Is ISIS preparing to attack America?

The United States (with others) has been bombing ISIS fighters in Syria and Iraq for more than a year. According to US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, these airstrikes have killed “more than 10,000 ISIS fighters” (Lizzie Dearden, “More than 10,000 Isis fighters killed in Iraq and Syria since start of US-led campaign, claims official”, The Independent, June 3, 2015).

ISIS wants revenge. It said as much soon after the US bombings began (Ian Johnston, Lefteris Pitarakis, “Isis fighters warn West in new YouTube video: 'We are waiting for you. We will chop off your heads'”, The Independent, October 15, 2014). It told the French (and, by extension, the West), we will “take revenge for every drop of blood spilt as a result of your actions” (ibid).

ISIS has seen a lot of its blood spilt. It’s ready for revenge (Riyadh Mohammed, “The Three Hidden Messages Behind ISIS’s Bloody Rampages” Fiscal Times, February 3, 2015). It even has a ‘revenge’ mantra: “We are here and we are still able to launch spectacular attacks” (ibid). Is ISIS preparing something ‘spectacular’ for America?

A new video has surfaced. At first, it looks and feels idiotic. It shows a young boy bragging—threatening the President of the United States.

It’s laughable. But we’ve seen ISIS brag before. We’ve learned about ISIS. Sometimes, an ISIS brag is prelude to action (“This is Islam: ‘Once Ten Of Us Rape You, You Become Muslim’”, before it’s news, October 6, 2015).  

We’ve learned not to laugh at an ISIS video.

This newest ISIS video looks stupid (“Boy soldier threatens to cut off Obama's head in latest ISIS video”, Toronto Sun, October 7, 2015). Here, a child soldier, seemingly younger than ten years old, holds a rocket launcher and talks directly to the camera. He threatens to cut the ‘filthy head’ off U.S. President Barack Obama (ibid). He calls the US the ‘dog of Rome Obama’ (ibid). He warns, “If you think your soldiers will enter the land of the Khilafah and pollute it with their filth, then you're dreaming" (ibid).

He cautions Obama. He tells Obama to ‘wake up’ before ‘the swords of the Khilafah reach you and cut your filthy head’ (ibid).

The boy wears army fatigues. He seems also to wear some kind of explosive belt.

This brief video looks like complete nonsense. No one is going to ‘cut off’ the head of the President of the United States, least of all a ten year-old boy.

Still, the video sends a chilling message. The boy may not frighten. But what about that explosive belt?

Remember this image of a child ready to kill.

ISIS is looking at America. Already this year, ISIS has threatened to attack the US (“ISIS releases video, warns US of another 9/11-like attack”, The Independent, April 13, 2015). It has ‘warned’ it will attack (“ISIS Warns of Future Attacks”, dailymotion, May 5, 2015).

Since the US bombing of ISIS began in earnest, the FBI has taken these threats seriously (David Martosko, “Chilling ISIS taunts on U.S. soil: FBI warns police to be on alert for homegrown terror threats as militants post sinister tweets claiming Chicago as a potential target”, dailymail, August 23, 2014). The US Department of Homeland Security is just as serious as the FBI (Ashley Jacobs, “Homeland Security warns of possible Isis attack on U.S. border”, Fox5 news, August 29, 2014).

Some US terror experts say these threats are credible (Randy DeSoto, “ISIS Makes Terrifying Threat To US, Names These States, Gives Time Frame”, westernjournalism, May 7, 2015).They’re not laughing at ISIS videos.

In January, 2015, someone claiming to be connected with ISIS seized control of social media accounts of the U.S. military’s Central Command (“ISIS hacks Pentagon accounts: 'We are coming'”, wnd, January 12, 2015). The message they left was chilling: ‘we are coming for you, US soldiers. Watch your back’. No one laughed at the message.

Today, America may be laying the groundwork for a spectacular ISIS attack—using children or teens. There’s an effort in the US to create ‘gun-free’ zones, especially in and around schools and colleges. The idea of a ‘gun-free’ zone is to create a safe place for our children by banning the public from carrying guns into those zones. But for some, the only individual protected by a gun-free zone is a criminal. It’s the one place an armed killer can roam safely.

ISIS knows about America’s gun-free zones (“Threat of ISIS attack in U.S. gun free zones – AVOID GUN FREE ZONES”, before it’s news, June 26, 2015). It knows that any place where guns are banned is a soft-target free-fire zone (ibid).

Yes, this new ISIS video is laughable. But its content isn’t.

ISIS wants to attack America.  Those gun-free school zones are tempting targets.

Will ISIS, like the Palestinian Authority, use children and teens to kill?

Stay tuned.