I'm sure there are a few South Africans helping out ISIS too
If Australia and Britain have, what would make us different?
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I'm sure there are a few South Africans helping out ISIS too
If Australia and Britain have, what would make us different?
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
I haven't watched it and not going to. Why would I willingly watch their propaganda? That's exactly what they want. You have a choice to not give them the satisfaction.
No ****. It's too brutalEverytime you watch such a sick video, it makes you lose something in you. It makes you feel sick and empty for the next 3 days or more
^^This. I haven't watched this video but someone showed me a video of a beheading by chainsaw. Chainsaw kept cutting out while he was trying to cut through the neck. Felt ill for days.
MickeyD
RIP
Supported
Good for them.
MickeyD
RIP
CEO: KIDNAPPERS THREATENED FOLEY'S LIFE LAST WEEK
The chief executive officer of a Boston-based media company says James Foley's kidnappers last week threatened to kill him in response to U.S. bombings in Iraq.
Foley was freelancing for GlobalPost when he disappeared in Syria. GlobalPost CEO Philip Balboni told reporters Wednesday that the threatening email sent to Foley's family was "full of rage" but made no demands. He says the kidnappers ignored pleas for mercy.
Balboni says the company spent millions on efforts to bring Foley home including hiring an international security firm.
The 40-year-old journalist from New Hampshire was beheaded by Islamic State militants. A video recording of the slaying was released Tuesday.
Foley was abducted in northern Syria in November 2012 and had not been heard from since.
Source : Sapa-AP /gm
Date : 20 Aug 2014 23:12
The chief executive officer of a Boston-based media company says James Foley's kidnappers last week threatened to kill him in response to U.S. bombings in Iraq.
Foley was freelancing for GlobalPost when he disappeared in Syria. GlobalPost CEO Philip Balboni told reporters Wednesday that the threatening email sent to Foley's family was "full of rage" but made no demands. He says the kidnappers ignored pleas for mercy.
Balboni says the company spent millions on efforts to bring Foley home including hiring an international security firm.
The 40-year-old journalist from New Hampshire was beheaded by Islamic State militants. A video recording of the slaying was released Tuesday.
Foley was abducted in northern Syria in November 2012 and had not been heard from since.
Source : Sapa-AP /gm
Date : 20 Aug 2014 23:12
MickeyD
RIP
BEHEADING VIDEO PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON BRITISH JIHADISTS
by James PHEBY and Robin MILLARD
The distinct English accent of the militant seen beheading US journalist James Foley in a grisly online video has forced Britain once again to confront the question of how it became an exporter of jihadist fighters.
The video, published on Tuesday, has also left Britain nervously wondering how many potential jihadists are walking its streets and whether the return of fighters from Iraq and Syria will bring the violence home.
Experts say young British men are often driven into the arms of jihadist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) by adolescent feelings of alienation, often resulting from their backgrounds as second or third generation of immigrant families, as well as poor economic prospects which they contrast with the perceived glory of bloody martyrdom.
"As a generation this is a group that is not going to be as successful as their parents," Erin Marie Saltman, a senior researcher at counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, told AFP.
"It's a group that has a hard time, especially in a globalising world where identities are meant to be increasingly fluid.
"Some people prefer structure and... are vulnerable to groups that promise martyrdom, where you're an epic figure and part of 'saving the world'."
Richard Barrett, ex-head of counter-terrorism at the MI6 overseas security agency, told the BBC in June that the number who had gone to fight in Syria and Iraq "could be as high as 500 by now".
His comments came after several young British men featured in a YouTube recruitment video for IS.
"The trouble is, you don't know which ones are coming back just wanting to get on with their lives and which ones are coming back quite severely radicalised," he said.
Afzal Ashraf, an expert on terrorist ideology at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said that within the ranks were "a very significant number of gangsters and criminals, who've been radicalised and converted in prison".
But he added that genuine anger over world events involving the Muslim community was also a vital motivating factor.
"In the Spanish civil war, we had poets like Laurie Lee, Ernest Hemingway and others who felt, as young men, very strongly that there was some oppression going on," he said.
"It's the same sort of basic feeling, that Muslims are being oppressed by Western governments, or their clients' governments in the Middle East."
He played down suggestions that these fighters posed a threat at home, saying most had bought into the "mythical martyrdom narrative" and had no desire to return.
The fact that Foley's killer may have been British is not a sign that Britons are more barbaric than others, said Saltman. Rather, they are used for propaganda purposes.
"It was very much a deliberate decision to have an American victim and a British foreign fighter," she said.
"When we are seeing an individual who has obviously been brought up in what we consider a civil democratic society, that hits us a lot more."
In reality, British fighters are often given second-tier roles such as suicide bombers or guards due to a lack of trust and their inability to speak Arabic, said Ashraf.
The apparent normality of would-be jihadists was highlighted earlier this month when 25-year-old Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, a former worker at low-budget clothing chain Primark, became the latest Briton to be killed fighting for IS.
Young, tech-savvy British fighters have been documenting their exploits on social media, such as 19-year-old Madhi Hassan, who sent out an image of himself holding a jar of Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread to convince would-be colleagues that they would not miss home comforts.
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary from west London recently posted a picture on Twitter of himself holding a severed head, and added the caption "chillin' with my homie, or what's left of him".
In total, 69 people suspected of Syria-related jihadist activities have now been arrested in Britain.
Despite their use of social media, the seeds of radicalism are usually sown offline and recent IS gains could make recruitment easier, said Saltman.
"A month ago, I would have told you that fighters coming from Britain was tailing off, but people are more likely to join a winning cause. The IS is now seen as a winning cause."
Ashraf disagreed, saying that the group's appeal would be fleeting.
"They've caused misery in the Muslim world and they are, in the real sense of the word, a bunch of losers," he said.
Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 20 Aug 2014 23:32
by James PHEBY and Robin MILLARD
The distinct English accent of the militant seen beheading US journalist James Foley in a grisly online video has forced Britain once again to confront the question of how it became an exporter of jihadist fighters.
The video, published on Tuesday, has also left Britain nervously wondering how many potential jihadists are walking its streets and whether the return of fighters from Iraq and Syria will bring the violence home.
Experts say young British men are often driven into the arms of jihadist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) by adolescent feelings of alienation, often resulting from their backgrounds as second or third generation of immigrant families, as well as poor economic prospects which they contrast with the perceived glory of bloody martyrdom.
"As a generation this is a group that is not going to be as successful as their parents," Erin Marie Saltman, a senior researcher at counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, told AFP.
"It's a group that has a hard time, especially in a globalising world where identities are meant to be increasingly fluid.
"Some people prefer structure and... are vulnerable to groups that promise martyrdom, where you're an epic figure and part of 'saving the world'."
Richard Barrett, ex-head of counter-terrorism at the MI6 overseas security agency, told the BBC in June that the number who had gone to fight in Syria and Iraq "could be as high as 500 by now".
His comments came after several young British men featured in a YouTube recruitment video for IS.
"The trouble is, you don't know which ones are coming back just wanting to get on with their lives and which ones are coming back quite severely radicalised," he said.
Afzal Ashraf, an expert on terrorist ideology at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said that within the ranks were "a very significant number of gangsters and criminals, who've been radicalised and converted in prison".
But he added that genuine anger over world events involving the Muslim community was also a vital motivating factor.
"In the Spanish civil war, we had poets like Laurie Lee, Ernest Hemingway and others who felt, as young men, very strongly that there was some oppression going on," he said.
"It's the same sort of basic feeling, that Muslims are being oppressed by Western governments, or their clients' governments in the Middle East."
He played down suggestions that these fighters posed a threat at home, saying most had bought into the "mythical martyrdom narrative" and had no desire to return.
The fact that Foley's killer may have been British is not a sign that Britons are more barbaric than others, said Saltman. Rather, they are used for propaganda purposes.
"It was very much a deliberate decision to have an American victim and a British foreign fighter," she said.
"When we are seeing an individual who has obviously been brought up in what we consider a civil democratic society, that hits us a lot more."
In reality, British fighters are often given second-tier roles such as suicide bombers or guards due to a lack of trust and their inability to speak Arabic, said Ashraf.
The apparent normality of would-be jihadists was highlighted earlier this month when 25-year-old Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, a former worker at low-budget clothing chain Primark, became the latest Briton to be killed fighting for IS.
Young, tech-savvy British fighters have been documenting their exploits on social media, such as 19-year-old Madhi Hassan, who sent out an image of himself holding a jar of Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread to convince would-be colleagues that they would not miss home comforts.
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary from west London recently posted a picture on Twitter of himself holding a severed head, and added the caption "chillin' with my homie, or what's left of him".
In total, 69 people suspected of Syria-related jihadist activities have now been arrested in Britain.
Despite their use of social media, the seeds of radicalism are usually sown offline and recent IS gains could make recruitment easier, said Saltman.
"A month ago, I would have told you that fighters coming from Britain was tailing off, but people are more likely to join a winning cause. The IS is now seen as a winning cause."
Ashraf disagreed, saying that the group's appeal would be fleeting.
"They've caused misery in the Muslim world and they are, in the real sense of the word, a bunch of losers," he said.
Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 20 Aug 2014 23:32
MickeyD
RIP
US ATTEMPTED RESCUE OF AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN SYRIA: PENTAGON
United States personnel "recently" tried to rescue American hostages held in Syria by the so-called Islamic State (IS) but failed, the Pentagon said Wednesday, a day after the militants released a video of a US reporter being beheaded.
"This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL (IS)," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.
Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 21 Aug 2014 04:32
United States personnel "recently" tried to rescue American hostages held in Syria by the so-called Islamic State (IS) but failed, the Pentagon said Wednesday, a day after the militants released a video of a US reporter being beheaded.
"This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL (IS)," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.
Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 21 Aug 2014 04:32
MickeyD
RIP
INDONESIA PRESIDENT SAYS ISLAMIC STATE 'EMBARRASSING' MUSLIMS
The president of the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia, on Thursday called the actions of Islamic State militants "embarrassing" to the religion and urged Islamic leaders to unite in tackling extremism.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the slaughter wrought by the extremists in overrunning large swathes of Iraq and Syria and the level of violence being used was appalling.
"It is shocking. It is becoming out of control," he said in an interview with The Australian, a day after IS released a video showing a masked militant beheading US reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion.
"We do not tolerate it, we forbid ISIS in Indonesia," he added, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as IS was formerly known.
"Indonesia is not an Islamic state. We respect all religions."
He urged international leaders to work together to combat radicalisation.
"This is a new wake-up call to international leaders all over the world, including Islamic leaders," he said, adding that the actions of IS were not only "embarrassing" to Islam but "humiliating", the newspaper reported.
"All leaders must review how to combat extremism. Changing paradigms on both sides are needed -- how the West perceives Islam and how Islam perceives the West."
Indonesia is home to the world's biggest Muslim population of about 225 million and has long struggled with terrorism. But a successful clampdown in recent years has seen the end of major deadly attacks.
Jakarta has estimated that dozens of Indonesians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight and Yudhoyono said he was concerned about their return, adding that he had tasked agencies to oppose the spread of extremist ideology in the sprawling nation.
"Our citizens here in Indonesia are picking up recruitment messages from ISIS containing extremist ideas," said the president, whose decade in office comes to an end in October.
"The philosophy of ISIS stands against the fundamental values we embrace in Indonesia. Last Friday, in my state of the union address to the nation, I called on all Indonesians to reject ISIS and to stop the spread of its radical ideology.
"My government and security agencies have taken decisive steps to curtail the spread of ISIS in Indonesia, including by prohibiting Indonesians to join ISIS or to fight for ISIS, and also by blocking Internet sites that promote this idea."
Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 21 Aug 2014 04:53
The president of the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesia, on Thursday called the actions of Islamic State militants "embarrassing" to the religion and urged Islamic leaders to unite in tackling extremism.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the slaughter wrought by the extremists in overrunning large swathes of Iraq and Syria and the level of violence being used was appalling.
"It is shocking. It is becoming out of control," he said in an interview with The Australian, a day after IS released a video showing a masked militant beheading US reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion.
"We do not tolerate it, we forbid ISIS in Indonesia," he added, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as IS was formerly known.
"Indonesia is not an Islamic state. We respect all religions."
He urged international leaders to work together to combat radicalisation.
"This is a new wake-up call to international leaders all over the world, including Islamic leaders," he said, adding that the actions of IS were not only "embarrassing" to Islam but "humiliating", the newspaper reported.
"All leaders must review how to combat extremism. Changing paradigms on both sides are needed -- how the West perceives Islam and how Islam perceives the West."
Indonesia is home to the world's biggest Muslim population of about 225 million and has long struggled with terrorism. But a successful clampdown in recent years has seen the end of major deadly attacks.
Jakarta has estimated that dozens of Indonesians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight and Yudhoyono said he was concerned about their return, adding that he had tasked agencies to oppose the spread of extremist ideology in the sprawling nation.
"Our citizens here in Indonesia are picking up recruitment messages from ISIS containing extremist ideas," said the president, whose decade in office comes to an end in October.
"The philosophy of ISIS stands against the fundamental values we embrace in Indonesia. Last Friday, in my state of the union address to the nation, I called on all Indonesians to reject ISIS and to stop the spread of its radical ideology.
"My government and security agencies have taken decisive steps to curtail the spread of ISIS in Indonesia, including by prohibiting Indonesians to join ISIS or to fight for ISIS, and also by blocking Internet sites that promote this idea."
Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 21 Aug 2014 04:53
MickeyD
RIP
OBAMA: US WON'T STOP CONFRONTING ISLAMIC STATE
by Lara Jakes
The United States stood firm Wednesday in its fight with Islamic State group militants who beheaded a U.S. journalist in Iraq, pledging to continue attacking the group despite its threats to kill another American hostage. The U.S. military continued its airstrikes against the group as President Barack Obama denounced the group as a "cancer" threatening the entire region.
"We will be vigilant and we will be relentless," Obama said.
The execution of James Foley drew international condemnation. Germany announced it would supply the Kurds in Iraq with weapons to fight the insurgents. Italy's defense minister said the country hopes to contribute machine guns, ammunition and anti-tank rockets. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the killing showed the true face of this "caliphate of barbarism."
In capitals across the Middle East, by contrast, the news of Foley's death was met with silence, even in Syria and Iraq, the two countries where the Islamic State is strongest. On social media, people in the region condemned Foley's killing, but stressed that the Islamic State has been committing atrocities against Iraqis and Syrians for years.
The journalist's parents, Diane and John Foley, spoke to reporters, and Diane Foley said her son was courageous to the end and called his death "just evil."
Obama's remarks affirmed that the U.S. would not scale back its military posture in Iraq in response to Foley's killing. And at the State Department, spokeswoman Marie Harf did not rule out military operations in Syria to bring those responsible to justice, saying the U.S. "reserves the right to hold people accountable when they harm Americans. What that looks like going forward, those conversations will be happening."
Since the video was released Tuesday, the U.S. military has conducted 14 airstrikes on Islamic State targets. And on Wednesday, U.S. officials said military planners were considering the possibility of sending a small number of additional troops to Iraq, mainly to provide additional security around Baghdad.
The president said he'd told Foley's family in a phone call Wednesday that the United States joins them in honoring all that Foley did, praising the journalist for his work telling the story of the crisis in Syria, where Foley was captured in 2012. "Jim Foley's life stands in stark contrast to his killers," Obama said. He spoke from Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where the president is on vacation.
Foley, 40, went missing in northern Syria in November 2012 while freelancing for Agence France-Presse and the Boston-based news organization GlobalPost. The car he was riding in was stopped by four militants in a contested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control. He had not been heard from since.
The beheading marks the first time the Islamic State has killed an American citizen since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011, upping the stakes in an increasingly chaotic and multilayered war. The killing is likely to complicate U.S. involvement in Iraq and the Obama administration's efforts to contain the group as it expands in both Iraq and Syria.
The group is the heir apparent of the militancy known as al-Qaida in Iraq, which beheaded many of its victims, including American businessman Nicholas Berg in 2004.
The video released on websites Tuesday appears to show the increasing sophistication of the Islamic State group's media unit and begins with scenes of Obama explaining his decision to order airstrikes.
It then cuts to Foley, kneeling in the desert, next to a black-clad militant with a knife to his throat. After the captive speaks, the militant is shown apparently beginning to cut at his neck; the video fades to black before the beheading is completed. The next shot shows the captive lying dead.
At the end of the video, a militant shows a second man, who was identified as another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and warns that he could be the next captive killed. Sotloff was kidnapped near the Syrian-Turkish border in August 2013; he had freelanced for Time, the National Interest and MediaLine.
Obama did not specifically mention Sotloff.
The militant in the video has not been identified, but he spoke with a British accent, and British Prime Minister David Cameron said that "from what we have seen, it looks increasingly likely that is a British citizen." U.S. officials agreed with that assessment.
GlobalPost President Philip Balboni said the news service received an email "full of rage" last week in which Foley's captors threatened to kill him. Balboni said the White House was aware of the threat, but no negotiations took place.
Since Aug. 8, there have been nearly 90 U.S. airstrikes in Iraq on Islamic State targets - including security checkpoints, vehicles and weapons caches. It's not clear how many militants have been killed in the strikes, although it's likely that some were.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 80 journalists have been abducted in Syria, and estimates that around 20 are currently missing there. It has not released their nationalities. In its annual report in November, the committee described the widespread seizure of journalists as unprecedented and largely unreported by news organizations in the hope that keeping the kidnappings out of public view may help in the captives' release.
---
Associated Press writers Lita Baldor, Bradley Klapper, Julie Pace and Josh Lederman in Washington, Ryan Lucas in Beirut, Rik Stevens in Rochester, New Hampshire, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
Source : Sapa-AP /dm
Date : 21 Aug 2014 04:54
by Lara Jakes
The United States stood firm Wednesday in its fight with Islamic State group militants who beheaded a U.S. journalist in Iraq, pledging to continue attacking the group despite its threats to kill another American hostage. The U.S. military continued its airstrikes against the group as President Barack Obama denounced the group as a "cancer" threatening the entire region.
"We will be vigilant and we will be relentless," Obama said.
The execution of James Foley drew international condemnation. Germany announced it would supply the Kurds in Iraq with weapons to fight the insurgents. Italy's defense minister said the country hopes to contribute machine guns, ammunition and anti-tank rockets. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the killing showed the true face of this "caliphate of barbarism."
In capitals across the Middle East, by contrast, the news of Foley's death was met with silence, even in Syria and Iraq, the two countries where the Islamic State is strongest. On social media, people in the region condemned Foley's killing, but stressed that the Islamic State has been committing atrocities against Iraqis and Syrians for years.
The journalist's parents, Diane and John Foley, spoke to reporters, and Diane Foley said her son was courageous to the end and called his death "just evil."
Obama's remarks affirmed that the U.S. would not scale back its military posture in Iraq in response to Foley's killing. And at the State Department, spokeswoman Marie Harf did not rule out military operations in Syria to bring those responsible to justice, saying the U.S. "reserves the right to hold people accountable when they harm Americans. What that looks like going forward, those conversations will be happening."
Since the video was released Tuesday, the U.S. military has conducted 14 airstrikes on Islamic State targets. And on Wednesday, U.S. officials said military planners were considering the possibility of sending a small number of additional troops to Iraq, mainly to provide additional security around Baghdad.
The president said he'd told Foley's family in a phone call Wednesday that the United States joins them in honoring all that Foley did, praising the journalist for his work telling the story of the crisis in Syria, where Foley was captured in 2012. "Jim Foley's life stands in stark contrast to his killers," Obama said. He spoke from Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where the president is on vacation.
Foley, 40, went missing in northern Syria in November 2012 while freelancing for Agence France-Presse and the Boston-based news organization GlobalPost. The car he was riding in was stopped by four militants in a contested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control. He had not been heard from since.
The beheading marks the first time the Islamic State has killed an American citizen since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011, upping the stakes in an increasingly chaotic and multilayered war. The killing is likely to complicate U.S. involvement in Iraq and the Obama administration's efforts to contain the group as it expands in both Iraq and Syria.
The group is the heir apparent of the militancy known as al-Qaida in Iraq, which beheaded many of its victims, including American businessman Nicholas Berg in 2004.
The video released on websites Tuesday appears to show the increasing sophistication of the Islamic State group's media unit and begins with scenes of Obama explaining his decision to order airstrikes.
It then cuts to Foley, kneeling in the desert, next to a black-clad militant with a knife to his throat. After the captive speaks, the militant is shown apparently beginning to cut at his neck; the video fades to black before the beheading is completed. The next shot shows the captive lying dead.
At the end of the video, a militant shows a second man, who was identified as another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and warns that he could be the next captive killed. Sotloff was kidnapped near the Syrian-Turkish border in August 2013; he had freelanced for Time, the National Interest and MediaLine.
Obama did not specifically mention Sotloff.
The militant in the video has not been identified, but he spoke with a British accent, and British Prime Minister David Cameron said that "from what we have seen, it looks increasingly likely that is a British citizen." U.S. officials agreed with that assessment.
GlobalPost President Philip Balboni said the news service received an email "full of rage" last week in which Foley's captors threatened to kill him. Balboni said the White House was aware of the threat, but no negotiations took place.
Since Aug. 8, there have been nearly 90 U.S. airstrikes in Iraq on Islamic State targets - including security checkpoints, vehicles and weapons caches. It's not clear how many militants have been killed in the strikes, although it's likely that some were.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 80 journalists have been abducted in Syria, and estimates that around 20 are currently missing there. It has not released their nationalities. In its annual report in November, the committee described the widespread seizure of journalists as unprecedented and largely unreported by news organizations in the hope that keeping the kidnappings out of public view may help in the captives' release.
---
Associated Press writers Lita Baldor, Bradley Klapper, Julie Pace and Josh Lederman in Washington, Ryan Lucas in Beirut, Rik Stevens in Rochester, New Hampshire, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
Source : Sapa-AP /dm
Date : 21 Aug 2014 04:54
MickeyD
RIP
OBAMA WARNS OF JIHADIST 'CANCER' AS US REVEALS FAILED RESCUE
by Jérôme Cartillier
US President Barack Obama demanded Wednesday the world take action against the "cancer" of jihadist extremism in Iraq, as Washington revealed it had failed in an operation to free US hostages in neighboring Syria.
It came a day after the so-called "Islamic State," which has seized much of eastern Syria and northern Iraq, released a video showing a masked militant beheading US reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion and condemnation.
As US jets continued to strike IS targets in Iraq, despite a threat to kill a second American reporter, Obama said: "When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done."
Shortly after he spoke, the State Department asked for 300 more US troops to be sent to Iraq to protect US facilities.
US forces had tried but failed to rescue Foley and other US hostages held in Syria by the IS, officials and reports said.
The Pentagon and the White House did not say if the covert mission earlier this summer was to rescue Foley, who was kidnapped in northern Syria in November 2012 and whose murder has provoked revulsion and condemnation.
However US media, citing senior Obama administration officials, said Foley was among those US Special Operations commandos were trying to rescue
"This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL (IS)," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location."
Obama "authorized action at this time because it was the national security team's assessment that these hostages were in danger with each passing day in ISIL (IS) custody," a White House statement added.
In the execution video, a black-clad man said that Foley, a 40-year-old freelance journalist, was killed to avenge US air strikes against his movement.
The man then paraded a second US reporter, Steven Sotloff, before the camera and said he too would die unless Obama changes course.
In the nearly five-minute video, Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, dressed in an orange outfit that resembles those worn by prisoners held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
"Any aggression toward the Islamic State is an aggression toward Muslims from all walks of life who have accepted the Islamic caliphate as their leadership," the masked militant declares.
IS had asked for a multi-million dollar ransom for Foley and killed him after Washington refused to deliver, The New York Times reported.
Obama paid tribute to Foley and said the Islamic State must be defeated.
"Jim Foley's life stands in stark contrast to his killers," he said, branding the militants genocidal murderers who target civilians and subject women and children to "torture and rape and slavery."
"Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents," he said, dismissing the IS claim to represent the aspirations of a global Muslim caliphate.
"No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day," he declared.
"We will be vigilant and we will be relentless... From governments and peoples across the Middle East, there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so it does not spread."
US intelligence believes the video is genuine, and the British government held a crisis meeting to launch an investigation because Foley's executioner spoke English with a London accent.
"We have not identified the individual responsible, but from what we have seen, it looks increasingly likely that it is a British citizen," Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters. "This is deeply shocking."
Foley's parents, John and Diane, appeared on the lawn of their home in New Hampshire to pay tribute to their son -- the oldest of five adult children -- and call for other hostages to be released.
"Jim would never want us to hate or be bitter. We cannot do that and we are just so very proud of Jimmy and we are praying for the strength to love like he did," Diane said.
US Central Command said 14 air strikes had been carried out on IS targets in Iraq in the 24 hours since the video was released.
The United Nations and Europe's top powers condemned the killing, and France warned the world faces the "most serious international situation" since 2001, the year of the September 11 attacks.
In a significant shift from its usual policy, Germany said it was ready to send weapons to support Iraqi Kurds against IS.
In June, the group then known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant declared the dawn of a Muslim caliphate and seized control of a swath of eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
This month, Obama reacted by ordering US warplanes to counter threats to US personnel in the Kurdish regional capital Arbil or to civilian refugees from Iraqi religious minority groups.
He has insisted the scope of the strikes would remain limited, but Iraqi officials and observers have argued that only foreign intervention could turn the tide on jihadist expansion in Iraq.
Shiite militias, federal soldiers, Kurdish troops and Sunni Arab tribes have been battling IS for weeks in some areas but have been unable to clinch a decisive victory.
Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 21 Aug 2014 05:09
by Jérôme Cartillier
US President Barack Obama demanded Wednesday the world take action against the "cancer" of jihadist extremism in Iraq, as Washington revealed it had failed in an operation to free US hostages in neighboring Syria.
It came a day after the so-called "Islamic State," which has seized much of eastern Syria and northern Iraq, released a video showing a masked militant beheading US reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion and condemnation.
As US jets continued to strike IS targets in Iraq, despite a threat to kill a second American reporter, Obama said: "When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done."
Shortly after he spoke, the State Department asked for 300 more US troops to be sent to Iraq to protect US facilities.
US forces had tried but failed to rescue Foley and other US hostages held in Syria by the IS, officials and reports said.
The Pentagon and the White House did not say if the covert mission earlier this summer was to rescue Foley, who was kidnapped in northern Syria in November 2012 and whose murder has provoked revulsion and condemnation.
However US media, citing senior Obama administration officials, said Foley was among those US Special Operations commandos were trying to rescue
"This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL (IS)," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location."
Obama "authorized action at this time because it was the national security team's assessment that these hostages were in danger with each passing day in ISIL (IS) custody," a White House statement added.
In the execution video, a black-clad man said that Foley, a 40-year-old freelance journalist, was killed to avenge US air strikes against his movement.
The man then paraded a second US reporter, Steven Sotloff, before the camera and said he too would die unless Obama changes course.
In the nearly five-minute video, Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, dressed in an orange outfit that resembles those worn by prisoners held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
"Any aggression toward the Islamic State is an aggression toward Muslims from all walks of life who have accepted the Islamic caliphate as their leadership," the masked militant declares.
IS had asked for a multi-million dollar ransom for Foley and killed him after Washington refused to deliver, The New York Times reported.
Obama paid tribute to Foley and said the Islamic State must be defeated.
"Jim Foley's life stands in stark contrast to his killers," he said, branding the militants genocidal murderers who target civilians and subject women and children to "torture and rape and slavery."
"Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents," he said, dismissing the IS claim to represent the aspirations of a global Muslim caliphate.
"No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day," he declared.
"We will be vigilant and we will be relentless... From governments and peoples across the Middle East, there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so it does not spread."
US intelligence believes the video is genuine, and the British government held a crisis meeting to launch an investigation because Foley's executioner spoke English with a London accent.
"We have not identified the individual responsible, but from what we have seen, it looks increasingly likely that it is a British citizen," Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters. "This is deeply shocking."
Foley's parents, John and Diane, appeared on the lawn of their home in New Hampshire to pay tribute to their son -- the oldest of five adult children -- and call for other hostages to be released.
"Jim would never want us to hate or be bitter. We cannot do that and we are just so very proud of Jimmy and we are praying for the strength to love like he did," Diane said.
US Central Command said 14 air strikes had been carried out on IS targets in Iraq in the 24 hours since the video was released.
The United Nations and Europe's top powers condemned the killing, and France warned the world faces the "most serious international situation" since 2001, the year of the September 11 attacks.
In a significant shift from its usual policy, Germany said it was ready to send weapons to support Iraqi Kurds against IS.
In June, the group then known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant declared the dawn of a Muslim caliphate and seized control of a swath of eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
This month, Obama reacted by ordering US warplanes to counter threats to US personnel in the Kurdish regional capital Arbil or to civilian refugees from Iraqi religious minority groups.
He has insisted the scope of the strikes would remain limited, but Iraqi officials and observers have argued that only foreign intervention could turn the tide on jihadist expansion in Iraq.
Shiite militias, federal soldiers, Kurdish troops and Sunni Arab tribes have been battling IS for weeks in some areas but have been unable to clinch a decisive victory.
Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 21 Aug 2014 05:09
OzzieCapie
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Not sure if they achieved anything by youy watching it or not.
I watched it, not sure if that was the only video released or whether edited by LiveLeak, but it it blackens just after he starts 'cutting' (note no blood at all during that time) then comes back with his head on back of his prone body.
I have seen much better photoshops to be honest and the whole thing, including his forced reading from script, seems way too staged for me. With all the blood lying around his face is still quite normal colour rather than flush.
Has anyone actually seen the beheading???
Grant
Honorary Master
their answer lies in the documentary that caused high drama in britain called "undercover mosque"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undercover_Mosque
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ToxicBunny
Oi! Leave me out of this...
And the fact that Britain hasn't dealt with this stuff swiftly is why they will continue having a problem.
Yes it is a minority of Muslims who behave this way and advocate this kind of BS, but the majority never seem to speak out and condemn it or help stop it.
Yes it is a minority of Muslims who behave this way and advocate this kind of BS, but the majority never seem to speak out and condemn it or help stop it.
Sm00thSm0k3
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Dave
Honorary Master
Actually, let the US double their bombing the living sh*t out of them.
OrbitalDawn
Ulysses Everett McGill
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[video=youtube;OM6XyImGSuE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM6XyImGSuE[/video]
actually execution edited out of the video
actually execution edited out of the video