Posted on Feb 4, 2015
Should We Watch the ISIS Video of the Jordanian Pilot?
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Should we as Americans view the video of the Jordanian pilot being executed by ISIS? Many news media organizations are refusing to show it due to its sheer brutality and disturbing nature. They argue that it helps to spread ISIS's propaganda message of terror and fear. Other news organizations have shown pictures from the video and have provided links (with warnings about the graphic content) to the video in full. They argue that it is necessary to understand the magnitude of the incident. I have my own thoughts on this ethical dilemma, but I want to hear what the RallyPoint community thinks about this. Should the video be shown in the media? Would you watch it? Is it spreading terrorist propaganda or understanding the enemy?
ISIS
Jordan
Ethics
Terrorism
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 102
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I don't need to watch wealthy Western men raping young women to understand the evils of human trafficking. I don't need to see decapitated Mexican police officers to understand the evils of the drug cartels. I don't need to see honest men of integrity being immolated to understand the evils of ISIS.
I personally choose to remember the pilot as he was and as he should still be, a smiling, handsome, brave man who did his very best for his country.
I have never watched a decapitation video, going back to the first ones in 2004. I refuse to give these people the satisfaction.
I personally choose to remember the pilot as he was and as he should still be, a smiling, handsome, brave man who did his very best for his country.
I have never watched a decapitation video, going back to the first ones in 2004. I refuse to give these people the satisfaction.
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PO2 Brad Fletcher
Three things you (probably) don't know about islam
Three Things You Should Know About Islam by http://www.youtube.com/TheWhiteR0ses Three surprising things you probably didn't know about Islam and the Quran. ...
Sun Zsu was right; know yourself & know your enemy. Trouble is, too many Americans are among the naïve class living in a "comfortable bubble" and they don’t know. They are oblivious to the horrors of the real world, leading them to think we have no enemies.
Yes, videos of burning, beheading and stoning are upsetting but it is reality.
If naïve Americans don’t venture outside that comfortable bubble they may not wake up to reality until we have a much bigger problem. Such naiveté is similar to the ignorant pacifist movement after WW-I. Cowed politicians delayed taking action against evil until it was too late - the result was WW-II where tens of millions died.
If you are old enough, you may recall people spitting on military people & calling them “baby killers” as they returned from Vietnam. Those morons were too stupid to understand that politicians & not soldiers make international policy decisions. It is a short trip from blaming soldiers for politicians’ failures to believing the delusional narrative that Islamic evil doesn’t exist.
Members of the political class who deny the threat are exploiting the naïve class & ignore the uncomfortable reality of evil. Despite the politicos trying to bamboozle us, the near instant information from around the world allows us to make our own decisions as barbaric muz behavior plays out for all to see.
Not only are the political elites trying to fool us & with boneheaded sayings like “they don’t represent Islam”, they assume that we are STUPID enough to believe them. So why are we even debating this question?
When a poison snake is spotted crawling around a kids’ playground, a good manager does not hold endless meetings about snakes, but just kills the damned thing.
This deliberation suggests that otherwise intelligent people can’t make clear-headed decisions about confronting evil. Therefore, I’m beginning to think WW-III is inevitable.
Still not convinced? Read the Koran. If you do, pay special attention to the 2nd half – that is where the real evil is. If you aren’t into reading, this short video is a quick summary; http://youtu.be/fgsrnmzxEUY
More about the religion of peace - http://gentleislam.com/science
Yes, videos of burning, beheading and stoning are upsetting but it is reality.
If naïve Americans don’t venture outside that comfortable bubble they may not wake up to reality until we have a much bigger problem. Such naiveté is similar to the ignorant pacifist movement after WW-I. Cowed politicians delayed taking action against evil until it was too late - the result was WW-II where tens of millions died.
If you are old enough, you may recall people spitting on military people & calling them “baby killers” as they returned from Vietnam. Those morons were too stupid to understand that politicians & not soldiers make international policy decisions. It is a short trip from blaming soldiers for politicians’ failures to believing the delusional narrative that Islamic evil doesn’t exist.
Members of the political class who deny the threat are exploiting the naïve class & ignore the uncomfortable reality of evil. Despite the politicos trying to bamboozle us, the near instant information from around the world allows us to make our own decisions as barbaric muz behavior plays out for all to see.
Not only are the political elites trying to fool us & with boneheaded sayings like “they don’t represent Islam”, they assume that we are STUPID enough to believe them. So why are we even debating this question?
When a poison snake is spotted crawling around a kids’ playground, a good manager does not hold endless meetings about snakes, but just kills the damned thing.
This deliberation suggests that otherwise intelligent people can’t make clear-headed decisions about confronting evil. Therefore, I’m beginning to think WW-III is inevitable.
Still not convinced? Read the Koran. If you do, pay special attention to the 2nd half – that is where the real evil is. If you aren’t into reading, this short video is a quick summary; http://youtu.be/fgsrnmzxEUY
More about the religion of peace - http://gentleislam.com/science
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MAJ (Join to see)
PO2 Brad Fletcher CW2 (Join to see)
Gentlemen, I don't think that anyone is denying that we need to know our enemy. However, I think some of us would deny that to fully know the enemy one must watch their gratuitous acts of violence. To take another tack, the Allies in WWII didn't even know of the Nazi concentration camps until nearly the very end of the war, when victory was all but assured. Would knowledge, pictures, and video of gassed Jews or dead Gypsies have made the Americans "know their enemies" more in a way that would have aided the defeat of Germany more quickly? I doubt it.
Lastly, to you PO2 Brad Fletcher Islam is like Christianity in one key way: it's comprised of human believers. That means that there are streams throughout the religion. It isn't monolithic, and, like the Bible, the Koran can be and has been interpreted in so many ways that to claim that there is one true interpretation is a fool's errand. You run the risk of doing what ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc does i.e. of dictating to others what they should believe vis-a-vis Islam. That's not very good company to be in. I live in Metro Detroit. We have the largest Muslim population in the country. I work side-by-side with Muslim faculty. I go to Middle-Eastern restaurants. Heck, the gas station I go to to fill up every drill weekend is run by Muslims. The vast majority of American Muslims are counter to what you have described.
Gentlemen, I don't think that anyone is denying that we need to know our enemy. However, I think some of us would deny that to fully know the enemy one must watch their gratuitous acts of violence. To take another tack, the Allies in WWII didn't even know of the Nazi concentration camps until nearly the very end of the war, when victory was all but assured. Would knowledge, pictures, and video of gassed Jews or dead Gypsies have made the Americans "know their enemies" more in a way that would have aided the defeat of Germany more quickly? I doubt it.
Lastly, to you PO2 Brad Fletcher Islam is like Christianity in one key way: it's comprised of human believers. That means that there are streams throughout the religion. It isn't monolithic, and, like the Bible, the Koran can be and has been interpreted in so many ways that to claim that there is one true interpretation is a fool's errand. You run the risk of doing what ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc does i.e. of dictating to others what they should believe vis-a-vis Islam. That's not very good company to be in. I live in Metro Detroit. We have the largest Muslim population in the country. I work side-by-side with Muslim faculty. I go to Middle-Eastern restaurants. Heck, the gas station I go to to fill up every drill weekend is run by Muslims. The vast majority of American Muslims are counter to what you have described.
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CW2 (Join to see)
In my opinion, it is one thing to hear about it on TV, see a couple still shots and think "oh that's terrible". It's another to get emotionally involved and watch not only what these people are capable of, but how they enjoy it. I can't understand how someone can hear another human being screaming in agony and not feel sympathetic whatsoever, enemy or not. I still don't understand them, but I try to.
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Cpl Robert Clark
John 8:32 (KJV)
32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
It should you mad too.
32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
It should you mad too.
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It's complicated.
I have no intention of watching a man being burned alive. I've seen enough atrocities, and I have enough nightmares. I don't need more.
That said. The video should exist. Just like the holocaust videos should exist. Just like that endless loop of the towers falling. Sometimes you have to document the horrors. Sometimes you need records to show the monsters just aren't under the bed. I won't fault anyone else for watching them.
I know these monsters are real.
I have no intention of watching a man being burned alive. I've seen enough atrocities, and I have enough nightmares. I don't need more.
That said. The video should exist. Just like the holocaust videos should exist. Just like that endless loop of the towers falling. Sometimes you have to document the horrors. Sometimes you need records to show the monsters just aren't under the bed. I won't fault anyone else for watching them.
I know these monsters are real.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
Obviously additional evidence was needed. This is what brought Jordan into the fray. Which is what brought UAE into the fray.
Just because we know the monsters we are facing doesn't mean everyone does.
Just because we know the monsters we are facing doesn't mean everyone does.
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Complicated. If I was in a group of SOF types going in for some direct action, it would be good to know the enemy and know why I am being sent in.
I also think the far left and anyone who doesn't get that there is true evil in the world might nerd to see it.
On the flip side....many don't need to see it...I got it, the guy got burned alive...I don't need to see the video, I just need a deployment order and a ULN.
I also think the far left and anyone who doesn't get that there is true evil in the world might nerd to see it.
On the flip side....many don't need to see it...I got it, the guy got burned alive...I don't need to see the video, I just need a deployment order and a ULN.
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