The Unspoken Tragedy of San Bernardino

More and more details are coming out of about the pair of terrorists who committed an atrocity in San Bernardino, California. American lives were lost at the hands of a pair of radical Islamists who, as it turns out, had been planning their attack for a while, and had other attacks planned before. However, as much sadness and tragedy that has surrounded this event, there is one monumental tragedy that still remains largely under-reported: The six month old little girl the pair left behind, who is now the subject of family court proceedings in California. From Fox News:

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Suspicion surrounds the family of the jihadist couple who last week massacred 14 people in a terror attack at a Southern California office party — but there is one family member whose innocence is absolute: the couple’s 6-month old girl, left orphaned by her murderous parents, and whose fate will be decided by Family Court.

The girl, whose name is not being released, is in the custody of San Bernardino County Child Protective Services, blissfully unaware of the carnage and misery wrought by her parents, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, last Wednesday. Although experts predicted the baby will not be raised by blood relatives, her aunt and uncle moved to gain custody at a Family Court hearing Monday.

“The family is naturally distraught at the separation and are eagerly awaiting to obtain custody of the 6-month-old girl,” Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Los Angeles branch said in a statement.

There is a certain amount of emotional detachment that goes in to even having a child when you are planning a terror attack that will more than likely end with you dying in some warped idea of a heroic battle. There is an even greater level of detachment that comes from raising a child in this particular setting. The construction of multiple pipe bombs alone suggests that the mission was much more important than the little girl.

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That the rest of the girl’s family seems to be under suspicion over how much they actually knew (the girl’s grandmother lived with them) is evidence enough that the family setting is not the right place for the child at this time. It looks like the courts may agree, because the Fox News story doesn’t sound very hopeful for the family, at least in the immediate future.

But, this is the tragedy: This child is orphaned at half a year old, her living family members very likely knew something was up, and she will one day find out the truth of what her parents did and how they died. How she is raised will determine how she handles this news. Say a prayer for this child, because she is going to need it.

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