If a 15 year old was campaigning for a cause du jour, for, say, Scottish independence, action on climate change or to remain in the EU, many people on this board would be cheering them on, praising their maturity and wisdom and using them as an argument to reduce the voting age to 16. No-one would suggest that a 15 year old was still a child and that, as such, they could not understand the complexity of these issues. No-one would suggest that the leaders of the SNP or climate change activists or the Remain campaign were exploiting young people.
Ms Begum was above the age of criminal responsibility when she went to Syria. She has stated quite clearly in interviews she understood from her religious upbringing that killing the 'enemies' of Islam was permitted which is why she was not unduly fazed by the sight of severed heads in bins. Nice girl. Just an average teenager. I'm sure we can all relate.