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For Britain, Fighting ISIS Might Add to Risk at Home For Britain, Fighting ISIS Might Add to Risk at Home
(about 4 hours later)
LONDON — The images have become as familiar as they are repellent: a victim, swathed in orange, kneeling, forced to recite a propagandist’s script; a black-clad, masked executioner rearing over him, knife in hand, declaiming his own lines from a litany of anti-Western grievances before seeming to perform ritualized murder in front of a video camera in the desert. LONDON — The images have become as familiar as they are repellent: a victim, swathed in orange, kneeling, forced to recite a propagandist’s script; a black-clad, masked executioner rearing over him, knife in hand, declaiming his own lines from a litany of anti-Western grievances before seeming to perform ritualized murder in front of a video camera in the desert.
The intended symbolism is unmistakable in these excerpts from the uneven war against the Sunni militants of the Islamic State: The victims, emblems as much as they are citizens of Western lands, must kneel before a newer power. The grisly act of decapitation represents the inexorable nature of that power.The intended symbolism is unmistakable in these excerpts from the uneven war against the Sunni militants of the Islamic State: The victims, emblems as much as they are citizens of Western lands, must kneel before a newer power. The grisly act of decapitation represents the inexorable nature of that power.
With the executions first of the Americans James Foley, reported on Aug. 19, and Steven J. Sotloff, on Sept. 2, then of the Briton David Cawthorne Haines on Sept. 13, the militants acted out a parable of their own dominance.With the executions first of the Americans James Foley, reported on Aug. 19, and Steven J. Sotloff, on Sept. 2, then of the Briton David Cawthorne Haines on Sept. 13, the militants acted out a parable of their own dominance.
In Britain, there was another dark strand to this deadly narrative. In all three beheadings, the hooded figure speaks with what seems to be a British accent. A British militant, in other words, is depicted as ending the life of a British aid worker equally far from the land that molded both the jihadist dream of one and the philanthropic vision of the other.In Britain, there was another dark strand to this deadly narrative. In all three beheadings, the hooded figure speaks with what seems to be a British accent. A British militant, in other words, is depicted as ending the life of a British aid worker equally far from the land that molded both the jihadist dream of one and the philanthropic vision of the other.
In the wings, a fourth victim, Alan Henning, a 47-year-old former cabdriver from northwest England, kidnapped after he delivered medical supplies to northern Syria in December, awaits the next act in this lurid drama. In the wings, a fourth victim, Alan Henning, a 47-year-old former cabdriver from northwest England, kidnapped after he delivered medical supplies to northern Syria in December, awaits the next act in this lurid drama. (On Thursday, a new and macabre scene did unfold, showing another British hostage offering a scripted explanation of the militants’ views.)
The unavoidable message for the British authorities as they weigh President Obama’s quest for allies in his air war against the militants is that they must contemplate not simply one more far-flung campaign as junior partners to America, but also its impact on an enemy within — the newest heirs to the homegrown terrorists who attacked London’s transit system on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people.The unavoidable message for the British authorities as they weigh President Obama’s quest for allies in his air war against the militants is that they must contemplate not simply one more far-flung campaign as junior partners to America, but also its impact on an enemy within — the newest heirs to the homegrown terrorists who attacked London’s transit system on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people.
Up to 500 young British men are said by the security services in London to have joined the ranks of militant Islam in what started as a civil war against President Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian government in Syria and has become a quest for a restoration of the Islamic caliphate dismantled 90 years ago, after World War I.Up to 500 young British men are said by the security services in London to have joined the ranks of militant Islam in what started as a civil war against President Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian government in Syria and has become a quest for a restoration of the Islamic caliphate dismantled 90 years ago, after World War I.
The image of a compatriot being beheaded was bound to incense Britons, possibly overcoming profound hesitancy about foreign military adventures as their troops prepare to leave Afghanistan following their exit from Iraq in 2009.The image of a compatriot being beheaded was bound to incense Britons, possibly overcoming profound hesitancy about foreign military adventures as their troops prepare to leave Afghanistan following their exit from Iraq in 2009.
But, if Britain does join the air war against the Islamic State militants, it will be fighting a more complex battle for perceptions, hearts and minds: Set against the depictions of beheadings, the grainy cockpit images of Western missiles blasting Muslim targets could simply persuade more young Britons to join the militant ranks. It is in the nature of asymmetric warfare in the digital era that videos on the Internet can offer a potent weapon against precision-guided munitions.But, if Britain does join the air war against the Islamic State militants, it will be fighting a more complex battle for perceptions, hearts and minds: Set against the depictions of beheadings, the grainy cockpit images of Western missiles blasting Muslim targets could simply persuade more young Britons to join the militant ranks. It is in the nature of asymmetric warfare in the digital era that videos on the Internet can offer a potent weapon against precision-guided munitions.
As in earlier campaigns, conflagrations far away could spread their flames at home, where the domestic service MI5 has already raised its assessment of the terrorist threat to “severe,” its second-highest category. So could mission creep: Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, President Obama’s top military adviser, has already spoken of the possible deployment of ground forces.As in earlier campaigns, conflagrations far away could spread their flames at home, where the domestic service MI5 has already raised its assessment of the terrorist threat to “severe,” its second-highest category. So could mission creep: Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, President Obama’s top military adviser, has already spoken of the possible deployment of ground forces.
The toxic interplay of domestic security concerns and foreign policy imperatives is not lost on the militants who wrote Mr. Haines’s script.The toxic interplay of domestic security concerns and foreign policy imperatives is not lost on the militants who wrote Mr. Haines’s script.
“You entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the Islamic State, just as your predecessor Tony Blair did,” the captive said in his video-recorded message to Mr. Cameron. “Unfortunately it is we the British public that in the end will pay the price for our Parliament’s selfish decisions.”“You entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the Islamic State, just as your predecessor Tony Blair did,” the captive said in his video-recorded message to Mr. Cameron. “Unfortunately it is we the British public that in the end will pay the price for our Parliament’s selfish decisions.”
The militants’ intention could be to draw the West into an epochal showdown. But its purpose could also be to warn Western leaders to steer clear. “Playing the role of the obedient lapdog, Cameron,” the professed executioner said in the video, “will only drag you and your people into another bloody and unwinnable war.”The militants’ intention could be to draw the West into an epochal showdown. But its purpose could also be to warn Western leaders to steer clear. “Playing the role of the obedient lapdog, Cameron,” the professed executioner said in the video, “will only drag you and your people into another bloody and unwinnable war.”