American Jihadist’ who fought in Syria, Eric Harroun, dies suddenly

A former US Army soldier who spent months fighting with the Free Syrian Army before being arrested and charged with terrorism by the FBI has died, his family announced Wednesday.

Harroun lived in the Phoenix area and served in the US Army from 2000 to 2003, although military records obtained by the New York Times indicate the young man was never deployed overseas. He made his way to Syria years later and joined the ranks of Al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda affiliated rebel group that is universally recognized as the fiercest of the opposition groups aiming to depose Syrian President Bashar Assad.


Instead of providing assistance for their mutual enemy, though, Harroun was arrested by the FBI and charged with providing material support to a terrorist group. Harroun could have spent the rest of his life in prison if found guilty but agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his freedom.

American Jihadist’ who fought in Syria, Eric Harroun, dies suddenly

Many of you might not know about this story .

But i fallowed it , mostly because of the fact that we was an American convert Muslim like my self.

This whole story is strange , RT does a good job of explaining it . However being as i am Muslim
This story is bazaar to me for a few reasons.

Eric documented his "jihad" with a few short videos . The first video that i ever saw was of him in a jeep with another "Chechen" fighter. I recall being surprised by Erics manors in the video ,he didn't seem like someone who was even Muslim to me , he cursed in the video ,their was no praising ( to ALLAH ),or political ideology ...not your average "ready to die for the cause" jihad video..

Fast forward a few months later and we hear that he's back in the USA...

Very strange given that most "jihadi muslims"
Go to fight and die ...

In closing , i honestly do not feel this Eric was Muslim by "name" . and i know he was NOT muslim by religion because he went to go fight a Jihad that has been ruled to be forbidden and he should have known better .

Text the FBI official had the first FOX news story printed on his desk. Harroun was interrogated for periods of several hours (by both an FBI and CIA official) over the course of two days.[26] He later claimed that he had been set up by FOX News[22] and that he would have to "hire a ******* Jewish lawyer to sue their asses when I get back".[22] He denied he was affiliated with al-Qaeda in any way whatsoever: “I’m not Al-Qaeda. I like my beer and my smoke and I like my women. I’m not about the praying five times a day and all that ****.”[16]

The Above clipping was taken from wiki
To further prove my point about him not being Muslim. I know it's wiki ...but it seems to fit the personality . Also ill edit the foul language .

en.m.wikipedia.org...

Also , why was he not put in jail ?

Anyway i got to get ready for work ,maybe i can come back and explain more later.


Humbly

LSH

reply to post by LightningStrikesHere


Maybe he was an undercover agent sent in to Syria to get information.
The exit plan was being arrested.
And to prevent future attacks directed toward him and his loved ones, they killed him. Or probably just buried an empty coffin and relocated him with a new name and ID#.

Interesting find!

reply to post by LightningStrikesHere


hmmmm. This is news to me... Thanks for bringing it here. I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. S&f!

Interesting .. your right theres a few things wrong with the picture .. very doubtful he was even muslim from his conduct in the videos .. seems more like some poor slob that ended up getting in the middle of one of uncle scams schemes and paid the price for it ..
Most likely a convenient scapegoat to deter others with similar misguided ideas ..

His name and his history is dead, but i bet he's still walking and on his way back to Syria!

Expat888
Interesting .. your right theres a few things wrong with the picture .. very doubtful he was even muslim from his conduct in the videos .. seems more like some poor slob that ended up getting in the middle of one of uncle scams schemes and paid the price for it ..
Most likely a convenient scapegoat to deter others with similar misguided ideas ..

Yes i have added further proof that he was not Muslim. Have a look in the OP

As for being / acting Muslim -

While I can see appropriate behavior coming from someone who is Muslim by birth (so to speak) I would imagine it would be difficult to convert and automatically behave as if they have been Muslim their entire life. The fact he joined the military would most likely lend to that difficult translation. The other "issue" would be as an American, the concepts that Islam requires could be very foreign. (not knocking Islam by the way).

As for fighting overseas, either way its sliced its a problem and can cause problems.

While people may be ok with him fighting against Assad, the issue comes from the group he joined to do it. The other factor is if captured, what is the ramifications when he is presented as a US citizen fighting against the Syrian government? While the group he is with is fighting Assad, the group in and of itself is also designated a terrorist organization, making the action he chose illegal still.

The speculation of him being a spy? If its the case then its on par with the Kennedy Assassination Lee Oswald being a defector to the Soviet Union then back to the US.

I would imagine it would be difficult for "extremists" groups to accept Americans among their ranks without being skeptical of their true allegiance. Its one thing to be a Muslim, its another thing entirely to be Muslim, be an American Citizen, and take part in operations in Syria.

Based on the number of Americans that we know of to date involved with extremists groups, it appears to be extremely low. not saying it does not happen, but its the general appearance.

Xcathdra
As for being / acting Muslim -

While I can see appropriate behavior coming from someone who is Muslim by birth (so to speak) I would imagine it would be difficult to convert and automatically behave as if they have been Muslim their entire life. The fact he joined the military would most likely lend to that difficult translation. The other "issue" would be as an American, the concepts that Islam requires could be very foreign. (not knocking Islam by the way).

As for fighting overseas, either way its sliced its a problem and can cause problems.

While people may be ok with him fighting against Assad, the issue comes from the group he joined to do it. The other factor is if captured, what is the ramifications when he is presented as a US citizen fighting against the Syrian government? While the group he is with is fighting Assad, the group in and of itself is also designated a terrorist organization, making the action he chose illegal still.

The speculation of him being a spy? If its the case then its on par with the Kennedy Assassination Lee Oswald being a defector to the Soviet Union then back to the US.

I would imagine it would be difficult for "extremists" groups to accept Americans among their ranks without being skeptical of their true allegiance. Its one thing to be a Muslim, its another thing entirely to be Muslim, be an American Citizen, and take part in operations in Syria.

Based on the number of Americans that we know of to date involved with extremists groups, it appears to be extremely low. not saying it does not happen, but its the general appearance.

I agree with some of what your saying.
The part i don't agree with is the "transition" part.

Being as i am a muslim convert the transition was not hard at all, because once you realize what the religion is about and you realize their is a creator. Ect ect you change automatically.. i used to do drugs drink ect ect. I had issues ,could never stopped tried 1000 times .. Islam was my cure .. anyway .. Praying 5 times a day is a MUST every muslim knows that . This is basic knowledge praying keeps you on the strait path and focused on the god.

But according to wiki eric claims he "likes his beer,cigs,and woman and he has no time to pray five times a day"

I just don't understand how he was able to survive over their without praying and displaying proper muslim manners. Surely they would have had his head if they thought he was a spy ?

LightningStrikesHere
I agree with some of what your saying.
The part i don't agree with is the "transition" part.

Being as i am a muslim convert the transition was not hard at all, because once you realize what the religion is about and you realize their is a creator. Ect ect you change automatically.. i used to do drugs drink ect ect. I had issues ,could never stopped tried 1000 times .. Islam was my cure .. anyway .. Praying 5 times a day is a MUST every muslim knows that . This is basic knowledge praying keeps you on the strait path and focused on the god.

Fair points but using your acclimation as a template of how it should go assumes the person in question is willing to accept / put in the same effort you did. In this guys case could it be possible that he thought Islam was the cure but realized it might not be?

Vovin
But according to wiki eric claims he "likes his beer,cigs,and woman and he has no time to pray five times a day"

I just don't understand how he was able to survive over their without praying and displaying proper muslim manners. Surely they would have had his head if they thought he was a spy ?

I have seen these issues when researching the Taliban in Afghanistan. There were areas where the Taliban enforced strict Sharia law. The problem was they did not enforce it on themselves. So while people were "disciplined" for smoking, the same standard was not applied to members of the Taliban.

Personally speaking I don't recognize groups as "Muslim" simply because they claim it. I view them as a group that is defiling a religion to further their own goals at the expense of others through fear and intimidation. You don't agree with them they just kill you and justify it with "their version" of Islam / Sharia law.

Specifically where Islam prevents killing non combatants, makes suicide a sin, prohibits a person from forcing another to become a member of Islam. Or how Sharia law allows the victims family to resolve a situation via "blood money" only to have the Taliban reject the family's choice. They then dragged the guy out onto the soccer field and executed him.

They are not Muslims. They are cowards who kill innocent people while hiding behind a religion they have hijacked and don't give a crap about, aside from how they can use it to maintain control over people while using it to justify murder.

My biggest issue with Islam is how they deal with those who hijack their religion. While I am sure they have their reasons, I just don't understand why they don't take a stand in the media and tell the world those idiots to not represent Islam. To assume the world will come to that conclusion on their own is the other issue I have.

Either or not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all Americans are ignorant, arrogant asses.

Xcathdra

LightningStrikesHere
I agree with some of what your saying.
The part i don't agree with is the "transition" part.

Being as i am a muslim convert the transition was not hard at all, because once you realize what the religion is about and you realize their is a creator. Ect ect you change automatically.. i used to do drugs drink ect ect. I had issues ,could never stopped tried 1000 times .. Islam was my cure .. anyway .. Praying 5 times a day is a MUST every muslim knows that . This is basic knowledge praying keeps you on the strait path and focused on the god.

Fair points but using your acclimation as a template of how it should go assumes the person in question is willing to accept / put in the same effort you did. In this guys case could it be possible that he thought Islam was the cure but realized it might not be?

Vovin
But according to wiki eric claims he "likes his beer,cigs,and woman and he has no time to pray five times a day"

I just don't understand how he was able to survive over their without praying and displaying proper muslim manners. Surely they would have had his head if they thought he was a spy ?

I have seen these issues when researching the Taliban in Afghanistan. There were areas where the Taliban enforced strict Sharia law. The problem was they did not enforce it on themselves. So while people were "disciplined" for smoking, the same standard was not applied to members of the Taliban.

Personally speaking I don't recognize groups as "Muslim" simply because they claim it. I view them as a group that is defiling a religion to further their own goals at the expense of others through fear and intimidation. You don't agree with them they just kill you and justify it with "their version" of Islam / Sharia law.

Specifically where Islam prevents killing non combatants, makes suicide a sin, prohibits a person from forcing another to become a member of Islam. Or how Sharia law allows the victims family to resolve a situation via "blood money" only to have the Taliban reject the family's choice. They then dragged the guy out onto the soccer field and executed him.

They are not Muslims. They are cowards who kill innocent people while hiding behind a religion they have hijacked and don't give a crap about, aside from how they can use it to maintain control over people while using it to justify murder.

My biggest issue with Islam is how they deal with those who hijack their religion. While I am sure they have their reasons, I just don't understand why they don't take a stand in the media and tell the world those idiots to not represent Islam. To assume the world will come to that conclusion on their own is the other issue I have.

Either or not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all Americans are ignorant, arrogant asses.

Listen i AGREE with you 110% you are without a doubt correct about these people.

Many people have tried to reach out and get people to understand as i have done here
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The problem is ,is that Islam has one image because of news ,propaganda, ect ect ..

People want to take what ever they hear and run with it ... It's called strawman right?

But believe me their are Muslims out their trying ...

LightningStrikesHere
Listen i AGREE with you 110% you are without a doubt correct about these people.

Many people have tried to reach out and get people to understand as i have done here
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The problem is ,is that Islam has one image because of news ,propaganda, ect ect ..

People want to take what ever they hear and run with it ... It's called strawman right?

But believe me their are Muslims out their trying ...

I was not trying to argue / attack so if it came across in that manner my apologies.

I was merely stating my perception of the situation.

Xcathdra

LightningStrikesHere
Listen i AGREE with you 110% you are without a doubt correct about these people.

Many people have tried to reach out and get people to understand as i have done here
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The problem is ,is that Islam has one image because of news ,propaganda, ect ect ..

People want to take what ever they hear and run with it ... It's called strawman right?

But believe me their are Muslims out their trying ...

I was not trying to argue / attack so if it came across in that manner my apologies.

I was merely stating my perception of the situation.

No no , i never once felt like you were trying to attack the religion.

On the contrary ,i was very impressed with your knowledge !