Australian teen joins ISIS, blows himself up in Iraq and accomplishes nothing. BBC

Jake Bilardi with ISIS. BBC/Twitter.

An 18 year old Australian joined ISIS and blew himself up in a terrorists attack in Ramadi, Iraq. BBC. Jake Bilardi was one of several suicide bombers that attacked Ramadi in an attack that largely accomplished nothing. Iraq reports zero deaths from the attack, though other sources claim five deaths. ISIS released a photo of Bilardi driving a truck loaded with explosives. Bilardi traveled to ISIS held Iraq months ago. Unconfirmed reports claim that Bilardi had left IED's at his Australian home along with plans to attack Melborne. Bilardi claimed that he was "chasing death" and wanted to kill as many infidels as possible. 

My Comment:

What a waste. Jake Bilardi blew himself up for no reason and accomplished nothing, if you believe the Iraqi government. The fact that he was a teenager makes it even more tragic. I guess that it is good that he failed so spectacularly. Perhaps other young people will see his example and question whether joining ISIS is a good idea or not. 

Given what Bilardi looks like I doubt ISIS could find anything else for him to do short of blowing himself up. He had no real fighting ability or training so the only way he could contribute was by driving a truck filled with explosives into the enemy and he could not even do that right. It would have taken months to train Bilardi to be a fighter or some other kind of useful skill. Any idiot can drive a truck bomb though, though not always successfully. It is possible that Bilardi volunteered for this mission, but even if he did it shows how much ISIS values the lives of its recruits. 

The real question is how an 18 year old non-Muslim suddenly decides to convert to Islam and join the most radical form of the religion. From what I have read Bilardi was an atheist who self-radicalized. Reading excerpts from his blog, it seems clear that he was upset by the actions of the United States and Australia in the Middle East. He also lost his mother to cancer in 2012 and was apparently bullied in school. Still it makes very little sense to me. Even if you dislike your governments actions it seems insane to me to change your religion over it, let alone blowing up people in a country that has very little to do with your own. 

Of course, Jake Bilardi is not the only foreign fighter to join up with ISIS. At least 100 other Australian fighters have joined up with ISIS. Hundreds of others from Europe and America have joined as well. A lot of them are actual fighters instead of untrained recruits. This is a problem that is going to get worse before it will get better. And there is always the concern that one of these fighters will return home and conduct a terror attack.