Actually, I think they’re doing it to show how powerless and timid we are. Or Obama is, at any rate. Or perhaps even how he sympathizes with them.
They know there’s going to be no reaction, no matter what they do. At the same time, it is terrorizing the local people, showing them that they have no support from us, and making sure that they realize that the only power there belongs to ISIS.
You could be right. Either way, they are completely outmaneuvering the fools in the White Hut.