New ISIS ‘Navy SEAL’ Propaganda Video Leaves Real American Soldiers Unimpressed
ISIS has become synonymous with propaganda and recruitment videos that many call “slick,” “highly produced,” and of “Hollywood quality,” and in one of their latest productions, ISIS seems to have reached deep into their bag of slick production tricks to present a new crack team of invincible military specialists that are capable and ready to kill.
The new ISIS propaganda/terror video, which was showcased by Vocativ (and can be seen here) is reportedly an ISIS tool designed to both show off the elite, Navy SEAL-like military commando prowess of ISIS soldiers, and to recruit new ISIS members.
And while American military members and veterans acknowledge that the ISIS video may attract some recruits, the actual scenarios presented of the ISIS militants in action, received poor reviews from American soldiers.
“Just looking at the way they moved, the way they held their weapons, made me laugh,” said retired Marines Corps Sergeant Major and U.S. military advisor, James Dever. “But I’m not a young person who knows nothing about skilled combat.”
ISIS also expected the video to make Americans tremble with fear, according to Wounded American Warrior, but so far that hasn’t been the case. In fact, if anything, the new ISIS propaganda video has had the opposite effect, perhaps because it too much resembles its Hollywood predecessors with obviously staged combat sequences and less-than-stellar acting.
While on-screen, the ISIS commandos are presented as terrifying, silent killing phantoms, clad in black, armed to the teeth (literally) and able to slice the throats and/or shoot any enemy-guards or combatants, fellow American soldiers agreed with Marines Corps Sergeant Major Dever, saying the frightening ISIS commandos in the video don’t reflect what’s required in combat reality.
“The quality of training appears very rudimentary and just hokey in some parts,” said Rick Nelson, an associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and whose credentials also include counter-terrorism expert and former Navy helicopter pilot. “You must have an element of surprise. Nothing in the video shows a particular ability of attacking in a clandestine or covert matter.”
Nelson also notes that ISIS conducting attacks from the water mid-day isn’t too bright, and that scuba gear is all-around far more effective for such operations than the cotton ISIS clothing.
The ISIS combat skills featured in the ISIS video of course require preparation, and the video reveals that if you join ISIS, they certainly will not short-change you on that. The new ISIS propaganda video highlights training, including martial arts, calisthenics, and even weight lifting to prepare an ISIS special forces recruit to take out the infidels.
But in the end, while this new ISIS propaganda and recruiting video doesn’t seem to feature any elite military skill, it does repeat previously effective ISIS recruitment techniques, generally making a “career” with ISIS look romantic, adventurous, macho, and worthwhile.
“ISIS continues to produce engaging content,” Nelson says. “Their media arm remains immensely effective.”
[Images via Vocativ]
