So ISIS or ISIL or whatever their AKA is knows how to push our buttons.

[trof]

That much is painfully obvious.
Had videos of these atrocities not been put on the net, who would have paid much attention besides the families of the victims?

We're being played, and quite well.

I have to wonder what the response to Hitler's 'solution to the Jewish question' would have been if there had been iPhone cameras and the internet.

I'm not arguing pro or con how we should respond.
Just wondering.

Discussion?
trof

[customerserviceguy]

1. I've thought about your premise before reading your post

and I've concluded that pushing "our" buttons (specifically those buttons attached to American and British people) is just a side benefit for IS-whatever. They already know that neither the US or the UK will pay ransoms, so the captives are worthless from that standpoint. However, fancy filmed executions keep the bejesus scared out of the Europeans who are already inclined to pay up, and probably boosts the prices up considerably. They clearly add haste to the drive to pass the hat for euros, which seem to be the preferred currency for this group.

Add to the fact that they're a recruiting tool for jihadi wannabes, and you have all the motivation for showing them without regard to how the US and UK governments feel about them.

[trof]

2. Very interesting observation.

Thank you for that perspective.

[karynnj]

3. I would go further and say that they did not WANT ransom from Americans

From some accounts, where the other hostages had ransoms of about $1 to $3 million demanded - the Americans, $132 million (you might be right about euros as that demand was a 100 million Euros) in the case of Fowley. They knew the US government would not pay. By making the cost so prohibitive, they prevent the news companies that they worked for or the family raising the money. (Yes, I know it is "against the law", but whether it succeeded or not, do you really see ANY prosecutor charging them? )

I also wonder if part of the difference is that many of these people are Sunnis that were in AQ in Iraq and many were Saddam people. There might be a special hate for the Americans and the British. That they demand a ransom at all is likely to guilt trip those who have to stand by that policy - when as humans, their hearts have to go out to the families.

[JimDandy]

4. I have my doubts as to who is the puppetmaster

pushing the buttons and who is the puppet.

[GummyBearz]

5. Idea:

I know how to get under their skin... Lets draw a shit ton of cartoons of Muhammad. They will riot until they all kill themselves off