Monday, February 16, 2015
U.S. Intensifies Effort to Blunt ISIS’ Message
This article is basically all about how the United States is now recognizing how ISIS's propaganda has been working. Now the question is how will Obama handle this? The article goes on to describe how at the heart of his plan is expanding a tiny State Department agency, the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications. The funding for this department is only at a mere five million dollars. Will this plan work? Should government spend more money? Or should government even waste their time?
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All of the fancy digital jargon and elaborate messaging techniques described in the article sound great, but what do they actually mean, and will they work? I doubt that any of these professionals and department heads being consulted could actually define the terms and goals of this plan. The Obama administration and State Department can't even define the terms of the war we are supposedly committed to fighting; they throw out the blanket phrase "violent extremism" while refusing to associate it with Islam. If the U.S. wants to thwart the effectiveness of radical Islamic propaganda, we first need to acknowledge that the proliferation of terrorist attacks seen throughout the world and the territorial advance of ISIS are not due to random acts of violence, but due to a significant population of radical Muslims who share a dangerous ideology that makes them want to enslave the civilized world. Next, we should focus on defeating ISIS on the battlefield. Plain and simple. When an Islamic militant group is winning - conquering more land each day, despite our airstrikes, and gaining national press each day for beheading and burning alive scores of innocent people - it suddenly appears more powerful, making it more appealing to young Muslims who consider joining. If ISIS were suffering massive casualties and setbacks on the battlefield at the hands of Western military forces, these young people would think twice before joining. It seems that our government is reluctantly dipping its proverbial toe in the water, when the world needs it to dive in and commit itself to obliterating this terrorist group. This plan may have good intentions, but it ignores the fundamental issues at stake in the fight against ISIS and its supporters.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I completely disagree with Matt. ISIS recruites though the Internet, thus halting their advances on the web would be an extremely effective method of combating terrorism. The state department should definitely receive more funding for this program. Preventing ISIS from recruiting US citizens will make our country infinitely safer because these recruited US citizens have the ability to be in this country and carry out attacks. We should do anything possible to prevent this.
ReplyDeleteI am unsure on whether this method of counter-terrorism is a good idea. Though the plan of preventing recruiting through social media and the Internet seems like a good place to start, it is not clear on whether it actually has a significant impact on ISIL's recruiting efforts. People who feel the need to join ISIL will most probably do so even if they see this anti-ISIL propaganda because they are deluded by this contorted version of Islam and the promises of supposed "glory." People who are uneducated and brainwashed enough to consider joining a group like ISIL would probably not give much thought to government-sponsored, anti-terrorist propaganda. However, if the government can actually prove that these programs are helping, then they should continue and strengthen them. Until then, I do not see much of a point in increasing government bureaucratization and costs.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good that the government is taking further steps in protecting against ISIS. The measures they go through to recruit people are extreme and it needs to be stopped. The idea of utilizing Twitter is very smart. ISIS has been able to get there message out through Twitter. We need a force on there as well to stop the spreading of there messages and false information. This is all new for the government since Twitter has become a much more recent and advanced way of spreading terroristic ideas. I think it's good that we are advancing with the times and we are moving the right direction of stopping the spreading of ISIS' message.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is quite apparent that there is power in social media. The point that the U.S. could be using the same type of influence as ISIS is having would most likely show promising results. I think that it is right for the government to pursue these unknown methods in the sake for keeping our country safe.
ReplyDeleteIt's really crazy to think about how much influence social media apparently has these days. I definitely think the U.S. should try to start counteracting the messages ISIS post online; but as Michael pointed out, if a young person considering joining ISIS sees propaganda from the U.S. government telling him not to, he probably won't pay much attention to it. Either way, we need to try different and varied methods to halt ISIS's influence online.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel. Anti-ISIS propoganda will probably not work on people who are considering joining ISIS. In fact, in some cases, it may antagonize people and drive them away from our country even quicker. Still, I can understand that, if ISIS is using social media, it seems natural to fight back with social media. As long as the government puts a lot of thought into their methods of fighting back, making sure not to drive anyone away, I believe this method could be effective.
ReplyDeleteI think its very good that the government is taking action. Social media is very powerful and the government should counter ISIS. I agree that propaganda could have an opposite effect but something has to be done. Like Nia said, as long as the methods are well thought out they have the potential to be effective.
ReplyDeleteI think that combating these messages on Twitter is a good idea. Social media is a very powerful source, not only in the U.S., but also all around the world. With that being said, though, I also agree with Raman. If someone truly wants to join ISIS, this won't stop them. I think this method could be effective, but I also think we need to use other varied methods to help combat ISIS, not just social media.
ReplyDeleteI am very divided on this topic. On one hand, the US has been constantly criticized by other countries and their own citizens on it over involvement in foreign affairs. But on the other hand, ISIS has committed horrible acts of violence and cruelty. I do believe that it would be smart to defuse this terrorist group early before it gets too powerful and we end up spending more money then we should.
ReplyDeleteIf a terrorist organization has this much power then proportionally we should have more than enough to eradicate their existence. I feel like the US takes most of the responsibility and pride for taking care of ISIS but in reality the entire world should be working to get rid of these guys,
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