SMH - Beheading Foley is an Attempt to Drag the US Back Into a Ground War in Iraq. [View all]

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"What's happening is they are trying to get Western intervention in Iraq and Syria," says Clarke Jones, a former national security operative specialising in counterterrorism now with the Australian National University.

"That would enable them to develop a new and powerful narrative of Western oppression of Muslims that would help them attract a new wave of recruits."

Renowned Norwegian terrorism expert Thomas Hegghammer agrees, questioning whether the attack on the Yazidis, raids into Kurdistan and the beheading of Foley could all be a "deliberate provocation strategy".

"ISIS seems to be doing everything it can (short of attacks on the West) to draw the US into conflict," he tweeted.

An angry West suits Islamic State, says Monash University terrorism expert Greg Barton. Hostility to Muslims feeds into their narrative of belittled Muslims persecuted by non-believers. It helps recruiting among their target audience and, at the same time, puts pressure on Western governments to act.

http://m.smh.com.au/world/brutal-beheading-of-james-foley-an-attempt-to-provoke-ground-invasion-of-iraq-and-syria-20140820-1068ig.html