I agree that one of the major unspoken objectives of the AQ criminals is to be taken seriously.
But the most attractive I found was something such as a team of two: "Overladen Bin" playing the sinister boss with his inseparable dumb lieutenant Richard Reid, aka the "Shoe Bomber," who unwillingly and lamentably always sabotages all missions and plots, owing to the repeated blunders he does.
Isn't a major obstacle to this that regardless of what an aspiring jihadist (be he AQ or of the dispersed, home grown variety) does or does not achieve, in the media (and to an extent in official pronouncements) he (or they) are portrayed in the darkest and most threatening terms, as some sort of super-terrorist?

I was struck by this during the incidents in Glasgow and London in the UK last summer; whilst not wishing to detract from the potential seriousness of the VBIEDs in London, there must be some comic potential in the fact they failed to put enough money in the parking meter (or parked illegally - whichever) and had one of their VBIEDs towed.

Also consider the attack on the airport terminal, as shocking as the imagery of the incident was, its hard to imagine how much more coverage they would have got if they had succeeded. Instead one of them managed to set himself on fire and later died, while the other was knocked down by an unassuming baggage handler who has gone to become a minor media personality as a result (see here).

What I'm trying to say is that it will be very hard to sell a message that counters them being taken seriously when every wannabe, walter mitty or incompetent 'jihadi' is painted in terms of an existential threat to civilisation as we know it. The way in which even their dullards and incompetents (e.g. Reid) are hyped in the public arena bestows more seriousness and legitimacy on them than they could hope for.

I'm originally from Northern Ireland, where we developed a very black brand of humour due to our 'Troubles'. One recurring theme of that humour was the general incompetence and stupidity of Loyalist paramilitaries, a tradition I'm pleased to say has outlasted the Troubles themselves. For example (not my blog):

http://loyalistwonders.wordpress.com...one-fat-chops/

http://loyalistwonders.wordpress.com...-of-the-north/



Perhaps an example to follow?