In areas of Iraq and Syria where ISIS has taken over, public executions are common. They have been a staple of the group’s puritanical interpretation of Islamic law since before it took control of Mosul and declared itself the Calpihate, or Islamic State. Death is shown in high resolution—the killing carefully composed inside the frame. These images belong to a deliberate social media and information strategy. Like all good Internet propaganda the images are made to be readily “shareable” and appear to have been released with the intent that they travel to a broader audience. It worked. Obscene and merciless, it’s a reflection of the state of life under ISIS rule.
As if we needed another example of ISIS/ISIL brutality and inhumanity, the latest example of their enforcement of Islamic law takes their cruelty to new depths. In a polished social media spread, militants push a man to his death of the top of a building for committing the crimes of “the people of Lot”- sodomy.
Yes, not only are ISIS/ISIL militants executing non-Muslims because they can, now they’ve demonstrated their commitment to their interpretation of the Quran by executing a man for being gay. Whether the man’s homosexuality was real or suspected isn’t made clear, but ISIS/ISIL’s intent seems clear: enforcing conformity through fear and terror in order to consolidate power in the areas they control. Never mind that ISIS/ISIL knows next to nothing about nation building, economic policy, or anything else that characterizes a functional nation-state. It seems the new Caliphate is a place where nothing works, the electricity is intermittent, garbage remains uncollected, water is of questionable purity…but those who wield power excel at one thing: killing those they deem as errant.
The interesting (and distressingly sad) aspect of ISIS/ISIL’s reign of terror is that a line can be drawn from it directly to George W. Bush’s and Dick Cheney’s invasion of Iraq. If not for the illegal and immoral invasion purchased with lies and propaganda, more than 4500 Americans might still be alive, and the Middle East might be slightly less en fuego. Yet the one thing we never hear from the mainstream media is a discussion of the genesis of ISIS/ISIL. If not for the invasion of Iraq and subsequent massacre of more than 100,000 Iraqis, would ISIS/ISIL have emerged with the ferocity it has? Would the conditions have existed for the creation of ISIS/ISIL? Would 4500 American servicemen and 100,000 Iraqis still be alive? And why haven’t Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © and The Dark Lord © been tried on war crimes charges?
Instead, we have a region in which the enemy of my enemy may be my friend…or may well still be my enemy. The current state of affairs may have come to fruition regardless, but it’s difficult not to feel that the Bush Administration has blood (and more than a few war crimes) on their hands. Why they’re still walking the Earth as free men is a study in a complete lack of political courage.
