ISIS is getting more support after U.S. airstrikes and executions of western prisoners. -Yahoo/Reuters

Shia fighters training in Iraq. Yahoo/Reuters

ISIS is getting more support after U.S. airstrikes and the executions of two American journalists and a British aid worker. Yahoo/Reuters. ISIS has been very effective in its social media campaign and the execution of the western prisoners is a major factor in the increased support they are seeing. Since the executions were so effective as recruiting tools it is believed that ISIS will try to capture more western prisoners for execution or ransom. Some European countries do pay ransoms to ISIS while the United States and the United Kingdom does not. Many of these new recruits are European, Australian or American and it is worried that they will return to their home countries and commit terror attacks. 

My Comment:

It would have been nice if Reuters had bothered to explain why U.S. airstrikes would result in more recruiting. I would think that it would have the opposite effect. I guess not though, and to be fair if you are already a radicalized Muslim I could see being upset about it. People love underdogs and if ISIS can keep the perception that they are thriving even though the full might of the United States Air Force and Navy, then they will continue to have support. 

ISIS is, of course, very savvy at social media. I remember hearing reports that they had sent death threats to Twitter employees for banning accounts and the world just kind of laughed at it. I'm guessing the people that were laughing didn't realize that Twitter and other social networks are a huge recruiting and propaganda tool for ISIS. They make high quality propaganda film with real combat footage and execution that makes them look very competent. 

It's all an illusion of course. ISIS is just as vulnerable as any other fighting force in the Middle East. The fact of the matter is that a large part of ISIS's success is that people believe their hype. Sure it is unquestionable that they are very brutal and horrible, but when it comes to fighting, they would lose more often if people weren't so terribly scared of them.They can be beaten, if only there were people strong enough to fight them. As the airstrikes slowly destroy their equipment and weapons shipments to the Peshmerga fighters, they will lose their only other advantage. All that fancy stolen American equipment will be destroyed and they will be left with just their numbers and reputation.