British war photographer John Cantlie who has had the misfortune of being captured twice by the Islamic State (IS) has been starring in some slick propaganda videos produced by ISIS to persuade the Western world not to engage them. They want free reign to take over the world and establish their Islamic Caliphate, starting in the Middle East and environs.
He was captured with John Foley in November 2012, and while Foley was beheaded, Cantlie is still alive.
It started with this video "
Lend Me Your Ears" where Cantlie criticizes the British government for abandoning him and not negotiating with IS for his release. He tells us he will "show us the truth" in subsequent videos about the Islamic State, and the truth about how the Western media can "twist and manipulate that truth."
In
"Lend me Your Ears- Episode 2," he gives a
critical run down of Barack Obama's strategy to defeat ISIS.
Criticising the US air strikes in Iraq, Cantlie said: “Air power is good at taking out specific targets, but it is not much use at taking and holding ground. For that you need effective and disciplined troops and it is hard to see how this hotch-potch army with a long history of underperforming is going to be any form of credible infantry.”
He also described the Free Syrian Army as an “undisciplined, corrupt and largely ineffective fighting force”, adding that arming Syrian rebels with western weapons was “largely useless” because many end up in the hands of Isis fighters.
It looks as if he is reading from a TelePrompTer or cue cards, and it's hard to tell if these are actually his words, or a speech written by his captors.
We can expect more videos from him.
Who knows what his fate will be, considering neither Britain nor the U.S. negotiate with terrorists.
I have a feeling he will end up like John Foley.
