Is there a way to counter Daesh propaganda?

Despite the extensive amount of damage Russia and assumingly the United States have inflicted upon Daesh in Iraq and Syria, this terrorist organization seems to be determined to recover from its losses.

The Times notes that according to its sources in the Daesh-occupied territory, an emergency mobilization has been declared By Daesh. Under these circumstances special attention has been paid by Daesh to the propaganda war it has been waging in order to attract new followers both form Western and Muslim countries. Martin Berger, a freelance journalist and geopolitical analyst, has written an informative and disclosing article on the issue, appeared exclusively on the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”. Stay with us to hear the story, of course, coupled with some ground realties.

Last year, the BBC published a detailed and comprehensive study of the internal propaganda of the Daesh. According to this study, only half of the massive amount of propaganda that Daesh releases depicts brutal executions and explicit violence, while the other half depicts scenes of everyday life. Daesh propagandists are convinced that attempts to show that the Daesh is fulfilling all the functions of an actual state would attract the maximum number of new followers into Daesh ranks. Such propaganda pieces show routine social activities: classes in schools, medical procedures at hospitals, marriages, and the seemingly serious religious educational lectures being delivered to the population of occupied lands to ensure the observance of the so-called moral principles. The Time would note that such pieces have proven to be very effective.

However, one should note that such propaganda campaigns haven’t been invented by Daesh. They have already been used by the Taliban extensively, which allowed it to receive support from the population of Afghanistan due to its ability to restore order in devastated areas. It should be noted that the both Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon received overwhelming approval from their respective populations by spending a lot of effort and money on charitable projects, such as the construction of schools, libraries, hospitals, shelters, and even the organization of sporting events.

Under these circumstances it’s not hard to understand why Daesh propaganda has been somehow successful in attracting new supporters into the ranks of this terrorist organization. What’s curious is that young and inexperienced souls are not the only ones being tricked by Daesh propaganda, since older generations are often seeking refuge from the sins of today’s Western world as well.

Those sins are being pushed upon all states by Washington’s desire to introduce so-called ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘American-style democracy’, which corrodes traditional social and family values. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that a number of countries across the globe have come to the conclusion that if they can’t find a way to counter Daesh propaganda, they cannot prevent this terrorist organization from strengthening. People that have already fallen victims to this propaganda are convinced that the rule of the Daesh is a viable option if it promises the rule of traditional values and stability, which cannot be found in the modern Western society.

For instance, France would have to admit that it has failed to provide an adequate answer to this propaganda campaign, since over 1,700 French citizens have joined the ranks of Daesh making the country the largest European “supplier” of terrorists to Syria and Iraq. As it has been noted by Le Temps, the absolute majority of large terrorist organizations in the world have French subdivisions, while France itself remains a reliable base of operations.

As it has been noted by the Liberation, France’s major media sources miserably failed to raise anti-Daesh awareness which resulted in terrorist attacks in Paris. In January, the French Minister of Internal Affairs stated that the fight against terrorist propaganda has become a top priority for the country. The newspaper notes that the inability to choose priorities and blatant shortsightedness of the government have led to disastrous consequences.

It’s curious that a French government website Stop Djihadisme, launched back in 2015, is being completely outranked by terrorist propaganda sources that have much more content to attract viewers. A year after the launch of this project, Stop Djihadisme appeared on Facebook and Twitter, while Daesh over the same year uploaded 800 videos in 11 languages, 15,000 photos and has been running over 20 online journals.

In turn, the US State Department launched a campaign to counter Daesh propaganda back in 2013. The media campaign called “Think Again Turn Away” was supported by 60 employees of the State Department. The 6 million dollars allocated to this project by the US government allowed its employers to only get about 23,000 followers on Twitter. The claimed aim of this campaign was to uncover Daesh lies and present firsthand evidence of the crimes committed by Daesh. At the end of March the “Think Again Turn Away” campaign was brought to an end, recognized as “senseless and useless.”

According to various sources, the budget of the Global Engagement Center ranges from 10 to 20 million dollars. This time around, experts say, the State Department won’t be paying its employees for writing posts in English in various social networks, and instead it’s going to hire foreign top bloggers and journalists, those people who are well-respected in Islamic communities, who are going to produce materials that the Center would deem useful in the fight against extremist propaganda.

It is expected that the Global Engagement Center will be helping authors to produce high-quality content in their native languages. The distinctive feature of this campaign, according to the calculations of the Center management – is to ensure that those counter-propaganda pieces are being distributed in various regions without any mention of Washington’s involvement in its production. Particular attention is going to be paid to the distribution of these materials via Facebook and Twitter.

To assess the prospects of this project, one should take a closer look at the head of the Center – Michael D. Lumpkin. This former Navy SEAL was born in 1964, has spent more that 20 years in the US armed forces, and participated in a number of military operations in Panama, Afghanistan and Iraq. He was engaged in the creation of prisons for interrogation of high-ranking prisoners, prepared groups to operate in Afghanistan, and was in charge of drone strikes in Libya and Syria. Lumpkin’s final assignment in the military was in the United States Special Operations Command Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C. where he served as liaison to the United States Congress on policy and appropriation issues supporting the US’s Special Operations Forces. So now they are to see how he’s going to show for himself “in the information battle for the minds of young people.”

Given the importance of strengthening of the fight against Daesh, all countries should aim to improve their counter-propaganda efforts, which should be a crucial part of any anti-terrorist operation.

By the way, let's review some ground realities: Despite Russian efforts since last year, the United States government refuses to define and criminalize “terrorism” in Syria within the framework of International Law. The US government is obligated to define and criminalize all types of terrorist groups in Syria, including Daesh and al-Qaeda affiliates, as they seriously undermine fundamental human rights, jeopardize the state and peaceful politics, and threaten regional and international peace and security.

By classifying the terrorist groups in Syria, the US government could help to distinguish political from foreign-backed violence, eliminating the overreach of the many anti-terrorism treaties. This could also help to confine the scope of UN Security Council resolutions, which have encouraged states to pursue unilateral and excessive counter-terrorism measures.

In the extraordinary situation in Syria, nonetheless, the US government admits that the terrorist groups of Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham are fighting alongside and are “intermingled with al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front,” but resoundingly rejects the Russian request to classify them as terrorist groups!

Also, the US government refuses to accommodate reasonable claims to the political violence, particularly against the Syrian people. Instead, it simply comes up with a range of exceptions, justifications, excuses, defenses, and amnesties potentially available to terrorists.

In addition, the State Department refuses to classify those who are fighting alongside and intermingling with al-Qaeda as a terrorist group. Quite the opposite, the State Department is actually asking Russia and the Syrian government to stop shooting at such groups!

 Long story short, the US government cannot explain it away by telling the world community that “because Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham are also present, there should be no Russian or Syrian attack on Aleppo.”

In summation, defining terrorism in Syria as a discrete international crime will help recognize and protect the civilian population, safeguard vital international values and interests, symbolically express world community condemnation, and denounce offenders.

It is the time for the world community to force this important issue, and demand the US government explain why they justify defending terrorist groups?

EA/MG