Back in 2004, a well-known member of the Buttes-de-Chaumont Network – the same terrorist group that attacked Charlie Hebdo – Mohamed el-Ayoun went to Iraq to fight U.S. troops. He was wounded in Fallujah and lost his left arm and left eye. He went back home to France to ask for government compensation for his wounds — and it was approved.
The news was first published by French Magazine Le Point, but it was buried in an article talking about the terrorists who attacked Charlie Hebdo. The news got revived thanks to a supporter of Contribuables Associés (roughly translated into English as Taxpayers United), a French group dedicated to fiscal conservatism.
“She was so outraged that she immediately sent a letter to Social Affairs and Employment minister to get answers on that obvious breach to national security,” C.A. editor-in-chief Roman Bernard told The Daily Caller. People in France are outraged too and the story has been shared several thousand times times on Facebook.
“Our own government has failed us by allowing a well-known terrorist to get welfare. Even though an other party was in power 10 years ago, the bureaucratic machine is pretty much the same and must be held accountable for this breach”, Bernard said.
However outraged he is, Bernard doesn’t seem to be surprised. “A few years ago, welfare monies were centrally decided but regionally distributed. Some people were able to subscribe to welfare in several departments and live a life of luxury with over 100,000 euros per month.”
“This is a systemic problem emanating from big governments,” he continued. “Not only are departments so large they can’t keep track of their programs, but they operate in a vacuum from each other. Otherwise, the Interior ministry would have seen that el-Ayoun’s wounds were not an accident.”
The conservative writer hopes that social media will put enough pressure on government to correct the situation.
“Even though el-Ayoun received welfare since 2004, no traditional media has given the fact the exposure it deserves. And since we’re fiscal conservatives, no traditional media is likely to react to our press release on the subject,” Bernard stated. “Fortunately, social media is a game changer. Nowadays, people don’t have to wait for the 6 o’clock news or a radio newsflash to get informed. They are the ones controlling the news they see and they can make it viral quickly.”
Like the informant that relayed the news, Bernard wants the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Marisol Touraine, to answer three crucial questions. “First, is there a way to know if the number of jihadists living in France is increasing? With the instability caused by the Arab Spring, chances are many French citizens went to those countries. Second, is there a way to know their numbers and if there are other el-Ayoun? And third, if there is a way to know their numbers, when do you intend to act?”