Video reportedly shows beheading of reporter Steven Sotloff by ISIS

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Associated Press


http://i.imgur.com/y5222wS.jpg

BEIRUT (AP) — An Internet video posted online Tuesday purported to show the beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff by the Islamic State group, which called it retribution for continued U.S. airstrikes in Iraq.

Sotloff, 31, who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, had last been seen in Syrian in August 2013 until he appeared in a video released online last month by the Islamic State group that showed the beheading of fellow American journalist James Foley.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit against the backdrop of an arid Syrian landscape, Sotloff was threatened in that video with death unless the U.S. stopped airstrikes on the group in Iraq.

In the video distributed Tuesday and entitled "A Second Message to America," Sotloff appears in a similar jumpsuit before he was purportedly beheaded by an Islamic State fighter.

The Associated Press could not immediately verify the video's authenticity. The SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S. terrorism watchdog, first reported about the video's existence.

The fighter who beheads Sotloff in the video called it retribution for Obama's continued airstrikes against the group in Iraq.

"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State ... despite our serious warnings," the fighter said.

At the end of the video, he threatened to kill a third captive, a Briton, David Cathorne Haines.

Sotloff's mother had pleaded for his release last week in a video directed at the Islamic State group.

Addressing the leader of the Islamic State group by name, Shirley Sotloff said in a video her son was "an innocent journalist" who shouldn't pay for U.S. government actions in the Middle East over which he has no control.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said he wasn't immediately aware of the purported Sotloff video and wasn't in a position to confirm its authenticity.

"This is something that the administration has obviously been watching very carefully," Earnest said. "Our thoughts and prayers first and foremost are with Mr. Sotloff and Mr. Sotloff's family and those who worked with him."

A man who answered a phone listed in the name of Sotloff's sister hung up when called by the AP.

[DemonGeminiX]

:x

[Hugh_Janus]

the thing that pisses me off the most about this is that the fuckers hide behind their masks and then go and give it the big one "hurr durr I'll die and do disgusting things in the name of my religion, but I'll wear a mask just incase I get caught because I don't want to face the consequences"

cunts

[Lambchop]

Same British guy who beheaded the other journalist. Cold as fuck.

[perrhaps]

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said he wasn't immediately aware of the purported Sotloff video and wasn't in a position to confirm its authenticity.

"This is something that the administration has obviously been watching very carefully," Earnest said. "Our thoughts and prayers first and foremost are with Mr. Sotloff and Mr. Sotloff's family and those who worked with him."





President Obama come up with a strategy yet?

[Goofy]

Get all of our guys out of there then nuke the whole fucking shithole.......

[Muddy]

Get all of our guys out of there then nuke the whole fucking shithole.......

I understand your sentiment, but we all know it's never gonna happen.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I understand your sentiment, but we all know it's never gonna happen.

The President has to do something now, if he doesn't after this second beheading, then he just proves us all right that he a limp dick pathetic fuck.

[Hal-9000]

"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State ... despite our serious warnings," the fighter said.


I get so confused whether it's a political policy, or a religious thing, or another reason entirely.

And I agree with Hugh....you have complete faith in your convictions/actions...then take off the mask tough guy and give us an idea of your lat/long...

[deebakes]

:obama:

[Muddy]

The President has to do something now, if he doesn't after this second beheading, then he just proves us all right that he a limp dick pathetic fuck.

There's a big difference in "doing something" and nuking an entire region though.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

There's a big difference in "doing something" and nuking an entire region though.

Unfortunately, since it's blatantly obvious that the so-called "good Muslims" are not ever going to stand up to this bullshit, mass extermination is the only avenue that humanity has left.

Look, do you see any stories about ANY of these 'good Muslims' anywhere condemning this or anything these fucktards are doing?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By W.G. Dunlop - Agence France Presse


Baghdad (AFP) - A video purporting to show US journalist Steven Sotloff being beheaded by Islamic State jihadists is authentic, the White House said Wednesday.

President Barack Obama vowed Washington would not be intimidated by the jihadists, who said the execution was in retaliation for expanded US air strikes in Iraq.

Condemning the "horrible act of violence," Obama said Washington's goal is for IS to "no longer pose a threat" to the region. However, this will "take time" and depends on close cooperation with partners in the region, he said.

The video was released as Iraqi forces kept up their fightback against the jihadists northeast of Baghdad. IS also warned that a British hostage would be next unless London backed off from support for Washington's air campaign in Iraq.

The masked executioner in the video spoke with a London accent, and claimed to be the same man, dubbed Jihadi John by the British press, who beheaded US journalist James Foley, 40, in a similar posting last month.

In the latest footage, Sotloff calmly addresses the camera to say he is a victim of Obama's decision to press on with air strikes against the jihadists in Iraq.

At the end of the five-minute video recording, discovered online by the SITE Intelligence monitoring group and seen by AFP, the militant threatens another captive, identified as Briton David Cawthorne Haines.

"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State," the black-clad jihadist says, wielding a combat knife.

http://i.imgur.com/sCrsccJl.jpg

The militant condemns US air strikes against IS fighters around both Mosul Dam in the north and the Shiite Turkmen town of Amerli further south, which dates the video to the past week.

"So just as your missiles continue to strike the necks of our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people," he declares, before reaching round to cut his captive's throat.

In a warning to Britain, the killer declares: "We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone."

Britain has maintained a media silence about the kidnapping of aid worker Cawthorne Haines and there were few immediate details about when or how he was abducted.

In a statement, the Sotloff family, who live in Miami, said: "The family knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately. There will be no public comment from the family during this difficult time."

After Foley's death, Sotloff's mother Shirley had addressed a video message to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi pleading for her son's life, and insisting he had no influence on US policy.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the video depicted an "absolutely disgusting, despicable act" and convened a meeting of security chiefs to discuss how to tackle the IS threat.

- 'Brave and talented' -

Sotloff's former employers at Time and Foreign Policy paid tribute to a man widely respected for his intrepid reporting in Syria and the wider region, including a previous stint in Libya.

Sharing on Twitter a piece Sotloff had once written from a besieged rebel enclave in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Foreign Policy's Middle East editor David Kenner dubbed him "a brave and talented reporter".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the world was outraged at the apparent beheading.

"I strongly condemn all such despicable crimes and I refuse to accept that whole communities can be threatened by atrocities because of who they are or what they believe," Ban said.

Sotloff's murder comes on the heels of a brutal IS campaign of executions and abductions targeting Iraq's Christian and Yazidi minorities and increased pressure on Obama to toughen his stance against the group.

Obama has promised to be "relentless" in his protection of US citizens in Iraq but admitted last week that Washington does not yet have a strategy to deal with IS in its heartland in eastern Syria.

- More US troops -

Obama told reporters the United States would 'not be intimidated' by Sotloff execution as he arrived for talks in Estonia on Wednesday ahead of a NATO summit in Wales.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said the approximately 350 additional military personnel on the ground in Baghdad would provide security at the embassy compound and its support facilities.

"This builds upon previous embassy security deployments announced on June 15 and June 30 and will bring the total forces responsible for augmenting diplomatic security in Iraq up to approximately 820," he said.

Washington initially limited the air support it launched on August 8 to Iraqi Kurdish forces fighting the jihadists in the north.

But late last week it expanded it to Iraqi troops and Shiite militia battling to relieve trapped civilians in Amerli, helping them to break the months-long IS siege on Sunday.

Assistance is now arriving in the town, brought in both by Shiite militia fighters and the United Nations, which said it had "delivered 45 metric tonnes of life-saving supplies".

But Washington has ruled out any air strikes for now against IS fighters in neighbouring Syria, where they hold a large swathe of the east.

Obama has also ruled out any cooperation with the Damascus regime against IS, for fear that it would drive other Sunni rebel groups in Syria into alliance with the jihadists.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Associated Press


TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States will not be intimidated by Islamic State militants after the beheading of a second American journalist and will build a coalition to "degrade and destroy" the group.

Obama still did not give a timeline for deciding on a strategy to go after the extremist group's operations in Syria. "It's going to take time for us to be able to roll them back," the president said at a news conference during a visit to Europe.

The president's comments came after he said the United States had verified the authenticity of a video released Tuesday showing the beheading of freelance reporter Steven Sotloff, two weeks after journalist James Foley was similarly killed.

Obama vowed the U.S. would not forget the "terrible crime against these two fine young men."

"We will not be intimidated. Their horrific acts only unite us as a country and stiffen our resolve to take the fight against these terrorists," Obama said. "And those who make the mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget, and that our reach is long and that justice will be served."

Obama also sought to clean up the damage from his statement last week that "we don't have a strategy yet" for dealing with the Islamic State group in Syria. Republicans quickly seized on the remark to argue the president lacks a coherent approach to fighting the extremist group.

"It is very important from my perspective that when we send our pilots in to do a job, that we know that this is a mission that's going to work, that we're very clear on what our objectives are, what our targets are," Obama said. "We've made the case to Congress and we've made the case to the American people, and we've got allies behind us so that it's not just a one-off, but it's something that over time is going to be effective."

In the Sotloff video, a masked militant warns Obama that as long as U.S. airstrikes against the militant group continue, "our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people."

Obama responded that the airstrikes have been effective in blunting the militant threat and he will continue to battle the "barbaric and ultimately empty vision" that the Islamic State represents. He said he will be consulting with NATO allies at a summit in Wales Thursday and Friday on a strategy to combat the Islamic State and other militant networks that arise.

"Our objective is clear, and that is to degrade and destroy ISIL so that it's no longer a threat — not just to Iraq, but also the region and to the United States," he said, using an acronym for the militant group.

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, appearing alongside Obama, expressed solidarity in the fight. "We see ISIS as a serious threat to all of us, and stand together with the United States and our allies on this issue," Ilves said, using an alternative name for the group.

Sotloff, a 31-year-old Miami-area native who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, vanished a year ago in Syria and was not seen again until he appeared in the video that showed Foley's beheading. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit against an arid Syrian landscape, Sotloff was threatened in that video with death unless the U.S. stopped airstrikes on the Islamic State.

In the video distributed Tuesday and titled "A Second Message to America," Sotloff appears in a similar jumpsuit before he is apparently beheaded by a fighter with the Islamic State, the extremist group that has conquered wide swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq and declared itself a caliphate.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC Wednesday that the masked, British-accented jihadist appears to be the same person shown in the Foley footage. In the video, the organization threatens to kill another hostage, this one identified as a British citizen.

Last week, Sotloff's mother, Shirley Sotloff, pleaded with his captors for mercy, saying in a video that her son was "an innocent journalist" and "an honorable man" who "has always tried to help the weak."

Obama said the prayers of the American people are with the family of the "devoted and courageous journalist" who deeply loved the Islamic world and whose "life stood in stark contrast to those who have murdered him so brutally."

"His killers try to claim that they defend the oppressed, but it was Steven who traveled across the Middle East, risking his life to tell the story of Muslim men and women demanding justice and dignity," Obama said. "Whatever these murderers think they'll achieve by killing innocent Americans like Steven, they have already failed. They have failed because, like people around the world, Americans are repulsed by their barbarism."

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday that it is believed that "a few" Americans are still being held by the Islamic State. Psaki would not give any specifics, but one is a 26-year-old woman who was kidnapped while doing humanitarian aid work in Syria, according to a family representative who asked that the hostage not be identified out of fear for her safety.

[Muddy]

Unfortunately, since it's blatantly obvious that the so-called "good Muslims" are not ever going to stand up to this bullshit, mass extermination is the only avenue that humanity has left.

Look, do you see any stories about ANY of these 'good Muslims' anywhere condemning this or anything these fucktards are doing?

I hear you.. But humanity will never allow a mass extinction to happen.

[redred]

Not by a 1st world country anyway

[Muddy]

Is Israel first world?

[redred]

fuck knows , they don't act like one imo