generalspeaking

Jihadi Public Relations

"They want Europeans in general. They want anyone to come, to fight, to create the Islamic state, to make the caliphate."
"We estimate there could be five thousand and within the year, there could be ten thousand. ... We are facing not just a problem of security, but a problem of society."
Sebastien Pietrasanta, French lawmaker

"They are able to reach and find out what is important to these people, what motivates these people, and then they create an ability to fill that need, initially through the social media, Internet."
"And then when they bring them on board, they continue to address these basic wants, of value, of a purpose -- a sense of something as a part of a larger good. And whether it's right, wrong or indifferent, they are able to reach into these people and find that motivation."
Air Force General Philip Breedlove, NATO supreme allied commander for Europe


"It is phenomenally exciting for them to be part of this, this secret club. And once that takes root ... that excitement completely outweighs anything we can do to try to counter it."
John G. Horgan,  University of Massachusetts' Center for Terrorism and Security Studies

That problem within society is the sinister attraction of fanatical Islamist jihad to impressionable people in the West not averse to flirting with brutally radical Islam. Not just young Muslim men and women who think of themselves as Islamic idealists yearning for a return of the fabled 'caliphate' that would unite all Muslims worldwide in a ironclad union capable of assuming control and command of the non-Muslim world under the aegis of the caliphate, but Westerners who admire the fanatical appeal, eager to ally themselves with what they feel is a conquering horde.


The skills learned in the West by Islamists who grew up there and became adept at using American-style public relations and publicity to advance a cause are being used to great effect by Islamic State publicity. Their news and propaganda organ, Al-Bayan reaches tens of thousands in an audience with links shared on social networks. And through those links and the smooth delivery that vaunts itself as a new and exciting way of life open to all through jihad, Europeans are being attracted in ever greater numbers.

The newcast for Al-Bayan, the voice of Islamic State, sounds like a National Public Radio knock-off. and Western governments appear incapable of doing anything to intervene. "Soldiers of the Caliphate" are given breezy accounts of the latest news for Islamic State which never looses a skirmish, always succeeds in killing its enemies, and goes swiftly from one victory to another on its way to conquering the world. Irresistible for psychopaths who appear never to get enough of gory details and videos, thrilled to their very core.

And so, they bestir themselves to be part of this brave new world where killing and mutilation is the way to go, with no restraints on the imagination for those whose warped mental condition stills them to the pain and suffering inflicted on other human beings. The world has no shortage of sociopaths and psychopaths, young and old, from various ethnic backgrounds and cultures, excited by the prospect of the kind of life that Islamic State so generously offers, inclusively.

"We thank our listeners for tuning in" blandly closes the show after the narratives and the news. The broadcasts come complete with martial music and soothing tones of the announcers with quite distinct British accents though they are hardcore Islamists eager to spread the word to the world at large. They broadcast in three languages now, speaking of the huge successes of suicide attacks, and the martyrs that make them all possible, an honour to aspire to.

Those who have experienced this brilliant new way of life and who have decided to abandon their lives under Islamic State don't seem eager to inform the world why they have turned their backs on their former aspirational presence with ISIS. A third of European fighters are said to have returned to Europe, while others continue to stream out of Europe to take their place in Syria. Of course the fact that ISIS threatens those who abandon them with death is a powerful deterrent against betrayal.

There are calls, nevertheless for new recruits to join the jubilantly successful jihadists and in the process to make something useful of their lives. Doctors are needed and one video shows physicians in scrubs featuring an Australian with blue eyes in a neo-natal ward. Physicians are promised that they will be aiding Muslims suffering from "a lack of qualified medical care", so a sense of mission of another kind imbues the message.

On the broadcasts there are regular presenters; one woman from Glasgow who aids British girls to reach Syria; a fighter from the Netherlands who obligingly offers jihadi interviews, a Frenchman exhorting his countrymen to emigrate to the new caliphate. Brookings Institute researchers J.M. Berger and Jonathan Morgan discovered over 46,000 Twitter accounts actively supporting Islamic State, within a two-month period. If one account is shuttered, others swiftly emerge.

The battle for contact in the social universe of the Internet seems to be swinging toward Islamic State.

Labels: Internet, Islamic State, Propaganda, Social Media, Social-Cultural Deviations

posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, June 03, 2015