![\"MOS](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Jamie-Hughes-left-and-Jame-Read-right-270x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nIt was pretty big news a few months ago when Jamie Read and James Hughes, a couple of Brits who told the world that they were going to Syria to avenge the death of UK citizen and aid worker Alan Henning. But the Daily Mail<\/a> says that, despite their exciting tales of firefights while they accompanied peshmerga fighters, the duo spent much of their time slacking off.<\/p>\n Read, 24, and Hughes, 26, were reported to have travelled to the Middle East last month to join Westerners fighting with the Kurdish People\u2019s Protection Units (YPG) \u2013 the mortal enemy of IS \u2013 to protect the beleaguered city of Kobane. In reality, they were more than 250 miles away, deep in Kurdish-controlled territory in North-East Syria on the border with Iraq.<\/p>\n And far from diving for cover under fire, according to a former German soldier who was alongside them, they spent most of their time in boredom, drinking tea, watching TV and feasting on local cuisine.<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n The two former soldiers insist they were in Syria to take up arms with the Kurds and that they came under enemy fire, but our investigation demonstrates that their dramatic claims don\u2019t quite add up\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Daily Mail article shows pictures of them in their “safe house” which was actually a 4-star hotel;<\/p>\n Mr Markens added: \u2018They didn\u2019t come to fight. They said it to me. James told me: \u201cI don\u2019t want to risk my ass, bro.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We drank chai, watched TV, talked to each other, cleaned our weapons.\u2019<\/p>\n When asked whether the patrol base was safe, the other ex-soldier said: \u2018I would say that\u2019s relatively safe. In levels of safety, nowhere near Kobane. We were at summer camp [laughs].\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A whole new term is born; Stolen Valor tourism. It’s easier to get away with than anything that might involve military records that can be FOIA’d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"