ISIS’s strategy of terror | Hacker News Reader

ISIS’s strategy of terror

now.mmedia.me

29 pointshunglee215 comments

relevant :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_of_Savagery

These people aren't "savages", their leaders are highly educated , they have a 'Nazi' like doctrine which is methodical and somehow 'rational' from an economic and political standpoint.

But as someone interested in old Egyptian mythology I wish the media stopped calling them ISIS.

If you think Egyptian mythology has a problem with the name clash imagine this software incubator (also called Isis) [1]

"Thursday, April 2, 2015 - 09:30 to 11:30

Isis Innovation Ltd, Ewert House, Ewert Place, Oxford OX2 7SG, United Kingdom

The Isis Software Incubator is running its spring 4 week accelerator programme starting March 23. During this time several of our ventures will come in for 4 full weeks of working to progress their ventures and participating in different training sessions we’ve put together for them. For the first time we're opening up our doors so you can join them for these!"

[1] http://www.eship.ox.ac.uk/startup-marketing-1-isis-software-...

The TV show Archer also had that problem.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/13/showbiz/tv/archer-isis-fx/

>calling them ISIS

I think you can fairly reliably tell the quality of news source based on what they call this organization.

You should just ignore anyone calling them ISIS. At least listen to anyone who calls them ISIL. Anyone who still calls them IS, or the Islamic State, needs to get with the times. Finally, you can probably trust that anyone referring to them as Daesh knows what they are talking about.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/10/09/words-matter-...

Come on, really? This seems like a lot you want to place trust to whomever presents some kind of posturing than anything. Discouraging others to people to even hear other sources based on the name seem like a perfect recipe for indoctrination. I'd rather read whatever I can and form my own opinion on the matter.

That was not intended as a serious comment. It was poking light fun at all the media hemming and hawing that goes into terminology like this.

I could have expressed the point more sarcastically, so that it was more clear.

Really? IMHO, I found the article quite level-headed and analytical and the author seemed to have actual knowledge of the situation at the ground level.

Why would you give filth a name at all [0]? I would not trust any news source that gives a name to filth, especially one still based on a name it calls itself.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumanization

If you read the article, you'll see that Daesh is itself an insulting name. If you have to refer to them somehow, it might as well be a way that upsets them.

Since we're playing the "if you read" game, I did. I also bothered to research the claim [0].

The article's explanation for why Daesh is insulting is wrong (has nothing to do with conjugation) and the reason the filth gets so upset by the name could just as easily occur by calling filth "filth" as it would by calling filth "Daesh".

[0] https://www.freewordcentre.com/blog/2015/02/daesh-isis-media...

Actual content that I found interesting:

ISIS has a number of old Iraqi Baath intelligence people.

ISIS is fighting the Syrian government, but also working with it against other rebel groups.

Iran is desperate for people to send to Syria as fighters. They're even arresting people on trumped-up drug charges (which gets you something like 20 to life in Iran), then offers them the option of fighting in Syria.

ISIS isn't really trying to inspire the masses to rise up and join them. They're trying to inspire the masses to fear and therefore obey them.

Preface, from the article:

> Der Spiegel investigative journalist Christoph Reuter is probably known to the English-speaking readership for his recent story on coming into possession of ISIS’s initial planning documents. However, this story is only part of his lengthy investigative work in Syria and Iraq, which has resulted in many reports and a new book, published in April this year.

This article is actually an interview with Christoph Reuter about the book he wrote. I posted this short summary because I don't like not knowing what to expect before I open a link on HN. Perhaps this applies to more people than just me, so here ya go.

Ah, so this is a "submarine" article[1] about the author's new book. These days everything is a "submarine" advertisement for one thing or another, and it's nice to know what's going to be advertised before you start reading. Thanks.

[1]http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

But this "submarine" is fully surfaced, they mention the book in the first paragraph, give you the full title and an Amazon link to it in the 3rd, and shortly follow with a big picture of the cover.

Sure, it's a type of advertisement, but it has a lot of stand alone value, and surely this is a legitimate way to try to convince you to buy the book.

Let me re-emphasize that: It has a lot of stand alone value. This is a very interesting and well-informed article.

All these comments so far, and none are about the content...

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