State Department video gives ISIS a taste of its own medicine

The State Department recently released “Welcome to the ‘Islamic State’ land (ISIS/ISIL),” an anti-ISIS video mocking the terrorist group’s recruitment strategies. Criticized for featuring grisly and upsetting content, the video is nonetheless a step forward in combatting ISIS and its powerful social media machine.

The video is a part of the “Think Again, Turn Away” campaign that aims to dissuade potential recruits from joining ISIS. The campaign also has a presence on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. The description of the campaign on its Facebook page reads, “Our mission is to expose the facts about terrorists and their propaganda. Don’t be misled by those who break up families and destroy their true heritage.”

The threat is real. ISIS currently has more than 7,000 “foreign fighters,” according to USA Today. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said in a televised interview Sept. 3, “We have acknowledged publicly we are aware of over 100 U.S. citizens who have U.S. passports who are fighting in the Middle East with [ISIS] forces.” Americans Douglas McCain and Donald Morgan, as well as Canadian brothers Collin and Gregory Gordon, are just a few among many who have joined the terrorist cause. McCain was reportedly killed while fighting for ISIS late August, a reminder of the fatal consequences of radicalization as well as the fear that other Americans will follow suit.

According to the Telegraph, Syed Soharwardy, founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada is “convinced that this recruitment is going on right here in this country, under our noses, in our universities, in our colleges, in the places of worship, in our community.” In fact, the Al-Hayat Media Center, an affiliate of ISIS, has been producing non-Arabic media geared toward Westerners. Among its efforts is “The Chosen Few of Different Lands,” a video posted in July featuring  “martyred” Canadian Andre Poulin. Near the end, Poulin is pictured running through a Syrian field during an airport siege before dying in the battle. The voiceover declares him “a brother who would be pleased with the bare minimum and still shine with happiness.” The glory of martyrdom and the rewards of sacrifice are both selling points in this type of propaganda.

To combat ISIS’s global reach, Western authorities need to intensify the fight against jihadist movements. The State Department’s video effectively undermines such misleading propaganda. Its satirical message cuts to the core of the militant group’s hypocrisy. Dripping with sarcasm, the video paints a brutal picture of reality as it asks those considering ISIS membership if the skills learned will fit their future career paths — “blowing up mosques,” “crucifying and executing Muslims” and “plundering public resources.”

Though disturbingly graphic, the video does its job in shattering the portrayal of ISIS as a group of heroes battling for their righteous interpretation of Islam. The images, in their brutal honesty, draw out a raw pathos that passive reading can’t fully evoke. Hopefully, hit by this surge of reality, potential converts will think twice about the situation and ask questions about what brand of Islam ISIS is really promoting.

To maximize this method, the counter-propaganda effort should come from both Western countries and governments like Qatar and Kuwait that sponsor ISIS. Reversing the propaganda machines in those countries with videos like this one will turn the tide in time.

 

Valerie Yu is a junior majoring in English. She is also the Editorial Director of the Daily Trojan. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Tuesdays.