I Came, ISIS, I Conquered

Scott Hardie | August 22, 2014
What, strategically, does the Muslim State stand to gain by the dramatic public execution of James Foley?

Steve West | August 23, 2014
It gains them nothing but the meaningless support of the local crazies who already supported them. I'm a bit cynical about it all when I agree with John Camp that this will all twitter away into digital irrelevance, lost amid the noise of the computer age and a universal media that can always find a worse crime.

Scott Hardie | August 23, 2014
I figured it was either:

1) Shoring up their appeal with the bloodthirsty homicidal scum who are attracted to the "cause" by the chance to kill perceived enemies of their faith.

2) Proving that they really will execute a prisoner if a ransom is not paid. I heard recently about how France and Spain pay huge sums ($125 million in the last few years alone) unlike most other nations, and how that has become the primary source of income for terrorism groups like this. Thanks, France and Spain.

Anyway, I guess it comes down to a question of what ISIS's purpose is. Their claimed purpose is to establish a Muslim state that would co-exist with other nations, in which case violently murdering the citizens of other nations and promising to kill many more is unlikely to earn them the allies necessary to trade and thus function as a state. Their assumed true purpose is to amass power for the caliphate, who is essentially a mob boss in religious attire; they're organized criminals. If that's true, I can see why they wouldn't bother keeping Foley alive with no hope of a ransom and the clock ticking on an inevitable rescue mission, but then, why the elaborate online execution? What goal does it further? That's what stumps me. But then, I don't think like bloodthirsty homicidal scum.

The news this week has made me whipsaw between shame and disgust at our nation's racism to stories about ISIS that make me beam with pride to live in a country that doesn't come anywhere close to that level of naked brutality and utter evil, and in fact, goes to great expense and sacrifice to fight such evil in the world.