X Marks the Spot: The Performance of Precise Targeted Killing of Terrorists on Social Media Dr Christopher Fuller (University of Southampton)
Abstract: High-Value Targeting (HVT) — also known as decapitation strategy — has been a core component of Israeli and American counterterrorism for decades. Beginning with Israel’s controversial ‘Operation Wrath of God’ directed against those accused of involvement in the 1972 Munich massacre, the two nations’ intelligence services, Mossad, and the CIA, have frequently collaborated, sharing technique, technology, and legal justifications for what they describe as targeted killings, and critics dub assassinations. Like the acts of terror these methods seek to counter, the killing itself is only one component of the decapitation strategy. While the planning is covert, the outcome is overt, intended to serve as a deterrent to those plotting terrorist attacks, and a reassurance to the citizens threatened by such violence. And just as terrorists adopted social media to amplify the impact of their attacks, so too have security services begun to utilise online platforms to publicise their strikes, promoting the precision of their actions in contrast to the indiscriminate slaughter enacted by their opponents. This paper will analyse the public performance of targeted killings, revealing how the US and Israeli governments have utilised social media as an extension of decapitation counterterrorism strategy, and assessing the emergent tropes of this genre.
The Propaganda of State Terror – Or The Terror State Dr Cori E Dauber (University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill) [Co-author: Mark D Robinson (University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill)]
Abstract: UNC has previously sought to study propaganda videos of terrorist groups via a model that makes possible an analysis of the technical quality of videos. By generating a quantified judgement of these materials, our analytical model permits a basis for comparison between videos not otherwise available except on a totally subjective basis. This study begins with that model, then adjusts it to account for the far higher quality of materials produced by the People’s Republic of China. Not only is the PRC a state actor, and therefore able to draw on far greater resources than even the most powerful terrorist groups, it has systematically planned and prepared to develop an indigenous film industry with the aid and assistance of the US film industry and done so successfully. It seems fair to say there are no propaganda outlets anywhere in the world producing materials based on more professional standards. This study introduces this new version of the grid, explains its significance, and demonstrates its usefulness.
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