As President trump continues his trip through the Middle East, reports indicate that terrorist organizations ISIS and Al Qaeda may be using his recent actions to influence operatives worldwide.
Trump's actions are being used manipulatively by jihadist organizations
According to Alex Kassirer, senior analyst for a firm that tracks jihadi web posts, there's been a noticeable uptick in recent propaganda portraying America as "increasingly incompetent and Islamophobic under Trump." Officials from the U.S. Counterterrorism Division confirm Kassirer's assertion -- noting that rhetoric involving the Muslim ban Trump issued a few months ago seems to be at the core of jihadist discussion.
Both Kassirer and the Counterterrorism units used information they garnered from social media accounts heavily associated with ISIS and Al Qaeda groups to make these observations. Interestingly, both sources also indicate that anti-Trump rhetoric is now being used in many ISIS recruiting forums -- an action not too widely noted during former President Obama's tenure in the White House.
Other terror organizations are also using Trump to call for unity
ISIS and Al Qaeda are not the only terrorist factions using Trump to rally support, according to Kassirer. Reports seem to indicate that affiliates of both organizations are also attempting to bolster their assertions that America is the "birthplace of evil" by using Trump's past speeches and recent actions.
In addition to President Trump's direct actions, sources claim that these terror organizations are using recent military decisions to incite anger in many of their operatives -- indicating that Trump's hand in their operations could spell danger for the future of Muslims.
A recent Navy SEAL raid enraged many terror operatives
Specifically, ISIS and Al Qaeda have both pointed their fingers at a January 29 Navy SEAL raid that killed fourteen suspected jihadis and an American soldier -- along with a host of unarmed Muslim women and children. In a social media post just two days after the incident, Al Qaeda stated that the "criminal raid" came just a few days "after the new American President Trump took the reins of power, thus confirming to the world that America is still the bearer of criminality against the oppressed...."
A few days later, when Trump signed the controversial executive order that restricted entrance to America from six Islamic nations, many ISIS and Al Qaeda sympathizers took to Internet message boards and chat rooms around the world to condemn America and emphasize how "anti-Islamic" the order was.
With reports that Trump has become something of a "unifying force" in the eyes of many terrorists, the president will no doubt have to tread lightly as he continues his trip this week.
