( CNN ) -- Modern U.S. presidents seem to be in need of neat , catchy labels for the enemy they want to destroy . `` Network of death '' is the latest one . After U.S. President Barack Obama 's speech at the United Nations , we now know that it is this network that needs `` dismantling . '' Whether or not this new label will help increase the number of countries willing to join the U.S. in the fight against ISIS remains to be seen . Old , trusted allies will doubtless follow . Britain 's Prime Minister David Cameron has already vowed that his country will `` play its part . '' All Cameron needs is parliamentary approval , which is expected Friday -- and maybe his own new label for ISIS . But how will the `` network '' react ? How will it strike back ? It is of course difficult to see how ISIS could successfully resist U.S. air power in the long run . Yet this conflict is first and foremost a political confrontation . The many wars in the Middle East since 9/11 have shown that messages matter . And in this regard the ISIS `` network '' is bound to continue to do just fine . This is not so much because ISIS and its supporters have created media arms like those radical Islamic groups al-Furqan or al-Hayat . Nor has it much to do with the ability to spread their videos by using Twitter-bots or multiple YouTube accounts , clever hashtags , mobile phone apps or more obscure social media sites to evade counter-measures by police and security agencies . It has all to do with the message itself . If it resonates , it will spread . Goaded into action ? ISIS has already portrayed the mere fact that Obama has decided to use military force as a success . Groups like ISIS crave recognition . Acknowledging them as a major threat -- and taking counter-measures -- does just that . It guarantees extensive coverage in traditional media . ISIS ' first reaction after the start of the bombardments was to point out that Obama , like George Bush before him , was drawn into a conflict that he could not win . ISIS got what it wanted -- a direct confrontation with the US and an opportunity to link Obama to the widely discredited military strategy of his successor . Provoking and unsettling is a major part of ISIS media strategy . The group knows Western audiences as well as local and regional ones . Hostages are shown in the familiar Guantanamo-style orange jump suits : `` What you did to us , we can do to you , '' is the simple message . Not new , but tried , tested and successful , particularly with local audiences . Recruiting Western Muslims . Most unsettling to Western audiences is that disaffected Muslims from their own nations are drawn to join the conflict . It is hardly necessary for the ISIS leadership to threaten retaliation in Western countries . A few more posts , pictures or videos featuring ISIS fighters with French , British or German voices are sufficient to scare Western politicians and their respective electorates . They might even provoke counter-measures like stricter border controls , passport restrictions and increased surveillance . They might also lead to new types of profiling , which may well backfire and encourage yet more young men to travel to Syria to take up the fight for the self-proclaimed Islamic State , as ISIS has proclaimed itself to be . Western counter-messages and social media offences will hardly prevent this . So in essence , it is as simple as to keep doing what ISIS media people are already doing . Merely resisting U.S. military pressure as long as possible will strengthen ISIS 's message . As will the potentially devastating consequences of U.S. , French or British bombing raids on civilian populations . Adding variety . Adding a few videos of successful ISIS attacks or evidence of dogged resistance will also help . Hostage videos alone will lose their impact over time , however gruesome they are . A little variation is needed . The new `` lecture series '' of British hostage John Cantlie shows that ISIS is aware of that . Whether Obama 's `` network of death '' is the appropriate phrase or not , it is certainly true that ISIS and affiliates form a network . But even if ISIS were to become seriously `` degraded , '' it is difficult to believe that the whole network can be dismantled . At the heart of the current turmoil in the Middle East is a civil war within Islam . Being regarded as the one force that stands up to U.S. and Western military power is bound to boost ISIS 's reputation in this struggle . The media prominence ISIS has achieved is also bound to encourage other groups to embark on similar `` media work . '' The `` network of death '' is in an excellent position to continue to create ISIS-style media messages . The video of the beheading of French mountain guide Herve Gourdel , posted by the Algerian ISIS affiliate on Wednesday , is only the most recent example .
ISIS has goaded U.S. President Barack Obama into reacting , writes Peter Busch . He says terror groups crave attention -- and Obama 's giving them that . Provoking and unsettling is a major part of ISIS media strategy , Busch writes . TL;DR