The Islamic State, also known by ISIS or ISIL, released a video on Tuesday night as a challenge to the U.S., allegedly in response to President Obama's recent remarks to "degrade and destroy" ISIL.
The 52-second-long video was released to the public through Al-Hayat Media Centre, the same media source through which the militant group had been releasing their videos of the beheading of their foreign hostages. It shows U.S. troops being attacked and put on fire, and U.S. troops carrying wounded fellow soldiers into an armed vehicles. One shot features militants from the Islamic State preparing to kill hostages who are kneeling in front of them. Clips of President Obama making an address, and of the White House at night are also included. A report from the Guardian suggested that the "shaky footage of the White House "¦ suggest[ed] the building is being scoped out for attack."
The end of the video featured what looks like a movie title, "Flames of War: Fighting Has Just Begun," and a "Coming Soon" as if the video is a trailer to a longer movie.
Despite the high quality of the video, professional film editors "cast[ed] doubt on the authenticity of some scenes," according to the Guardian.
"These sort of effects are relatively simple to do nowadays. There are iPhone apps that add explosions and look quite real," Luke Jacobs, an executive producer in TV commercials told the Guardian.
"The video is slickly done and they have spent some time on it, but it's not something that would require access to a big post-production house. I'd say it's more likely been done by a guy with a laptop," he added.
Although the Islamic State has not clearly stated any specific reasons for which it released the video, many reports suggest that the video is a threat to the U.S. in response to the U.S.'s declaration to destroy the militant group last Wednesday.
President Obama stated clearly and repeatedly that he has no intentions of bringing in ground troops to fight the Islamic State. But in a testimony on Tuesday, General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed that if the strategy of gathering an international coalition against the Islamic State does not work, "and if there are threats to the United States, then I, of course, would go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of U.S. military ground forces."
The Islamic State had been gaining international attention not only for its rapid consolidation and conquering of land in Iraq and Syria, but also of its sophisticated methods of propaganda through social media.
"As IS captured swathes of Iraqi territory in June and eastern Syria over the last month, they also made gains online," reported the Christian Science Monitor.
"Left unchecked, their feeds spread a violent message and rally support," the report continued. "But closing down all the feeds is a nearly impossible, even futile chore. And if successful it would also deprive those who seek to track and counter such groups of important data points."
Laith Alkhouri, a senior analyst at a security consulting firm that tracks militant websites called Flashpoint Global Partners, told the New York Times that the Islamic State "appears to be more relentless than ever, not only expanding in territory but also raising the bar in its confrontation with the world's top superpower."
"In some ways, it's attempting to prove to jihadists that while Al-Qaeda is missing in action, we are rising to the occasion. It demonstrates the true intention of the group, to operate on an international level."
