On August 19, the ISIS militant group posted a video of the gruesome beheading of James Foley. Foley, an American journalist who freelanced for Global Post, was captured on November 22, 2012, while covering the Syrian Civil War. Foley is the first American citizen to be executed by the ISIS.
After completing the terrible execution, the masked ISIS militant threatened to kill a second American journalist, Steven Sotloff, if the U.S. continues to unleash its airstrikes. Despite the serious threats and Sotloff's unknown condition, the U.S. has continued to launch airstrikes near the Mosul Dam.
"One thing we can all agree on is a group like ISIS has no place in the 21st century," said a defiant President Obama. According to the Daily Mail, the U.S. Secret Service and the British Intelligence are currently working around the clock to identify James Foley's masked executioner, who spoke with a British Accent.
ISIS reportedly demanded a $100 million ransom from the United States in exchange for James Foley's life. However, The United States are clear that they will not negotiate with terrorists. In fact, according to a recent study conducted by the New York Times, terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and its affiliates have raised $125 million from ransom payments since 2008. From the United States' perspective, handing over a ransom is the same as funding the terrorists.
According to reports, U.S. Special Forces launched a mission to rescue James Foley from the ISIS in Syria in July. Unfortunately, the operation failed when they realized Foley had been moved to a different location.
"Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location," announced a White House statement.
The New York Times reports that the mission was carried out by two dozen special-ops members. The spec-op team were met with heavy gunfire, but the hostages were not there. Officials would not disclose the number of hostages believed to be captive. Furthermore, the source did not disclose the whereabouts of the raid, saying that if the operation happened in a heavily-populated area, then the news would have known. The source also pointed out that the ISIS suffered significant casualties while only one American soldier was slightly wounded. Upon discovering that the hostages were not there, the Spec-op forces retreated to the helicopter and escaped.
Because of the mission's failure, James Foley is dead. However, the video of Foley's execution has given the U.S. and British intelligence a new lead: the masked executioner. Even though the terrorist has concealed his face, the ISIS terrorist's British accent might be enough to betray his disguise.
"We’ll work with our law enforcement, our intelligence and our military partners to try to bring justice to the Foley family and bring the full force of the United States to bear on these savages," said FBI Director James Comey. Comey vows the full force of the U.S. government would be used to catch the 'savages' responsible for Foley's murder.
British Prime Minister David Cameron also condemned Foley's killing as "murder without any justification." In addition, the British Prime Minister also stated the likelihood of the masked executioner as a possible British citizen.
"We have not identified the individual responsible," said Cameron, "but from what we have seen it looks increasingly likely that it is a British citizen."
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