The UK Daily Mail describes the latest Islamic State (ISIS) propaganda video as an “incredible show of force on Europe’s doorstep.” After chopping off the heads of 21 captive Egyptian Christians, the Islamic State staged a parade of jihadi “police cars,” flying the black Islamist flag before a throng of cheering men, women, and children, in a city that looks an awful lot like Benghazi, although other sources place scenes from the video in Derna and Sirte.
The video, the UK newspaper notes, was uploaded by members of Ansar al-Sharia, which was once an al-Qaeda affiliate but appears increasingly tied to the Islamic State. Experts believe Ansar al-Sharia was largely responsible for the September 11 attack in Benghazi, where this video may have been filmed. The Obama administration assured us the Benghazi attack was a spontaneous protest made by random folks against a YouTube video produced by an obscure character in California, whom they promptly rounded up on obscure parole violation charges and tossed in jail to appease the Islamists.
The Daily Mail says most of the feuding extremist groups in Libya – including Ansar al-Sharia, Libya Dawn, and the Islamic Youth Shura Council – have sworn allegiance to ISIS. The terror state has even appointed an emir to run the show in Libya. “Libya is seen by North Africans now as the place to go spread the Caliphate. Unlike a few years ago, when everyone was leaving Libya to go to the Levant, you now have people going back,” analyst Dr. Theodore Karasik explained. “Because the idea of ‘state’ is there and now with the executions, they will feel like there are enough numbers on the ground to fight. They know at the same time the West is slow at acting.”
International Business Times believes the video was intended as a gesture of defiance against Egypt after it carried out air strikes on ISIS positions to avenge the murder of those Egyptian Christians. IBT notes that a beach they pass by during the parade greatly resembles the beach where those Christians were beheaded.
So while President Obama is holding meaningless political-circus summits on Generic Extremism and refusing to even speak the name of Islamism, ISIS is holding parades in Libya with a fleet of decapitation-mobiles tricked out like police cars to let everyone know they’re in North Africa to stay.
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