#JobsForISIS Official mocked on Twitter after claiming government should 'give ISIS jobs'

A SPOKESPERSON for the US State Dept has been mercilessly mocked on Twitter after she insisted her government focus on 'job opportunities' for the Islamic State.

By Aaron Brown

Spokeswoman for the US State Department Marie Harf made the claim on US television GETTY

Spokeswoman for the US State Department Marie Harf made the claim on US television

Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, said America would not win the war against Islamic State "by killing them" but should instead focus on the cause of extremism in the region.

Ms Harf began listing a number of causes during her interview on MSNBC show HardBall including "a lack of opportunity for jobs".

"We’re killing a lot of them, and we’re going to keep killing more of them," she told US news anchor Chris Matthews.

"So are the Egyptians, so are the Jordanians. They’re in this fight with us. But we cannot win this war by killing them. 

"We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups.

We’re killing a lot of them, and we’re going to keep killing more of them. But we cannot win this war by killing them

Marie Harf

"We can work with countries around the world to help improve their governance. We can help them build their economies so they can have job opportunities for these people."

Twitter users flooded the social network to mock the strategy – posting thousands of tweets offering suggestions for #JobsForISIS.

The #JobsForISIS began trending across the United States last night.

Among the suggestions were – to sign up the merciless extremists for the upcoming "One way trip to Mars".

Another user proposed: "LandMine Sweeper"

"Redshirts," tweeted one user, referring to the red-clothes extras known for dying prematurely in episodes of Star Trek.

Finally, Rick Tapp posted a photograph of members of the Islamic State extremist group walking through a desert landscape wearing brilliant–white running shoes.

"Personal Trainers," he wrote on Twitter "They have the right shoes".

Islamic State currently hold a third of Iraq and neighbouring Syria – imposing strict Sharia law.

Earlier this week, Iraqi prime minister Haider Abadi confirmed plans are underway to liberate the northern city of Mosul, which has been held by Islamic State since June last year. 

"I'm pretty sure that we can liberate Mosul with the minimum of casualties and costs," Mr Abadi said.

The news of Iraq's show of force against Islamic State in Mosul came hours after Egyptian media reported killing '64 jihadists' in a series of aerial assaults launched as a retaliation for the beheading of 21 Egyptians at the hands of ISIS extremists.

Egyptian warplanes bombed Islamic State targets in Libya including weapon storage sites and training camps.

Pope Francis denounced the merciless beheading of the 21 coptic Christians – branding it a "barbaric assassination".

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