be dubbed Jihadi George, or Ringo, he will get his moments of infamy - and there isn't much that can be done to ignore him.
The Foreign Office would have us believe that the latest atrocious video issued by the apocalyptic cult that calls itself "Islamic State" represents an act of desperation after its battlefield losses in places like Ramadi, Iraq.
The war in Syria and Iraq has ebbed and flowed. Lately it has been flowing against "Islamic State" - the cult has lost about 20% of the territory it controlled a year ago to Kurds and coalition air strikes.
The latest video, in which five people accused of spying for Britain are shot in the back of the head by five killers including the leader of the gang with the English accent, is one in a series of similar atrocities that have been broadcast over the last few months.
They include French-speaking murderers when the accused have been francophone and Russian speakers when the victims have been alleged to be spies of the Kremlin.
Dozens of similar and even more grotesque videos have shown the murder of alleged Aran and Kurd spies who have been killed by drowning, burning, rocket attack and shot dead by children on murderous treasure hunts through the ruins of ancient cities.
In every case there is a threat against the government of the country concerned, a threat to launch terror and a threat to invade.
The threats of terror are real. We have seen the use of terror in Paris, in Tunisia, in the Sinai and elsewhere.
But none of these attacks amounts to the sort of strategic event that "Islamic State" seeks to achieve.
To have meaning outside of its borders it needs to make good on its near term bravado - and that is where it is weakest. It does not have the power of a nation state - not even the potential of North Korea.
It cannot effect the British economy or the British way of life unless the British choose to allow it to do so by overreacting.
There are secret agencies that will now redouble their efforts to track down the latest poster boy for British extremism.
The smart thing for the rest is to keep calm, and carry on.
No comments:
Post a Comment