The Islamic State Works Against Itself?

NBC: Syria

Reuters February 3

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'Islamic State shows burning of hostage, Jordan vows 'earth-shaking' response

BY SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI AMMAN Tue Feb 3, 2015 6:51pm EST'

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'(Reuters) - Islamic State militants released a video on Tuesday appearing to show a captured Jordanian pilot being burnt alive in a cage, a killing that shocked the world and prompted Jordan to promise an "earth-shaking" response.

A Jordanian official said the authorities would swiftly execute several militants in retaliation, including an Iraqi woman whom Amman had sought to swap for the pilot taken captive after his plane crashed in Syria in December.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the content of the video, which showed a man resembling airman Mouath al-Kasaesbeh standing in a small black cage before being set ablaze.

The furious reaction of the Jordanian authorities made clear they treated it as genuine. Jordan, which has been mounting air raids in Syria as part of the U.S.-led alliance against Islamic State insurgents, would deliver a "strong, earth-shaking and decisive" response, a government spokesman said.

"The revenge will be as big as the calamity that has hit Jordan," army spokesman Colonel Mamdouh al Ameri said in a televised statement confirming the death of the pilot, who was seized by Islamic State in December.'

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'The Jordanian military might also escalate attacks on Islamic State, said retired air force General Mamoun Abu Nowar. "We might even see in a couple of days the rate of sorties increased dramatically.

We might have some special operations against their leadership too," he said. In the Islamic State video, Kasaesbeh is interviewed, describing the mission he was due to carry out before his jet crashed.

The video also showed footage of the aftermath of air strikes, with people trying to remove civilians from debris.

A man resembling Kasaesbeh is shown inside the cage with his clothes dampened, apparently with flammable liquid, and one of the masked fighters holds a torch, setting alight a line of fuel which leads into the cage. The man is set ablaze and kneels to the ground.'

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Islamic State emerged out of al Qaeda in Iraq. It expanded into Syria as the country was plunged into a civil war estimated to have killed 200,000 people since 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Tuesday that 51 civilians, including children, had been killed by Syrian air force strikes inside the country within the past day. 

The U.S.-led coalition says it does not coordinate with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, described by Washington as part of the problem. It does work with the Iraqi government, which is also fighting Islamic State.

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My condolences to all concerned for loss of life.

Blackburn explains terrorism is the intentional use of violence particularly to bring about widespread fear for political ends. Blackburn (1996: 374).

I can intellectually and philosophically grant that burning persons alive, beheadings and dreaming up other executions/murderous acts and attempts at such, will succeed at terrorizing the public to some degree, and probably will terrorize some in the military and governments as well.

But, as the Reuters' article demonstrates such acts and actions also can cause a severe counter-reaction.

Evil should not be repaid for evil by the individual or State (Romans 12, 1 Peter 3: 9), but I do believe in law and order via the State (Romans 13, 1 Peter 2) in order to counter terrorism within reason and where necessary.

The Islamic State as a political and religious movement while it creates more terrorism on its behalf is also creating more political and religious opposition against itself worldwide.

Therefore philosophically making a world dominated politically and religiously by radical Islam less likely...

The Islamic State is therefore working against itself...

BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

From Twitter: Absolutely not.