tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post2737091966081935192..comments2024-03-27T20:37:08.065+01:00Comments on Defence and Freedom: Beheadings propagandaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-6316058570914263742014-10-11T07:18:24.660+02:002014-10-11T07:18:24.660+02:00This issue regarding IS, their motivations and wha...This issue regarding IS, their motivations and what they are doing seems a bit more complicated than just saying "Its payback for the West bombing Iraq etc". For one, IS is not a monolithic and especially not an all-Arab (or local Arab) organisation. There are now numerous reports from ex-members etc, that a large number of atrocities both in Iraq and Syria is being committed not by Syrian or Iraqi IS-members, but foreigners, who cannot possibly claim to have suffered from any Western actions in the past. Most notable examples are the Chechen IS troops considered their "most aggressive" units, and ironically young Muslims who have arrived from Western countries (Spain, France etc). Case in point also the English accent of the IS individual in those execution videos. Furthermore, it seems the local IS guys - unsurprisingly - seem to be more interested in reorganising their local turf (not the elusive transnational caliphate), which also includes minimising atrocities against the local populace (though I am sure there are plenty of exceptions, when sectarian lines and such come into play).<br /><br />Which points even more to the fact, that this whole thing shouldnt concern us too much. As far as the executions are concerned, comparing them to Saudi Arabia omits the glaring fact, that SA uses it as a form of death penalty within a functional judicial system. We may not like it very much, but thats hardly the same as if they would randomly grab some Westerners and execute them, simply because it suits purposes completely unrelated to the individual they are executing. Which is why most voices in the West, while ie critical of non-buddy states such as Iran or China in regard to death penalties, certainly still grasp the fact, that those cases are still very different from engaging in random executions as a form of terrorism. Of course politicians and press focus on the "barbaric" methods in order to simplify their reaction, which certainly has the potential to mislead, but the difference between those two situations nevertheless matters.paranoreply@blogger.com