Genuflect in the dirt in a desert somewhere in the Middle East; James Foley lost his life this week at the hands of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Before pulling out the knife used to behead him, his masked slaughterer explained that he was killing the 40-year-old American journalist in retaliation for the recent United States’ air strikes against the terror group in Iraq. They also warned US to continue the same with other hostages. In fact, until recently, ISIS had a very different list of demands for Foley: The group pressed the United States to provide a multimillion-dollar ransom for his release, according to a representative of his family and a former hostage held next to him. The United States — unlike several European countries that have funnelled millions to the terror group to spare the lives of their citizens — refused to pay. Western media should be more sensible and careful while reporting from such places; they are to be dealt with very strongly and firmly. The United States and the European governments are in fact, giving them fuel to prolong their atrocities. Their sources of weapons are to be found and removed, their source of other crucial equipments like communication etc., are to be investigated and sealed so that they cannot run their terror network. It is really surprising that these terrorists are getting all required weapons and equipments without any problem despite the manufacturing of most of these being from in the west.
They would enforce the trade embargo over much less barbaric nations but they don’t do anything to such criminal terrorists operating from a nation which is devastated because of action of USA. US cannot wash off their hands like they did. I hope, they would respect Human Rights of the people of Iraq and these innocent journalists. Meanwhile, ISIS should be treated at par with Al Qaeda and all the developed countries should initiate similar action which they did in Afghanistan and Iraq. They should send their forces to finish these monsters.
The wrong policies of the Europeans of paying ransom for their citizens is causing a spate of kidnappings, in warfare there can be no innocent bystanders. Foley was covering the Syrian fighting and was aware of the perils facing him and his government’s policy of not paying ransom for its kidnapped citizens. He was a brave man and died with his head held high. No doubt the Americans will not rest till they get his executioners. The issue of how to deal with ISIS, which like many terror groups now routinely trades captives for large cash payments, is acute for the Obama administration because Foley was not the lone American in its custody. ISIS is threatening to kill at least three others it holds if its demands remain unmet, The New York Times has confirmed through interviews with recently released prisoners, family of the kidnapped. Europeans has become the main source of revenue for al Qaeda and its affiliates, which have earned at least $125 million in ransom payments in the past five years alone, according to an investigation by The Times.
Although, ISIS was recently expelled from al Qaeda and abides by different rules. Recently freed prisoners said that their captors were well aware of what ransoms had been paid on behalf of European nationals held by Qaeda affiliates as far afield as Africa, indicating that they were hoping to abide by the same business plan. While government and counterterrorism officials insist that paying ransoms only perpetuates the problem, the policy has meant that captured Americans have little chance of being released. A handful succeeded in running away, and even fewer were rescued in special operations. The rest are either held indefinitely — or else killed.
David Rohde, a columnist for the news service and a former foreign correspondent for The Times who was kidnapped by the Taliban, said that the uneven approach to ransoms may have cost Foley his life. James Foley was an American conflict reporter who went missing in Syria almost two years ago. On Tuesday, August 19th, a video of Foley surfaced. The video, apparently produced by ISIS as a warning to the US to stop air strikes against the group in Iraq, ended with Foley’s death. Foley first went missing in November 2012. He was last seen alive in Aleppo, Syria, where he was covering the Syrian civil war. It wasn’t clear where he had gone or who had taken him. At that point in the conflict, ISIS had not yet formed. Nor was this, the first time Foley was kidnapped: he had also been abducted in 2011 while covering the Libyan civil war.
For a long time, Foley’s location was unknown. In May 2013, his family and friends believed they had tracked him in a Syrian government jail. The video of his death isn’t clear on location. Titled “A Message to #America (from the #IslamicState),” the video depicts a British-accented ISIS militant forcing Foley to condemn America before beheading him. Afterwards, ISIS displays a man they claim is another missing American journalist, Steven Sotloff. They threaten to kill him if the US doesn’t stop bombing ISIS in Iraq. Foley’s execution and the alleged kidnapping of Sotloff will not end the American air campaign. Longstanding US policy has been to not give in to ransom demands, in part because it creates an incentive for groups like ISIS to kidnap Americans. The big question after Foley’s killing, then, is whether or not the US will escalate air strikes or other action against ISIS in response. It’s not clear whether ISIS killed Foley and is threatening to kill Sotloff in order to bait the US into an unwise escalation. On August 20th, President Obama gave a speech condemning the group, but the administration is still figuring out its response. ISIS also appears determined to increase the pressure on Washington.
In the video uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday, the screen goes dark after Foley is decapitated. Then the ISIS fighter is seen holding Sotloff in the same landscape of barren dunes, wearing an orange jumpsuit and his hands cuffed behind his back. The life of American citizens depends on your next decision, Mr. Obama.
