criminal gang of extremely violent assassins, robbers, rapists, criminal fanatics that use religion to justify their unlawful acts - . Do you possibly think that being imprisoned, once she gets caught, will re-educate any member of any underworld gang? Unlikely. Almost always doing time is seen within criminal organizations as the "degree" one has to obtain in order to be accepted as full member of any gang. Snitching on your bosses, on ISIS top brass, would be the only chance this terrorist may have to negotiate any concession French government might be prepared to grant and possibly use her as wedge to get more precious info on how ISIS works, and by doing so erase their horrible presence the world over for a significant amount of time.
1
Her family has forgiven her, good for them, but she doesn't seem to have changed her extreme beliefs and now wants to come back to, what, wear her abaya again, feel scorned once more, igniting her desire to teach the heretics a lesson, forget it! She has proved herself to be dangerous to others and nothing indicates she has changed, I say, crazy to let her back and in fact lucky to have gotten rid of her.
2
If countries cant prosecute terrorists and war criminals and even consider letting them back in the country then the rule of law no longer means anything. The legal system is broken. People need to be safe, these people are war criminals and deserve to be executed without exception. I don't care age, reason, or past circumstances when it is beyond any question that an individual aided organizations such as ISIS they should forfeit citizenship and all legal rights. This is not a mistake you can turn back on. Common sense needs to return to governing.
1
Europe may need to constitute a war crimes tribunal to deal with the atrocities committed by European citizens in the name of ISIS. The victims of their crimes certainly should have a voice in how these people are tried.
Another “blame the man” sidekick. Father left when she had been two-year old, yet he is painted as responsible for her upbringing. There is no word about mother and others who, apparently, forged her life overnight next 25 years. Get real!
France has to pay for the colonialism, so let it handle its debts. Poland and Hungry did not ever have colonies-they have the right to invite only the ones they trust to be good future citizens.
1
She had plenty of opportunities to return to France ... how about after The Charlie Hebdo attack, the Bataclan attack (and all the others that sad day) and the Nice truck attack... Had she expressed outrage and regret at those points when her innocent countrymen were brutally massacred and wanted to return perhaps I could have been swayed. But now after ISIS is in tatters no way!
2
One thing this story doesn't even attempt to make clear is why Ms König wants to return to France, a nation that (still) seems inimical to her outlook. Has she had a change of heart, does she now embrace the values of Western society, good and bad?
3
She was born in France and the French citizenship is the only one she has, it is not possible to take it away from her.
As a long time recruiter for ISIS, she is at least accomplice of the numerous terrorist attacks perpetrated in France since she left in 2012, that is enough to spend couple of decades in jail. And the babies will have a better life with their grandma in Brittany than in Syria.
1
She made a decision to renounce France when she left for IS. Considering some European countries have hit lists for their citizens in Syria who joined ISIS, she should be happy she is still alive. At best, she could send her children back to France for adoption.
She should never be permitted to return to France. She should be tried and punished where she committed her crimes.
5
There should be an international effort to place these people in a a prison run by an international coalition. They should be imprisoned for life.
They're not fixable. This one in particular, as a propagandist, contributed ISIS's burning people alive, etc.
She left her own two children to join ISIS. The people who ran off to join ISIS are too unstable to be allowed to roam free ever again.
3
Sorry, but zero sympathy for her. She doesn’t deserve any help.
3
If she is allowed back it should be on some sort of strict probationary rules and she should do community service if some sort, ideally trying to rehumanize islamic militants. She certainly needs to be kept track of and probably banned from access to the internet.
The answer here is simple...she has forfeited her chance to return
2
I guess when you're looking at life in a Syrian prison, jihad doesn't look so cool anymore and you beg for forgiveness. Why would France take her back? When she wasn't spreading terror in Syria, Ms. Konig was working to rain murder down on the heads of French citizens and other westerners.
If Macron takes her back and she goes to jail, she'll be a burden to the French court and penal system. In French jails she'll be a recruiter for ISIS, creating just what France doesn't need - more homegrown terrorists.
If freed in France, she'll be a burden to the security agencies who will need to monitor her 24/7. She'll always be a burden to French taxpayers.
Let her rot in Raqqa. Her French children, which she abandoned, are better off with out her. France and Europe are as well.
3
What did she think? That she was signing up for Club Med?
4
She belongs in that section of the world, not in Europe. May be they can send her children out to her and she can raise them according to the values in which she believes.
1
No, she can never be forgiven. The only way she should be allowed to return is for a life in prison - given that France does not use the death penalty.
2
This story poses an enraging question. These people organized horrific massacres of innocent people in France. She is an enemy combatant, and should be treated like one. Daesh declared itself a caliphate - she became a citizen of another country. By default, she is no longer a citizen of France. Her application to come to France should be treated in competition with thousands of others, and assessed based on the security of France.
3
i always feel empathy for the young....but she left her kids to pursue her 'hobby'....
hard to feel sorry for her....
This, I would imagine, is a purely legal issue based on what is stated in French law. It needs to be of no interest to Americans. Would I favor granting her a visa to come here, even as a visitor. Absolutely no!
1
This is an interesting situation. Ms Koning should be prosecuted for the countless damage she has done in France (by disseminating propaganda that would turn out to be a very painful and deadly lie) and in Syria, where she was obviously complicit with IS. That would be enough to warrant not one but a few death sentences in many parts of the world.
However there are a few arguments that should be considered on why she should be repatriated in some form:
1)France (and any other self-respecting European nation) cannot afford to delegate justice to a government that has no recognition (the Kurds) or to an assassin like Mr Assad and Syria.
2)Repatriating an IS Propaganda could be a very useful weapon in the war on future war terror. These people could make amends by dedicating their whole life explaining to young people how they lied and brought strife to families in Europe and in Syria. I could accept that sort of punishment (at least 10-20 years would do the trick)
31
How is allowing Kurdish or Syrian forces to judge Ms Koning any different from allowing any other country to do the same?
1) would actually be an easy way out. Sure, France can't agree to let French citizens be tried by NK, Russia, or other rogue states, but agreements with foreign entities could be signed to allow for French citizens to be tried for war crimes, with the foreign affairs and/or justice ministries' express, case-by-case consent. The opposition to capital punishment is nice and noble, but war criminals intent on killing compatriots aren't the same deal as a one-time killer acting on a one-time instinct.
2) French prisons have a rather ample muslim population (estimates top 50% vs 10% of the general population), and they've become efficient radicalization centers. I'm not sure her presence there would have a positive effect on her or her fellow inmates.
Also, whatever she "regrets" likely has more to do with her being caught than than any actual change of mind. They are taught to be manipulative, and they tend to justify their behavior with perceived victimhood. No surprise she explains she left because of alleged harassment; that argument is very popular with other minority groups as well, and is likely to garner the sympathy she needs to make her case.
Contrary to the majority of French collaborators during WWII, she isn't an opportunist who thought she was joining the winning side. Those people could be turned around, because they hadn't fully embraced Nazi ideology. This type of person IS the ideology, and her turncoat move is likely nothing but opportunistic
3
By pledging allegiance to ISIL, Ms König might have renounced her birthright tacitly, irrespective of the French laws. At the same time, she did not try to escape subsequent to her venture, as this column has implied, either she was captured or she surrendered at the fall of ISIL.
While her childhood may be terrible and the treatment she received after her conversion awful, they cannot wash away the culpability of aiding and participating in a terrorist movement like ISIL. She was a grown woman when she chose to go to Syria. This is far worse than the German soldiers claiming to be following orders when they committed atrocities in WWII.
Finally, she did not explicit renounce her allegiance. For all the audience know, she chooses to go back to France because it is far better than being held by the Kurds. It is a good bet the Kurds prefer her to return to France too. As for France, indeed it is a dilemma. Does she really want a ticking time bomb stowed in her own border?
20
She made her choice, and it was to support ISIL. No doubt, had ISIL been victorious, she would have been among those cheering for its leaders without any thought of leaving. Now, all of a sudden she has changed her mind. I would not trust her to have been so brain-washed as to be planning to commit crimes in the name of that fake brand of Islam she wanted to serve. She should NOT be permitted to return to France, but to face whatever is decided for her in Syria, and no place else. She represents a danger to France and its citizens, together with all those others who are now demanding repatriation.
Considering the details given by other commenters, she definitely does not have my sympathy, so matter how she maintaions she has made a mistake, a bad decision. As has been said, she is an adult, and being an adult means to make decisions and accept their consequences, and not to manipulate people into feeling sorry for her as is the method used by children.
1
After WWII, Nazi war criminals were categorized (into something like leaders and followers) and dealt with according to the law then, even today. They were often captured and repatriated to Germany, or Israel. Maybe good and fair practice should just be continued as is. The law still stands.
1
French media are overwhelmingly opposed to her return. How refreshing to see a non-politically correct national response embraced on the grounds of national security in a country that knows far more about terrorism than does the US. By the way, the NYT conveniently omitted Ms. Konïg’s role as an ISIS warrior. She actively participated in the women’s brigade that polices conduct and clothing. She personally flogged women and turned them over to death squads for not living up to ISIS standards. Shame on the NYT for omitting all the facts in an effort to generate sympathy for Ms. Konïg.
261
There’s no way to spin in it.
2
Can I second your comment? I almost choked after reading this:
"After she began covering herself from head to toe in a black abaya and veil, she felt so scorned in France that she left her two small children to go to Syria, eventually becoming a prominent propagandist and recruiter for the Islamic State."
The author probably meant to write: she said she felt so scorned...and then what to make of: "eventually becoming", suggesting doubt as to the protagonist role while in Syria.
Vous avez dit bizarre, j'ai dit bizarre!
1
SW, thank you for the info about this terrorist's role as an ISIS warrior who flogged women and turned them over to death squads, info that the NYT conveniently omitted. If this article was supposed to make me feel sad about the possible fate awaiting this terrorist, it failed to do so. She abandoned her children to become a terrorist. She became a traitor to her country. She should spend the rest of her life behind bars and that would be the best thing for her children, for France and the rest of the world.
3
Sure she can, and go straight to jail.
114
The problem is, in France she would be out of jail in very little time.
1
Which she would then use as a platform to recruit other inmates into her twisted view of the world? No thank you.
1
Seems to me as if she all but rescinded her French citizenship.
Why she should suppose she should have any right to come back is an open question, though it probably has different answers depending on whether from a legal or societal angle.
173
Citizenship cannot, in my opinion, be rescinded. In the US constitution there is no provision for such a thing.
1
Well yes, but like the US, France is a country of laws ... she needs to be legally found to have renounced her citizenship, and that is in fact, both for France and the US, actually pretty hard to do (especially for a notional state like ISIS.) If she has not in fact renounced her citizenship, then the French have a problem, she is a French Citizen and entitled to live (and be in jail) in France.
4
Renounced.
You make your bed, you lie in it. The fact that she is a pretty young lady makes absolutely no difference. She has proven herself to be a danger to society.
The French state should consider that first and foremost. What must it do to protect the French citizenry? Here are a range of choices. Which is chosen should be decided on a case by case basis.
1. ban them from re-entering France.
2. prosecute them upon re-entry, for crimes committed elsewhere.
3. Allow them to come back and attempt to re-educate them. But keep society safe from them until the danger is absolutely determined to be eliminated. If that means a lifetime of surveillance so be it.
4. If they have completely abandoned in every way the ideology that made them sympathetic to ISIS, then perhaps they can be re-integrated into society and perhaps even be used for counter-propaganda purposes. Perhaps they could even save some potential new IS recruits from falling into the trap.
The State owes it FIRST responsibility to its law-abiding citizens, NOT to women such as Konig.
In many cases, I favor option 1 above. They are adults. They made their decisions. Society has no duty to try to reintegrate them and a great deal to lose by risking the effort.
245
“The State owes it FIRST responsibility to its law-abiding citizens...”
Indeed it does. Why is this common sense duty in every sovereign nation so hated at present in the US?
26
Because the President's Oath of Office says something completely different?
SW, so true, every nation is allowed to put themselves first except the US. When the US does so it's nationalism, racism, xenophophia and on and on. And that is how Trump got elected. This is just the beginning of the backlash against liberalism and far-leftist blah-blah-blah.
So she decided she wanted to join an illegal gang which commits murder, kidnapping, etc, etc to support their murders, kidnappings, etc, etc? Now she has decided she does not want to do that anymore because
147
... because she found herself on the losing side.
2
I find it rather predictable and arrogant of Western governments to have no issue sending money and arms into the war zone, but be reluctant to accept their citizens or refugees. Without the Western weapons and money, there wouldn't have been the scale of civil war that was experienced there.
Weapons manufacturers in Europe and the US profited handsomely from that war, they should be required to shoulder some of the cost. It is unfortunately yet another sad example of privatising the profits while socialising the costs of war.
After WWII, German prisoners of war had to spend 5 years rebuilding the countries they destroyed. Should not the same apply here? Afterwards, with time served rebuilding Syria and Iraq, they should be given the ability to return to France.
48
While I completely agree with you that it’s hypocritical of the US and European countries who have provided arms, and, in the US’s case, invaded and occupied a country, to simply leave it to the Kurds to deal with their citizens, I would suggest you include your own country. New Zealand has over 250 weapons companies and they’re all involved in weapons sales. Pot meet kettle!
1
You confuse arms manufactuers and dealers with citizens who want nothing to do with those who willingly and knowingly took up arms to support a movement that brought devastation to Syria and France. What good could they possibly be for France?
1
Western government may be hypocritcal for refusing unlimited entry of millions of migrants (most of whom do not come from Syria or Iraq), but the comparison between captured German soldiers in WWII and violent Islamists today does not hold water because Germany was definitively defeated in 1945 whereas Daesh and al-qaeda remain a dynamic and growing threat! ALL the captured Islamists in Syria and Iraq now claim they have renounced their evil ways but the recent terrorist attacks in France were largely led by people who had earlier trained and fought in those countries. The returning terrorists represent a huge threat today!!!
2
Rock 'n roll icon Buddy Holly once penned the lyrics: "We'll say we're through and you won't matter anymore." He was referring to a girlfriend who dumped him. The lyrics still ring true; this time it's ISIS members who shouldn't matter anymore. They're now whining "I'm bored of this. I want to return home now." Under no circumstances should these volunteer terrorists, who "dumped" their countries for the glamorous life of an ISIS terrorist, be allowed back without war-crime punishment. But not all countries agree. Look at Canada. Its playboy style prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose international claim-to-fame is appearing on the cover of the 'Rolling Stone' (no, he didn't send five copies to his mother), is focusing more on "reintegration" of Canadian ISIS members, than admitting we are dealing with terrorists. A vast swath of us Canadians consider his bleeding-heart approach is a knee to the groin. We're on the hook for costs incurred during this reintegration process of welcoming back "our" war criminals. About 180 Canadians have joined terrorist groups and authorities have rightly expressed grave concern over allowing these self-ordained terrorists re-entry. But poster-boy Trudeau maintains there's no danger. Many of us believe his mindset is "home is where the heart is." Canadians are a friendly, polite bunch, known to say "thanks" to an ATM. But Mr. Trudeau's ATM can't buy-out Canadians believing a serious threat to national security looms. We don't matter anymore.
96
At least Trudeau was smart enough to ban single male refugees. Such a policy would be unheard of in the US.
19
Richard, thanks for the info about the 180 Canadians who have joined terrorist groups. I had not heard or read about that and I was wondering why because I am aware that Canada took in a number of Muslim immigrants.
On a personal level, Canadians matter to us. You are our very nice neighbors and hosts when we visit, as well as friends. In the days after September 11, 2001, I remember reading that so many Canadians had put American flags outside their homes in solidarity with us. That is not forgotten.
1
Thank you Olivia for your kind remarks. Yes, Canada did indeed take in Syrian refugees - several, several thousand to be exact., which did not sit well with many Canadians. Trudeau's objective is to take in a whopping one million immigrants over the course of three years.
And on a personal level, I have found our neighbors to the south are a great bunch. Whenever my wife and I are travelling, especially through the Rocky Mountains, and we see American licence plates at the gas pumps, I always walk over, shake their hands, and wish them the best while travelling in our country.
1
"Unlikely to be much sympathy" is the understated phrase of the year. This woman was not a child. She was an adult. In multiple ways that are undoubtedly difficult to trace with any exactitude, she was individually responsible for the torture and death of several of those courageous enough to resist the ISIS monstrosity she so warmly praised in her propaganda role.
She should not, in a million years, be pardoned. It's France's choice to take her back or not, of course, but if they do, justice cries out for her to be tried and sentenced to at least a decade--maybe two--in prison.
A better response to her plea to be forgiven and taken back would be for France to accept a couple of dozen refugees yearning for the freedom of the West in her stead, and leave her to the fate she so vigorously earned for herself.
233
So, what about the kids?
Let's all remember, and never forget: ISIS/Daesch committed genocide while they terrorized northern Iraq and Syria. The Yazidi people were nearly annihilated, as well as fellow Muslims who were deemed worthy of death because they were of a different sect. Crimes against humanity, plain and clear. She deserves no re-patriation. She must fend for herself where she is.
4
Bring the kids back. Let the adults do prison time and combine with an evidence based approach to reeducation. She has to be willing tho.
Of course she wants to come "home" - the Kurds want to judge her there themselves.
72
Let them do what they want with her.
2
I am sure the Kurds will show her more mercy than ISIS showed the Kurds.
1
I do not think that protecting the rights of its citizens should include France entering into a suicide pact. I think that there are some crimes which are unforgivable and aligning herself with a private murderous religious army is one of them.
She made a choice and she should have to live with it.
376
In a just world, most of these women, who are remorseful only in defeat, would be shot.
Alas, life sentences are the best we can hope for. Remember, if ISIS was still winning, they’d still be waving black flags.
285
Really! Talk about hedging your bet!
Since she is a citizen, the French should let her return and then try her for terroristic activities, with lifetime parole a condition of any plea bargain. The state could also deem her an unfit mother and remand her children to a relative or foster care. It's not ideal, but unless they can find a way to strip her citizenship and her children's, they're stuck with her.
19
Why should she be allowed to come back to France?
She has acted like a traitor to her own country and its basic tenants of liberty, equality, fraternity.
She does not deserve France and, unless she disavows her beliefs and is willing to do prison time in reparation, remains in the eyes of many "a monster."
313
"She has acted like a traitor to her own country and its basic TENANTS of liberty, equality, fraternity." TENANTS? Renting on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly payment plan?
Oh, don't worry, she will disavow her "beliefs" and maybe even do prison time, but the publicly funded associations in France will insist that she be freed so that she can, at last, tend to her children. Sickening.
1
There should be no quandary for France or any other country. When she willfully joined a killing, murdering machine, there is simply no going back. She went voluntarily went to the dark side. Now she can stay there forever. Just thinking about the murdered French should make the task easy and irrevocable.
201
It's difficult to know what to make of this.
I can understand people getting caught up in movements for all The wrong reasons.
On the other hand , to join a band of murderous thugs because you feel victimized is difficult to accept.
Perhaps she was truly blindsided who knows.
IN any event the children should not suffer for their mother's crimes. She probably realized that ISIS treats women as slaves and sex objects although one wonders why she didn't see it before.
13
She was a propagandist for ISIS, which means she held a privileged position. And if she saw what a horror ISIS was for other women, it didn’t stop her from supporting the organization.
1
Perhaps it makes sense to treat her, and others like her, as a prisoners of war, and detain them until the end of the conflict?
9
The fight with radical Islamists appears to be a never-ending conflict, so she will be in jail for the rest of her life, which should not be any problem at all. I see no quandary here for France. Treat her as the enemy combatant that she is.
The “conflict” will never end until the myth of religion ends.
There might be legal reasons for allowing her to return. But not moral reasons.
33
There is one. Like others, she called for and potentially helped orchestrate the terrorist attacks in France.
Her vicitms deserve to see her tried for that.
She should be prosecuted in the country where she no doubt committed or aided and abetted horrific acts during war. This is standard, long established policy. She was there by choice and now faces responsibility for her actions. Why should this case or any other involving foreign fighters in Syria be any different?
91
In our country, to fight for a foreign government against the U.S. is to automatically renounce one’s citizenship.
97
ISIS is not a foreign country / government that is recognized by any world bodies - it is a terror group and if you were a US citizen fighting for it, you would not lose your citizenship - you'd be put on trial in a court of law, as you'd expect.
1
I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that because France was involved in forming the coalition against ISIS and was actively engaged in the war, this woman would lose her citizenship by becoming an enemy combatant. Does this not trigger the loss of her French citizenship? She is an enemy combatant, no longer a French citizen. Her children, if born in Syria, were born to someone who was no longer a French citizen; they therefore have no claim to French citizenship.
France may decide to take her back, either out of compassion or to prosecute her, but surely she has forfeited any right to return.
174
Her children are French. She left them behind in France when she went to join IS.
1
Unfortunately no, we can not make a stateless person, the international law forbid it. The French Republic won't take her off her nationality. on the other hand, it can give her up at her plight. And sincerly, it is well my wish.
1
I don't understand why this is such a difficult case, except for the politics. She is entitled to a trial in France if she's suspected of committing crimes, unless her citizenship has been revoked. It should be a legal question and not a political one.
9
Except for the politics it's all politics.
why not let them return with the knowledge that a prison term is part of the repatriation process. lets be real with these misplaced and defeated soldiers.
11
Because states can't seem to run prison systems, that's often where radicalization and turning towards a hardcore life of crime form. It would be better for many who are not actively violent to be digitally monitored where they live.
1
“Decisions on allowing women and children to return from Iraq and Syria would be made on a case by case basis”
Why should women be singled out for clemency? While the fight for equality goes on, we still treat women on another level like the fragile creatures that the Victorians made them out to be.
If we are to have equal treatment for women in the workplace, then we need equal treatment under the law, and equal punishment for equal crimes. Anything else would be a travesty and an insult to women.
133
The only reason I can think of is if one thinks that the treatment she would get in Kurdish Syria would be inequitable, so that a female prisoner would actually be worse off than a male prisoner there. But I still am inclined to think that she made her bed, she gets to lie in it . She was fighting for an inequitable society which does not respect women's rights, so it's a little rich for her to now demand a right to be tried in a liberal western democracy. That sort of inequity was just what she was fighting for: now she gets to see the consequences.
3
I agree. It is completely hypocritical. If women want equal rights then they have to accept the good and the bad that comes with that equality.
2
This is certainly an interesting test of French values and justice. Considering the harm inflicted by ISIS on their soil, it would be tempting to reject her appeal to return to France unless the French desire to extradite her for trial. It's tempting to simply leave her to whatever justice she will be subjected to in Syria.
19
Re: “At other moments she speaks like a committed Islamist, using the word Allah in every other sentence.”
Saying “Allah” often does not indicate violent intentions. Religious adherence is not a crime. There are many Muslims who frequently use Arabic expressions for things like “thank God” and “God willing.” I am disappointed that the author has chosen to equate such speech patterns with violent behavior.
17
The NYT omitted printing her violent conduct for some reason. This is why even reputable MSM can’t be used as as the sole source of 8nformation anymore. People form opinions based solely on what they read in these pages, and well...we know how that played out with the election coverage last year. Read the French press to learn of the violent conduct this woman engaged in.
19
Reporter did not equate saying “Allah” with violence or advocating violence. She brought it up as a marker of this defector-from-ISIS’s immersion in religiously-oriented thought, as if she cannot see the events of her life in anything but a religious context.
1
When you're dealing with a proven terrorist, perhaps the phrase has different intentions.
2
I would rather take a hundred victims of the islamic state, the widows and orphans, than one of her. The victims deserve our empathy, not her.
She should stay there and face the horrors that she and her fellow extremists have inflicted. Let her clean up the cities, identify and bury the people from the mass-graves. Let her build up the Yazidi-town, rebuild the cultural heritage of this area. Let her for the rest of her life undo the damage she has brought upon the people.
550
Stay there? Whose responsibility do you suppose she should be? The people in Syria fought ISIS, they don't want these Europeans and their children.
1
We need a way to strip these people of their citizenship when they do things like this.
And her new child is barely French. It’s father most definitely wasn’t, and when she gave birth she wasn’t French either beyond a legacy of having been born there, and she chose to abandon her French children long ago.
And for those of us in the United States, perhaps stories like this should spark action on our part. For instance, several Somali immigrants to this country, among others, have since left the county to fight for ISIS. Why not formally declare them traitors and war criminals and take away their citizenship?
This was a fascinating read. I wonder how many are going to feel sorry for her, and feel like France should re-admit her. And I wonder too what kind of message does it send to prospective Jihadis if they know they can play war criminal for a few years and be forgiven and allowed reentry when they lose or lose interest. For that reason too it’s probably a good idea to turn her away.
58
No please no. We don’t need that here. When you pledge allegiance, you make a choice. She made her choice, we should make ours.
30
I would never take them back. They made their choice, how can the be seen as citizens any longer of any decent country when they pledged their allegiance to rapists, terrorists and thugs who made a reputation by cutting off the heads of innocent people?
It's a pity for their kids, to be sure - but that is the sad reality of the world - we each start out with a bonus or handicap depending on where our parents lived when we were born. Before I'd take those children in, out of sympathy, I'd take in those of blameless parents living in horrible places. I'm far more sympathetic to them.
40
This young woman made some very bad choices. but she made them freely and needs to suffer the consequences. France does have a problem, because she is a citizen, but she clearly was involved in terrorism..how that should be prosecuted and what the penalties are remains to be determined. However, she shouldn't think she can just say "oh, never mind..sorry about that" when she supported an evil and murderous cult. She has some culpability.
25
Honestly? Does she regret what she did? I don't think so. She should go live with her preferred gang. Adieu.
33
Time to take responsibility for your actions.
23
Fair enough! That’ s why western countries should take their terrorists back home and not let poorer countries like Irak or Syria pay for their custody.
1
I guess Marx was right in asserting the religion is an opiate for the people. This person has really allowed her life to get messed up. Is the only answer that she planned to die and go to heaven? Was it an emotional high generated from a sense of superiority?
11
I think this is complicated but in my opinion is France takes her back, she should go to jail because she broke the law by joining ISIS. Plus, I think of how many people she allure to the ISIS campaign by posting propaganda. One think is religious freedom and another thing is to abuse that freedom to support terrorist groups that had hurt some many people.
12
She should be considered as having renounced her French and European citizenship.
72
It is hard to think of an appropriate punishment for colluding in such evil. John Avery and William Joyce were executed after world war II for similar behavior. That's a no-go in France. The French believe in deterrence but not vengeance. Perhaps bring her home and require that for the rest of her life she appear in public only fully covered. The burqa could be scarlet.
2
She has not renounced ISIS or what she has done to support it. She may want to return to France so she could continue to work for ISIS. Maybe she would strap on a suicide belt under that burqa.
Try them and if found guilty jail them for several years. That will not only be justice, but a deterrent for future terrorist wannabes. If she walks free then why should anyone else worry about supporting a terrorist organization?
10
I'm sorry. If you supported ISIS, any western country will not want you. However, I heard there's room in Syria and Saudi Arabia if you rather go there instead where it more closely matches ISIS's ideology.
35
Except Al Qaeda hates the Saudi royal family.
1
Weird story, and I think France should take this woman back, she's French after all, so she's their problem. But just as when America found Americans among the Taliban, she should be taken back so as to serve a long prison sentence for aiding and abetting terrorism.
I realize people who go sign up for terrorist groups are doing so because they've had a terrible childhood, or been abused, or feel rejected by society, or a dozen other things. But the fact remains that they willingly joined terrorist groups, knowing what they were joining.
Just as when someone commits murder, and is really sorry they did, but they must still serve time in prison, the same concept applies here. It's great that she realized, presumably, that these terrorists were awful, but she did a good deal of harm with her recruiting efforts, and justice should be served. Ideally when she gets out of jail, she'll be too old to cause much damage.
If this seems lacking in forgiveness, my apologies, but it's as forgiving as I get when it comes to terrorism. Consider that I've eased up, years ago I would have said take her halfway back to France, then toss her out of the airplane over the Mediterranean.
17
Some things are NOT forgivable, or excusable. I'm with you.
2
Notably absent in this article is WHY she wants to return. Maybe to be a better terrorist. She should face criminal prosecution in France. She abandoned her kids and then worked to recruit terrorists who would potentially target the same country those kids inhabit. Wow. Mother of the year.
98
“I am not a monster. I am very far from a monster,” she has declared. Yet, she has participated in the monstrous act of feeding the war machine through her recruitment and propaganda efforts, ruining lives, protracting a war against the West, being complicit in the actions of warfare against her home country. If she is allowed to return, she should be held to France’s standards of justice, which I suspect will not allow her to go back to a life where her primary worry will be the delicacy of her crepes.
61
Sorry; they chose their side; now live with it.
47
Look back into history for guidance.
What happened to German sympathizers who were outside of Germany - after the second world war. Some were charged with treason. Others just melted into society. Those on the battlefield were put on trial when there was evidence of inhuman acts (such as military and political leaders).
If you win a war, you can invoke your definition of revenge. Can you imagine what would have happened if ISIS had won?
Mercy is a important trait, but punishment has to be given out to those who made a stupid, ignorant choices.
25
I don't recall Werner Von Braun's trial.
1
She's a French citizen so if she want's to go back she'll need to face and accept whatever penalty French law dictates. Her legal problems aside she clearly has more than a few unresolved psychological issues which would need attention before she should be allowed to rejoin society at large.
A long road back with which ever path she choses. I wish her peace.
6
Would the International Criminal Court at The Hague be the right place to try the Europeans and Americans who went to Syria in support of ISIS?
14