France Launches Airstrikes on ISIS: Attack on Depot Kills Dozens of Militants in Iraq Amid Claims New Hostage Video Shows Group Fears a U.S. Assault
- Video of British hostage John Cantlie is more measured than previous ones
- He calls on Western powers to negotiate with rather than attack terror cell
- Change of tone has convinced experts that ISIS fears it is becoming isolated
- Professor: They were so brutal. Now they're saying 'we're reasonable'
- Compared to the way Al Qaeda softened its portrayal of Osama bin Laden
- French confirm they targeted logistics depot in Iraq with air strikes
Daily Mail UK, 19 September 2014
Four French airstrikes have killed dozens of fighters from the Islamic State after targeting a logistics depot in northern Iraq.
President Francois Hollande said fighter jets 'entirely destroyed' the complex in what were France's first airstrikes in Iraq after he agreed to bolster Baghdad's offensive against the insurgency.
An Iraq military spokesman said four French airstrikes hit the town of Zumar, killing dozens of extremist fighters.
Zumar and surrounding towns have remained heavily contested by Islamic State fighters, even though Iraqi and Kurdish security forces have managed to make headway in nearby regions with the support of US airstrikes.
The announcement came as experts said a dramatic change of tone in the latest hostage video released by the Islamic State shows the jihadist group is worried about becoming isolated and provoking a U.S. assault.
In the footage released yesterday, British photojournalist John Cantlie sits behind a desk and in a measured tone makes the case for Western powers to negotiate with his captors.
Measured: The dramatic change of tone in the latest video released by the Islamic State of British journalist John Cantlie (above) shows the terror group is fearful of becoming isolated, according to experts
Change of tack: In a calm tone, Mr Cantlie makes the case for Western powers to negotiate with his captors
Professor Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King's College London, said the militants were now trying to distance themselves from the image that they were 'crazy'.
'They were so brutal and made it so easy for Western governments to portray their enemy as completely barbaric people that need to be destroyed,' he told AFP.
'And now they are doing the exact opposite. Now they are saying: "We are reasonable people, if Western governments would just talk to us, then everything could be resolved quite easily".'
In the latest video, Mr Cantlie speaks calmly from what appears to be an autocue and promised series of documentaries that he says will paint the militant organisation in a better light.
He admits he is speaking as a prisoner and that he may yet follow his former cellmates to the grave.
But he urges viewers to tune in to a series of films that will reveal another side of the Islamic State group, which has rampaged across large areas of Iraq and Syria.
The video shares the polished production values of its predecessors but none of the blood-soaked savagery, a telling detail for analysts.
Neumann doubts the change in tactics will damage Western resolve, with U.S. President Barack Obama vowing to crush the jihadists.
Softening its stance: The slickly-made video marks a significant change of tactics by IS, who have previously released barbaric footage of hostages, including David Haines (above), being executed in a desert
Quote:
FREE BRIT HOSTAGES, BEGS FAMILY OF JAILED SCIENTIST USED BY ISIS TO JUSTIFY ACTS OF BARBARISM
The sister of a jailed Pakistan neuroscientist whose release from a U.S. prison is being demanded by the Islamic State has begged the terror group to spare the lives of its British hostages.
Aafia Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence in Texas after being convicted of attempting to kill a group of FBI agents and U.S. soldiers who were about to interrogate her for alleged links to Al Qaeda in 2008.
Her cause has recently become a rallying cry for the Islamic State who proposed swapping her for American journalist James Foley.
However, Mr Foley was executed after their demands, which also included an end to U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, were not met.
The Islamic State has since paraded British hostages Alan Henning and John Cantlie in front of the cameras, raising fears they could be killed next.
Dr Fowzia Siddiqui today said her sister would be horrified to know that ISIS was using her case to justify acts of barbarism.
She said: 'She would be distraught if she knew that there are people bragging about murder and mayhem and using her name to justify it.
'She would also be praying for the victims and their families. Aafia is one of too many people around the world who understands the toll that injustice demands from all of us.'
She called on the ISIS kidnappers to follow the example set by the Prophet Mohammad, who said mercy was an act of courage.
|
Previous hostage videos and the jihadists' brutal behaviour in the area of Iraq and Syria they control have cemented their image.
But Neumann said the change in tone appeared to be a calculated attempt to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of those in the West and the Muslim world who opposed previous U.S.-led interventions in the Middle East.
'There's not as much opposition against striking ISIS as there was, for example, against the Iraq war in 2003, and that's because we look at ISIS and think they are crazy,' he said, using an alternate acronym for the IS group.
'I see perhaps how this video perhaps appeals to some people on the anti-war left, people who are suspicious of war and military intervention,' he added.
'They will be saying: "Look! They are not completely crazy. We can give talking, negotiation a chance before going in bombing." And I think that's exactly what they want to achieve.'
Cantlie says the upcoming films will show how the decision of European governments to negotiate with the IS group led to their nationals being released.
British and American hostages have not been released and three have been murdered.
A fourth, British taxi driver Alan Henning, was threatened with death in the last execution video.
London and Washington have a policy of not paying ransoms to those they regard as terrorists - and the latest video appears to be aimed at driving a wedge between Western capitals.
Henning was a driver for an aid convoy to Syria supported by Islamist groups, and many Muslims have appealed to his captors to release him, including some that might otherwise back the group.
Neumann said the convoy included a 'lot of guys who basically support Al-Qaeda' and that IS may be concerned that its reckless brutality has cost it support even in such quarters.
Brutal threats: British taxi driver Alan Henning was threatened with death in the last execution video
But if the Cantlie video is one sign of IS perhaps adopting a new tone to avoid isolation, the key will be Henning's fate.
'All these executions have happened on a 10- to 14-day rhythm. If there's no execution of Alan Henning in a week's time, I think we can be almost certain it has caused them to think,' Neumann said.
'He's kind of like the least likely imperialist that you could possibly think of. If they execute him, then I think that's the sign that they really don't care, and all this is a big charade,' he said.
Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group - which monitors extremist activity online - said the video showed that the IS group is terrified of US intervention.
She said the change in tone in the latest IS video recalled a similar transition in Al Qaeda's portrayal of its late leader Osama bin Laden.
Before 2007, bin Laden often appeared dressed in combat fatigues and toting a gun, threatening the West with violent revenge.
Later, as U.S. forces and allies targeted Al Qaeda safe havens, he appeared unarmed, speaking gently in civilian garb 'like a head of state.'
'There's no doubt in my mind that ISIS is very afraid of a US-led military operation against it,' Katz said.
'First they tried to terrorise with beheadings, now they want to create the perception in the international community at large, both Western countries and Muslims, that they are not incapable of civilized behavior.'
Katz also dismisses claims from some commentators that the videos are an attempt to goad Washington to attack, and argues that they are instead a crude attempt to deter strikes.
'From the first days after they captured Mosul (in Iraq), as the calls and threats of intervention were heard in Washington, IS issued videos straight away threatening Obama,' she said.
'When that did not work, they moved on to the execution videos. Only a US-led coalition can stop them, and that is something that they want to stop in any shape or form.'