This is odd. I was told that we could expect all the Somali refugees to assimilate, and become good Americans. Was I misled?

All the other miracles notwithstanding, the Internet really needs a sarcasm font.

I can just see a woman raised in a relatively safe American neighborhood going to the Middle East and asking around about how to join ISIS/IS/ISIL. I don't think the result will be what she imagined it would be when she left home.

Chicks dig jerks.

There is no such thing as "a 19-year-old American Somali woman from St. Paul."

But on the other hand, if this story makes Amy piss her pants with fear, they can write whatever they want.

Because Amy's been reading about this stuff several hours a week for years.....

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...So.

I'm gonna guess she had a contact and isn't wandering into random falafel stands asking about ISIS.

Nic, you piss me off.

But "wandering into random falafel stands asking about ISIS" is funny.

if this story makes Amy piss her pants with fear,

A little respect for the boss lady, okay?

Over the years she's squandered the allotment for this issue.

She won't tell us what she wants.

I wanna hear from these girls' friends - what they listened to, acted like in school, etc. What made these American girls lay down the computer, phone, car, and makeup, and decide that boys in Syria are hotter than boys in the States? How on earth does this happen?

I'm gonna guess she had a contact and isn't wandering into random falafel stands asking about ISIS. ~ Posted by: NicoleK at September 16, 2014 12:00 PM

Yeah? I'm guessin' that rarely turns out the way she imagined it would either.

Radical Islamic groups in the Middle East aren't really noted for their gender equality efforts.

The assumption is that all of the women actually ran away. OTOH, perhaps in some of those cases "She ran away to join ISIS" has simply replaced "she's on vacation" as the preferred way of explaining a girl's absence as the result of an "honor killing".

She should just go down to the local mall and shoot up the place.

More bang for the buck. Just call it immanentizing the eschaton.

Why again are we supposed to embrace such immigrant groups? Oh, yeah: they need American wealth and training to realize their dreams. Got it. Let's be sure and import even more.

Good point, Gooseegg. We heard all about Dzokher the Loveable Pothead... I wonder how these girls were perceived by their peers.

And were they even all about gender equality to begin with? I mean, if these were random Riot Grrls or whatever today's equivalent is, yes, they will be in for a surprise. But maybe they're into the submissive thing.

The reality, though, is when you're the kid of immigrants, when you're binational, you do have divided loyalties.

At least, that's my experience.

I'm binational... on my Dad's side, as American as they come. I recently did my family tree and found not one person who immigrated after the revolution. My mom is an immigrant. I certainly had identity issues, "what am I really" issues growing up. And that's from a western European Protestant country. When I'm in America I feel Swiss, and bring Raclette and chocolate to potlucks, when I'm in Switzerland I feel American, and bring chocolate chip cookies and pecan pie (big hits).

I can only imagine the issues kids have when they've got two drastically different cultures going on, which conflict with each other.

At least with Switzerland the only conflicts I'm going to come across are being mad at Americans for harassing the banks and mad at the Swiss for not extraditing kiddie rapist Roman Polanski. There's no actual war going on, nor will they be. But it must be very, very hard for kids who are from a culture we're at war with. And most Americanized ones will pick our side. But some aren't going to, and that's just reality.

"Over the years she's squandered the allotment for this issue. She won't tell us what she wants."

Nonsense. You want to set limits on what can be posted, run your own blog.

And "what she wants" should be obvious to a self-described mental giant such as yourself: the continuous illustration of the irrationality of those who would declare jihad. See the forest while you comment on the trees!

The assumption is that all of the women actually ran away. OTOH, perhaps in some of those cases "She ran away to join ISIS" has simply replaced "she's on vacation" as the preferred way of explaining a girl's absence as the result of an "honor killing".

theotherrob has a point here. Some of these young women may in fact have disapeared as a result of foul play rather than running away to join the ISIS harem.

The ones who have joined ISIS are in for the shock of their lives, however. Sexual slavery is probably the best that they can hope for. I'm guessing that in the weeks to come, an american born woman with be the feature of one of ISIS's Beheading videos. Those monsters won't hesitate to using such a tactic, just wait and see.