Jordanian Pilot mudered by ISIS

I believe you are right TerriBull in saying that social media (twitter) was used for suggestions as to how this poor man should be killed. I don't use twitter (or facebook) but if it is being used in such a way is there not a duty for twitter to deal with it or risk being closed down?

I also think we should stop referring to these people as terrorists. There must be a better work to describe barbaric,evil,monsters than simply terrorists.

How about Savages?!

Better "word" not work !

I have only read one article about this latest atrocity, after first seeing it mentiond here. I haven't looked at pictures/videos, as I feel that is what those scum want, us all to be shocked and scared of them, and for them to get as much publicity as possible.

God knows how we can stop this growing surge of young people joining them.

When I first saw the pictures of that poor lad being hauled out of the sea, I knew regrettably it was only likely to end in a bad way, as did he I'm sure. I feel for his poor mother.

The BBC are coming to my mind.

They even struggle to us the word 'terrorist' . [annoyed]

Surely that is the problem with lots of inventions throughout the ages, they can be used for great good and for enormous evil. Once the gene is out of the bottle there is no going back, nothing can be uninvented. It's true, China does try to block social media other than that which is State approved, but I can't see that being a goer in a democracy! To ban it or police social media you would need the approval of all nations, particularly as it is now so sophisticated. The only way to avoid it is not to subscribe to or log into social media, which has a downside too.

Every so often a there will be a news items that is so awful it can just lead to feelings of depression, for me anyway, the sheer barbarity feels as if we have been transported back to the Middle Ages at it's very worst.

The dark side of human nature is very bleak, the beheadings are vile enough but I am so upset for what this young man was put through and his poor, poor parents losing their son was bad enough but to learn how he was put to death will haunt them for ever. It's heartbreaking.

Yes POGS the BBC are such a bunch of mealy mouthed, weaselly, politically correct apologists they make me sick.

Tim Berners-Lee gave us a wonderful tool, it's heartbreaking to see how it has been used for such awful things.

It is awful, beyond imagining how anyone could do that to another human being.

Totally agree TerryB with your postings.
I despair.

Fear and horror are powerful tools for controlling others and IS is media savvy so successfully spreads the fear far and wide. Its brutal actions are in themselves nothing new; its the immediacy and extent of knowing about them that horrifies and shocks.

IS is also exceptionally well funded – for a terrorist organisation, although not for the state it aspires to be. Oil is a major source of its funding and I would guess that there are also other sources. Cutting off or at least severely reducing the money supply would surely be a better, if less dramatic tactic than military action.

Yes, Absent oil is a major source of IS funding - now how can they do that .... this bunch of 20-something disaffected brigands?

Oil is an internationally-traded commodity, subjected to strict price controls and output ..... who is doing the dealing?

As soon as oil enters the equation all kinds of questionable political compromises happen.

There is very interesting item on the BBC web site discussing IS funding.
Oil is significant, but not that significant in their funding
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-30315092

IS is routed in the internecine strife between the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam. The following link is to a long BBC article that gives a history of the development of the group and suggestions of how it an be undermined. It says:

^The most effective means to degrade IS is to dismantle its social base by winning over hearts and minds, a difficult and prolonged task, and to resolve the Syria conflict that has given IS motivation, resources and a safe haven.

There is no simple or quick solution to rid the Middle East of IS because it is a manifestation of the breakdown of state institutions, dismal socio-economic conditions and the spread of sectarian fires in the region. IS is a creature of accumulated grievances and of ideological and social polarisation and mobilisation a decade in the making.^

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-30681224

I think the media too often presents us with a too simplistic view of groups like IS. We have to understand why such a brutal and nihilist sect built up such a following among the people in the areas where it operates and remedy the problems there. The foreign fighters are only a very small part of their support, but good for media coverage.

But it isn't about religion is it it's about power. The poor pilot was a Sunni as are presumably the Islamic state butchers. At least in the Middle Ages you could buy a bag of gunpowder to assure a quick death when you were burned at the stake. The pilot had been to Mecca . Perhaps murdering someone who has been to Mecca is worth a few demerits in the Islamic paradise. I was fascinated to see the King of Jordan off to see the sorrowing father while the pilots wife was protesting in the streets,

It is about religion and religion, certainly here, is about the power to make everyone believe as you do and punish the heretics. The pilot may have been a Sunni but he was working for the those opposed to IS so in their eyes was a heretic, and, to IS, there is now worse crime than that. That is why he suffered a more terrible death than beheading.

I don't think it is about religion. That's just the excuse. This is about a group of thugs who want to impose their power over others. Like rapists, not being about sex it is all imposing your will over others. There have always been and will always be people like this. Pure wickedness.

I agree, it's not about religion, or only very loosely! It is all about power, control by terror, and horrifying other people till we all become like rabbits in the headlights. These specimens are vile evil thugs, attracting, like the Nazis, the scum of the earth into their ranks. They use the scriptures to justify their actions, and pick out bits of the Koran to use for this justification. Just like the Bible, it's all there to be interpreted one way or the other depending who is doing the interpreting!

How is it not about religion? What else is it about? The dastardly things people do are all there in their various Holy Books... their user manuals.

Are you saying that the Koran says to do what IS is doing?

There have been quite a few Koran quotations on the web recently that do appear to do just that... so yes.

At random...

Quran (8:12) - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them"

(33:60-62)If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease*, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbors in it but a little while. Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter.

*Christians and Jews

You can find it in the Bible too. An eye for an eye, Sodom and Gomorrah and plenty more. I don't think that in the 21st Century any civilized nation/people take it literally whatever their religious faith is. The interpretation of these thugs treatment of women is totally against Islamic law. Historically Islam has regarded women far move favourably than any other religion including Christianity, so no, these specimen's parading as human beings are just evil devils, and use the Koran as an excuse for their barbarity.

It's not about religion! It's about power.