If you really want to understand the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, you should know that they also sponsor ice cream eating contests for children.
This news comes via a Washington Post report on the al-Qa'ida affiliate's attempt to soften its image and gain more popular support in its struggle against the Assad regime (and every other rebel group in Syria).
On the one hand, this ranks right up there with Michael Moore's attempt to summarize Saddam Hussein's rule of Iraq through images of a kite festival in his odious Fahrenheit 911. On the hand, however, this is of a piece with previous anecdotes suggesting the ISIL has learned some lessons about the second-order effects of harrassing residents for not adhering to strict Islamic codes. (See previous stories about ISIL's complaint department, and their attempt at stewardship of Syrian resources). That brutality is what backfired on them in Iraq and led to the Anbar Awakening. If so, they may prove more formidable than previous iterations of al-Qa'ida, a scary thought to be sure.
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| Jihad with a cherry on top, courtesy of al-Qa'ida's Syrian affiliate. (Just don't give them a hard time about the lack of sprinkles . . . ) |
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