POLITICS: Companion to Yesterdays Post Re: Time for World to Declare War on ISIL... Not the cheeriest piece for a nice weekend read, but timely, given recent news accounts,...so, Ill just leave you to the chilling article by Robert D. Kaplan...writing for Stratfor (Terrorism as Theater is republished with permission of Stratfor) The beheading of American journalist James Foley by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq was much more than an altogether gruesome and tragic affair: rather, it was a very sophisticated and professional film production deliberately punctuated with powerful symbols. Foley was dressed in an orange jumpsuit reminiscent of the Muslim prisoners held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay. He made his confession forcefully, as if well rehearsed. His executioner, masked and clad in black, made an equally long statement in a calm, British accent, again, as if rehearsed. It was as if the killing was secondary to the message being sent.... ...In producing a docu-drama in its own twisted way, the Islamic State was sending the following messages: ~ We dont play by your rules. There are no limits to what we are willing to do. ~ Americas mistreatment of Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo Bay comes with a price tag, to quote a recently adopted phrase for retribution killings. After all, we are a state. We have our own enemy combatants as you can see from the video, and our own way of dealing with them. ~ Just because we observe no limits does not mean we lack sophistication. We can be just as sophisticated as you in the West. Just listen to the British accent of our executioner. And we can produce a very short film up to Hollywood standards. ~ Were not like the drug lords in Mexico who regularly behead people and subsequently post the videos on the Internet. The drug lords deliver only a communal message, designed to intimidate only those people within their area of control. That is why the world at large pays little attention to them; in fact, the world is barely aware of them. By contrast, we of the Islamic State are delivering a global, meta-message. And the message is this: We want to destroy all of you in America, all of you in the West, and everyone in the Muslim world who does not accept our version of Islam. ~ We will triumph because we observe absolutely no constraints. It is because only we have access to the truth that anything we do is sanctified by God.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 15:33:19 +0000
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