The U.S. State Department is producing anti-Islamic State propaganda to persuade American and other would-be jihadis not to join the extremist group. It’s ham-handed, and often sarcastic, and unlikely to have the intended effect.
Islamic State [IS] propaganda pulls no punches. Beheading videos, boasts about enslaving women, promises of austere Sharia-led lives, it’s all there. You want what it offers? Come along, because IS wants people who make a positive commitment to join.
The State Department’s propaganda uses a negative message to counter the attraction of IS media. The content is seemingly written more to appeal to Washington than potential jihadis. A lot of the messaging mocks potential recruits, claiming, for example, they read “Islam for Dummies” before heading to Syria.
Oddly, State’s and IS’s messaging are not all that different, at least in the topics covered. Both stress that recruits are unlikely to survive fighting. State paints that as a terrible choice, while IS categorizes it as a positive one leading to martyrdom. Both feature photos of Christian churches Islamic State destroyed, with obviously different judgments of the act. Both talk about Western life, with IS emphasizing its spiritual emptiness.
Both sides agree that Muslims are killing Muslims. But the view expressed in State’s messaging is that all Muslims are the same, while IS says some so-called Muslims are not genuine and it is thus not a violation of the Koranic injunction against Muslim-on-Muslim violence to kill them. A core audience agrees; one report says 92 percent of Saudi Sunnis see IS activities as religiously legal.
State’s messaging says IS recruits will die and go to hell. IS messaging says they will die and go to heaven. Both are literally propaganda to die for. Who is winning in that match-up? |