Refugee crisis turning out to be a crisis for ISIS too

[bird.LA]

Thought this was interesting. Millions of Muslims seeking refuge in western countries turning out to be not a good look for the caliphate's propaganda machine.

LINK: http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/09/22/442520787/the-flood-of-syrian-refugees-puts-isis-on-the-defensive

As more Syrian refugees board rickety boats on the Turkish coast, the Islamic State is cranking up its propaganda campaign.

The refugee crisis is also becoming a crisis for ISIS, as Syrians reject the group's claim that the so-called caliphate offers a safe haven, and the refugees instead opt for the dangerous journey to Europe.

In recent weeks, ISIS has put out almost a dozen videos with messages that denounce the refugees, threaten them with the horrors of living among "unbelievers" and plead with them to join the caliphate.

"The idea that they are not heading to 'ISIS land' is a slap in the face," says Alberto Fernandez, who ran the State Department's counterterrorism communications unit before recently joining the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.

"They are leaving because their relatives were killed by Assad," he says of the refugees. "That's the ISIS demographic, but the people brutalized by Assad are not turning to ISIS."

 

[GWS]

OK, I was about a page deep into writing ISIS recruiting slogans/jingles when it finally happened.

I offended myself.