     This picture of the ISIS beheading provides a great example of how media has become a very powerful weapon for terrorists in this day and age. With all of the different types of media and how they work today, any image can go viral in a matter of days. No matter how disturbing a picture may be, it only takes so many "retweets" before it has been seen by thousands of people.

     ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is a jihadist organization that seeks to establish a caliphate, which is an islamic government that reigns over an area which is not necessarily limited to one country. With them having an insufficient number of fighters to accomplish this, they go about completing their task by attempting to inflict terror in those all around the world. This group has formed in the Middle East and is a great focus of the United States Military. Although it is most prominent in the Middle East, some of the members of the ISIS organization have been known to have traveled from all around the world just to be a part of this group. ISIS terrorizes many across the globe by hosting public murders, making graphic videos of their members torturing people, and by spreading graphic images such as this one of a beheading.

     One of the main weapons of terrorist groups all around the world is media itself. Terrorism is defined as the use of violence and intimidation to accomplish some political aim. One of ISIS's main uses of media is releasing graphic pictures and videos of their members killing Christians, typically by means of beheading them. Their aim is to convert more and more people to Islam by striking fear into them, a fear of following any other religion but Islam. 

     This picture of the ISIS beheading uses realism to put terror in the eyes of the viewer. It successfully shoots chills up the viewer's spine using no gore at all as the viewer can easily interpret what happens within the next two seconds of when the picture was taken. The perspective of this picture is from that of the camera man, who the ISIS members appear to be performing for. This is important because it indicates that this picture was to be seen by people all over, making the victim of this beheading an example for anyone else who was considering defying the ISIS organization. This man was being beheaded for blasphemy, a seemingly minuscule crime for the punishment he received. The ISIS organization is symbolizing their superiority to this man by making him kneel on the ground with a blindfold on in his last few seconds of life. They also use guns as a symbol of their power, showing off high grade military weapons such as AK47s and AK74s. The facial expressions and uniforms of the ISIS members in this photo give the viewer a sense of the unity among the group. The looks of hatred that these ten ISIS members display really show the viewer how serious they are in their extremist views of Islam. They use all of these techniques in creating these images in order to make their terrorist group look as menacing as possible, and then they let media do the rest of their work, spreading these images all around the word.

     It is not only terrorists who can benefit from using graphic images in the media. The United States' government have gleaned some benefits from using these images as well. They have had very effective results by using media to spread this picture and ones like it around the United States. Even though the US Government would be giving the ISIS organization exactly what it wants in this case, they can benefit from it just as much if not more than ISIS. Dealing with the Middle East has been one of the main focuses of the United States military for years; however, a lot of Americans are opposed to using US troops to stop terrorism that is happening halfway around the world. Efforts by the United States Government to spread these pictures can help show Americans the true horrors of what is going on and why we need to send troops to help the people of these countries. If media was censored to a point where no disturbing pictures like this can be shown on television or in the news, then Americans could feel like the troops in the Middle East are being killed for no reason. This could cause Americans to begin to question why the US is involved with ISIS at all. The spreading of these pictures can change the minds of Americans and convince them that the work that is being done in the Middle East is worth it. After seeing these pictures, many Americans will think the involvement of the US is justified because nobody deserves to be treated like ISIS is treating the people of Syria and Iraq.

     Photographic images have always held great power to influence people.  Think back to the iconic photos of the sailor kissing a woman in Times Square at the end of WWII, or the lone Chinese protester standing in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989, and how they are timeless reminders of important events and times.  With today's vast internet and most people's easy access to it through computers and smartphones, that power of a single photo is even greater.  Images such as this ISIS beheading photo are especially powerful because of the wide range of emotions they conjure up.  There is so much going on in this one photo:  the heat of the desert surroundings; the stored power of the blade at the top of its arc, as it is about to begin its downward descent; the tension on the faces of the unmasked men, as they await the deadly blow; the fear of the blindfolded man on his knees as he anticipates the imminent agony.  Terrorist organizations are becoming very skilled at leveraging images, technology, and social media to advance their causes.  

