A new video from the Islamic State reportedly shows the young son of an American soldier denouncing “puppet of the Jews” President Donald Trump and threatening that the war with ISIS will not end in the Middle East but on American soil.
According to Memri, a video was released Wednesday featuring a 10-year-old boy named Yusuf explaining who he is and where he came from. Yusuf, clearly reading from a script, revealed his father was a U.S. soldier who “fought the mujahideen” during the war in Iraq.
Yusuf claimed he arrived to Raqqa, Syria, from “America, [the] land of kufr [unbelief]” with his mother two years ago.
The boy explained that he and his best friend Abdallah, 7, from Sinjar, Iraq, live in the same house. Abdallah said that Islam brought the friends together.
Together, they are seen performing Islamic cleansing rituals, studying the Koran, exploring destroyed buildings in Raqqa, playing on playgrounds, loading magazines with bullets, and learning how to shoot. The footage is intercut with footage of Islamic State members firing weapons and bombs going off from American planes.
“We are not scared of their planes, because we know they don’t fly except by the rule of Allah,” Yusuf said.
Near the end of the video, Yusuf sent a message to Trump, claiming that the Islamic State will win the war against America and that victory will occur after fighting on American soil.
“My message to Trump, the puppet of the Jews: Allah has promised us victory and promised you defeat,” the boy said. “This battle is not going to end in Raqqa or Mosul; it’s going to end in your lands. By the will of Allah, we will have victory, so get ready for the fighting has just begun.”
But ISIS is losing. Badly.
According to military officials, the Islamic State strongholds are falling one by one. They have been defeated in Mosul, and joint U.S.-Syrian forces have the ISIS capitol of Raqqa — where this propaganda film was made — surrounded. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Islamic State is seeing its last days.
The Islamic State knows it’s losing, too. Reports say that many ISIS fighters have been caught trying to escape Raqqa by donning women’s clothing and attempting to fool joint U.S.-Syrian forces, resulting in some humorous photos.
This propaganda piece reeks of desperation. Yusuf noted during the video that Allah tests those he loves. This sounds more like a message to the Islamic State fighters still in Raqqa than it does to Americans.