Worthy of a full read — a classic failure of US intelligence and strategic communication filters.
Islamic State propaganda: what the West doesn't understand
Ruth Pollard in Sydney Morning Herald
Beirut: Behind the ultra-violent execution videos that have become the Islamic State's disturbing trademark is a carefully calibrated set of messages aimed not at terrorising but at recruiting people to “an alternative way of living”.
While brutality is the most prominent narrative in the West, utopianism is by far the most important narrative for Islamic State's propagandists.
