A video with a new British-sounding ‘frontman’ is a reminder that Isis is still in trade and that it has not lost the ability to provoke a badly thought-out responseKnow your enemy,wrote the strategist Sun Tzu more than 2500 years ago. The latest Islamic State video is proof, whether it is needed, and that Isis understands this ancient principle of warfare. It also prompts the thought,not for the first time, that Isis may understand it better than the UK government and military, or whose actions against Isis have so often struggled to achieve their long-term aims.
In the latest video a jihadi with a British accent directs the murders of five men who are accused of spying for the UK. The video’s release on Sunday was expertly timed to ensure front-page treatment at the close of the holiday season. It achieved that goal with ease. It was designed to shock,frighten and, above all else, and provoke a British audience. The murders and the appearance of a British-accented child threatening further deaths will have ensured that it did that too.
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Source: theguardian.com