Terror threat

Rachel Marsden: Returning jihadists need prison, not couches

The Russian Defense Ministry and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made separate announcements last week that the Islamic State had been defeated. Of course, this doesn't mean that these terrorists won't be popping up elsewhere like bomb-toting, head-chopping Whac-A-Moles.

Last month, the BBC reported a deal that allowed some ISIS fighters to escape the Syrian city of Raqqa -- the Islamic State's former "caliphate" -- under the nose of Western and Kurdish officials, ostensibly to facilitate a declaration of "mission accomplished."

The question is where these fighters will pop up next. Are we supposed to believe that they're going to parlay their real-world experience making violent propaganda videos into careers with advertising agencies? Will they be making documentaries to peddle on the film-festival circuit?

Some prominent leaders are holding open the door for Islamic State members to return to the West. This is the subject of debate in Canada and France, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron entertaining the idea of allowing the return of citizens who left to join ISIS overseas. (I'm even more worried about countries that aren't having this debate and whose returning ISIS fighters have quietly slipped back in beneath the radar.)