Letter to his parents before his departure:

“I am…obliged to pay taxes to the [U.S.] government… This in turn will be used automatically to kill my Muslim brothers and sisters… I simply cannot sit here and let my brothers and sisters get killed, with my own hard-earned money…I cannot live under a law in which I’m afraid to speak my beliefs. I want to be ruled by the Sharia [Islamic law], the best law for all-mankind.”“Letter prosecutors say Mohammed Hamzah Khan wrote to his parents,” Chicago Tribune, November 3, 2014, http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-letter-prosecutors-say-mohammed-hamzah-khan-wrote-to-his-parents-20141103-htmlstory.html.

“Nonetheless, me living in comfort with my family while my other family are getting killed is plain selfish of me.”“Letter prosecutors say Mohammed Hamzah Khan wrote to his parents,” Chicago Tribune, November 3, 2014, http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-letter-prosecutors-say-mohammed-hamzah-khan-wrote-to-his-parents-20141103-htmlstory.html.

Letter to his parents before his departure:

“Muslims have been crushed under foot for too long…This nation is openly against Islam and Muslims… I do not want my progeny to be raised in a filthy environment like this.”Kevin Sullivan, “Three American teens, recruited online, are caught trying to join Islamic State,” Washington Post, December 8, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/three-american-teens-recruited-online-are-caught-trying-to-join-the-islamic-state/2014/12/08/8022e6c4-7afb-11e4-84d4-7c896b90abdc_story.html.

“What we have in common with Iran or Hezbollah or Hamas and Islamic Jihad, is that we have a common stand vis-a-vis Israel and US and we will cooperate with any political actor in the region who stands in the face of the US regional designs.”“Q&A: What do the Houthis want?,” Al Jazeera, October 2, 2014, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/10/qa-what-do-houthis-want-2014101104640578131.html.

“What I’m opposed to is a level of oppression, of barbarity that far exceeds anything ISIS would even imagine doing, and that's represented in the actions of governments like Australia and its allies like America. I'm condemning something which is infinitely greater in barbarity than anything ISIS has ever done or could even imagine doing. I'm condemning a set of policies that have cost the lives of over a million Iraqis.”“Islamic State: Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman allied mission in Iraq and Syria ‘infinitely greater in barbarity,’” Australian Broadcasting Corporation, October 8, 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-08/allied-mission-more-barbaric-than-is-hizb-ut-tahrir-says/5799856.

“For we have come to know the main enemy, and America has for decades supported the occupying Jews in Palestine. And American drones bomb Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen. And they have killed mujahideen and their leaders as well as many among the Muslim public, and destroyed houses and terrorized children and women.” (Official AQAP video)Thomas Joscelyn and Oren Adaki, “AQAP official calls on rival factions in Syria to unite against West,” Long War Journal, October 1, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/10/aqap_leader_calls_on.php.

It must be known that America is the head of the snake,” al Ansi says. “She is the one who mobilizes against the mujahideen and their Islamic project … and if the head falls, its tails fall as well.” (Official AQAP video)Thomas Joscelyn and Oren Adaki, “AQAP official calls on rival factions in Syria to unite against West,” Long War Journal, October 1, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/10/aqap_leader_calls_on.php.

The U.S. “…launched atomic bomb attacks against people in Japan and launched wars in Vietnam [and]… supported [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu in the 50-day war against Gaza… is not qualified ethically and morally to present itself as a fighter against terrorism or as a leader for an international coalition” against terrorism.“America mother of terrorism: Hezbollah chief,” Press TV, September 23, 2014, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/09/23/379780/america-mother-of-terrorism-hezbollah/.

“America, is in our view, the mother of terrorism and the origin of terrorism.”“Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah Opposes US-Led Action in Syria,” Reuters, September 23, 2014, accessed October 28, 2014, http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Hezbollah-leader-Nasrallah-opposes-US-led-action-in-Syria-376245.

“O Sunnis of Iraq, the time has come for you to learn from the lessons of the past, and to learn that nothing will work with the rāfidah other than slicing their throats and striking their necks. They make themselves out to be helpless so that they can take power, they conceal their hatred, enmity, and rage towards Sunnis, they plot and conspire against them, and they trick and deceive them. They display false affection towards them and flatter them as long as Sunnis are strong.” (A speech titled “Indeed Your Lord is Ever Watchful”)Caleb Weiss, “Islamic State spokesman again threatens West in new speech,” Long War Journal, September 21, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2014/09/islamic_state_spokesman_again.php.

“O Americans, and O Europeans, the Islamic State did not initiate a war against you, as your governments and media try to make you believe. It is you who started the transgression against us, and thus you deserve blame and you will pay a great price. You will pay the price when your economies collapse. You will pay the price when your sons are sent to wage war against us and they return to you as disabled amputees, or inside coffins, or mentally ill. You will pay the price as you are afraid of travelling to any land. Rather you will pay the price as you walk on your streets, turning right and left, fearing the Muslims. You will not feel secure even in your bedrooms. You will pay the price when this crusade of yours collapses, and thereafter we will strike you in your homeland, and you will never be able to harm anyone afterwards. You will pay the price, and we have prepared for you what will pain you.” (A speech titled “Indeed Your Lord is Ever Watchful”)Caleb Weiss, “Islamic State spokesman again threatens West in new speech,” Long War Journal, September 21, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2014/09/islamic_state_spokesman_again.php.