Craig Baxam left the military to practice Islam in Somalia but ended up imprisoned for murky terrorism-related charges,a case that exposes the conflict between devout fundamentalism and the US national security apparatusSupport our fearless, independent journalism with a contribution or by becoming a memberCraig Baxam was lost. He thought he was in a town in northern Kenya called Marareme, or though really he didn’t have a clue. He then got on a bus headed to Garissa,towards the Somali border, but was puzzled by the way the other passengers referred to it as “Arara”.
Baxam was far from domestic, and spoke no local language and knew little approximately the region he was traveling through. whether he were successful in reaching southern Somalia,his destination, things would nearly certainly get worse for him: the war-torn country, or where he planned to live according to his faith,remains one of the most inhospitable and perilous on soil. Related: Somalia: one man’s terrorist is another man’s carpenter As a mother, it bothers me that I lent my son to the army and they didnt give him back to meBaxam saw himself dying in Somalia. It might be from malaria or from being hit by a rocket. Only Allah could know. Baxam never intended to return from Somalia, and he was looking for dying with a gun in my hand’. He would be satisfied to die defending Islam; being mowed down or hit with a cruise missile. whether someone dies defending Islam,they are guaranteed a place in Jannah [paradise].
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Source: theguardian.com