I'm back, Obama': ISIS executioner Jihadi John taunts President as he beheads second US journalist, Steven Sotloff . . . and then threatens to kill a Briton next
- Steven Sotloff, 31, from Miami, was captured in Syria in August 2013
- The video is titled ‘A Second Message to America’
- In the video, Sotloff describes himself as 'paying the price' for the Obama administration’s decision to attack ISIS in Iraq
- His execution follows the beheading of fellow journalist James Foley last month
- Sotloff freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines
- The White House today said: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr Sotloff and Mr Sotloff's family’
ISIS has released a video that shows the beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff and says the murder is retaliation for the Obama administration’s continued airstrikes in Iraq.
Sotloff is the second American journalist to be killed by ISIS, and his death comes two weeks after James Foley was executed in a similar video.
In the video entitled 'A Second Message to America,' Sotloff appears in a orange jumpsuit before he is beheaded by an Islamic State fighter.
The executioner appears to be the same man who killed Foley – known as ‘Jihadi John’ - and tells the camera: 'I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State.”
He also threatens to kill a Briton held hostage by the group next.
Tonight Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the video and said: ‘It is an absolutely disgusting and despicable act.”
He added he will be making a statement on the video later.
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Beheaded: ISIS have released a video showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff
Last week: Shirley Sotloff appealed directly for
the return of her son, SteveN Sofloff last week. On Tuesday, ISIS
released a video that purported to show the beheading of her son online
The
executioner points his knife menacingly at the camera as he speaks. Clad
in the same black garb he wore during Foley’s execution, the killer has
a pistol strapped under his arm in a shoulder holster. The black flag
of the Islamic State can be seen waving in the background.
Sotloff calmly read a statement moments before his murder: ‘I’m sure you know exactly who I am by now and why I am appearing.;
He
tells the camera: ‘Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq
was supposed to be for preservation of American lives and interests, so
why is it that I am paying the price of your interference with my life?’
While he speaks, a militant calmly holds a knife at his side and stands next to Sotloff.
Watch Video Here
Alleged: The British jihadist, Abdel-Majed Abdel
Bary, known as Jihadi John is suspected of killing US journalist James
Foley and Steven Sotloff and is pictured here (left) at his rap studio
and (right) with Sotloff on August 19
The man believed to be Jihadi John also says: ‘As your missiles continue
to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike necks of your people.’
At
least one version of the video posted online openly taunts President
Barack Obama, showing his statement about the execution of James Foley.
'The
United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect
our people. We will be vigilant and we will be relentless. When people
harm Americans anywhere, we will do what’s necessary to see that justice
is done.
'And we will act against ISL standing alongside others,’ the president intones.
The video then cuts to the execution scene.
The White House didn't immediately comment on how and when Obama heard about Sotloff's reported death.
The
president was in the White House when news erupted, preparing for a
mid-afternoon departure for Estonia and then Wales, where he will attend
a NATO summit.
The
Pentagon refused to confirm the video of Steven Sotloff's murder today
and said they were working to authenticate it with intelligence
officials.
Rear
Admiral John Kirby said: 'We still can't confirm this next video and
potential new murder... We are trying to find out the ground truth
here.'
Foley’s family released a statement after Sotloff’s execution, calling it ‘just horrific,’ according to WHDH-TV.
On
Thursday, Sotloff’s mother Shirley Sotloff went on television to make a
direct appeal for her son’s life. She addressed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
the self-claimed caliph of ISIS.
'My
son is in your hands,' Ms Sotloff said. 'As a mother I ask Your Justice
to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control
over. I ask you to use your authority to spare his life.'
MOMENTS BEFORE HIS DEATH STEVEN SOTLOFF'S FINAL BRAVE WORDS:
A Second Message to America:
'I am Steven Joel Sotloff. I’m sure you know exactly who I am by now and why I am appearing before you. And now this is the time for my message:
'Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be the preservation of American lives and interests, so why is that I am paying the price of your interference with my life? Am I not an American citizen? We’ve spent billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars and we’ve lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so what are the people’s interests in reigniting war?
'From what little I know about foreign policy, I remember a time when you could not win an election without promising to bring our troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan and to close down Guantanamo. Here you are now, Obama, nearing the end of your term, and having achieved none of the above and deceivingly marching us the American people in the blazing fire.'
'I am Steven Joel Sotloff. I’m sure you know exactly who I am by now and why I am appearing before you. And now this is the time for my message:
'Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be the preservation of American lives and interests, so why is that I am paying the price of your interference with my life? Am I not an American citizen? We’ve spent billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars and we’ve lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so what are the people’s interests in reigniting war?
'From what little I know about foreign policy, I remember a time when you could not win an election without promising to bring our troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan and to close down Guantanamo. Here you are now, Obama, nearing the end of your term, and having achieved none of the above and deceivingly marching us the American people in the blazing fire.'
The
SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S. terrorism watchdog, first reported
about the video's existence. Unlike Foley's beheading, which was widely
shared on Twitter accounts affiliated with the Islamic State group, the
video purporting to show Sotloff's killing was not immediately posted
online, though several jihadi websites told users to expect it Tuesday.
The fighter who beheads Sotloff in the video called it retribution for Obama's continued airstrikes against the group in Iraq.
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.
Second death: This undated image shows a frame
from a video released by Islamic State militants Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014,
that purports to show the killing of journalist James Foley by the
militant group
White
House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was taken by surprise when a
reporter asked him about the video during a regular Tuesday press
briefing.
The initial reports had surfaced, President Obama's chief spokesman suggested, while he was already speaking to reporters.
'This may have just happened in the last few minutes while I've been standing up here,' Earnest said.
'This
is something that the administration has obviously been watching
carefully since this threat against Mr. Sotloff's life was originally
made a few weeks ago,' he added.
'I'm
not in a position to confirm the authenticity of that video, or
reports, obviously,' he cautioned, 'since I just walked out here.'
'But
if there is a video that has been released, it is something that will
be analyzed very carefully by the U.S. government and our intelligence
officials to determine its authenticity.'
'I'M BACK OBAMA': MASKED EXECUTIONERS CHILLING THREAT TO CAMERA
Executioner:
'I’m back Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic state, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings and … on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warnings. You Obama, have but to gain from your actions but another American citizen. So just as your missiles continue to strike out people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.
'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'
'I’m back Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic state, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings and … on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warnings. You Obama, have but to gain from your actions but another American citizen. So just as your missiles continue to strike out people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.
'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'
Despite hearing about the video release for the first time, Earnest pivoted to expressing the sympathies of the White House.
'Our
thoughts and prayers, first and foremost, are with Mr. Sotloff and Mr.
Sotloff's family and those who worked with him,' he said. 'The United
States, as you know, has dedicated significant time and resources to try
and rescue Mr. Sotloff.'
At the State Department a rattled spokeswoman Jen Psaki confused the executions of Foley and Sotloff.
'We
certainly consider this act, this reported act, the act of the killing
of James Foley, as a horrific terrorist act.' she said.
Foley was the first U.S. journalist beheaded in an ISIS video. His death first aroused Americans' anger two weeks ago.
'If
the video is genuine,' Psaki said, 'we are sickened by this brutal act,
taking the life of another innocent American citizens. Our hearts go
out to the Sotloff family.'
Asked if the Obama administration will regard Sotloff's execution as an 'act of war,' she refused to engage in semantics.
'We certainly – I'm not going to put new labels on it,' Psaki said.
'I
don't think it's a useful exercise to go back and forth about new
terms,' she said later. 'What's important is what we're doing about it.'
Remarks: White House press secretary Josh
Earnest during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington
on Tuesday. Earnest also spoke about reports that a video on the
internet that purports to show beheading of US reporter Steven Sotloff
by ISIS
Videos
like the one that surfaced Tuesday, she told reporters, have 'been one
of the motivating factors in the effort to undergo the creation of an
international coalition to address this threat.'
Psaki would not say how many other captives ISIS is holding from the U.S. and other Western nations.
'We don't get into specific numbers, for the safety and security of individuals,' she said.
'We've said "a few." That continues to be accurate.'
The
chilling threat to execute a UK hostage is a direct challenge to Prime
Minister David Cameron and will send shockwaves through the British
government.
Only last week Mr Cameron warned that ISIS was now a ‘greater threat to our security than we have seen before’.
After
the beheading of journalist James Foley, Mr Cameron rushed back from
his holiday in Cornwall to condemn ‘the barbaric and brutal act’.
On Friday the Prime Minster warned that the killers were likely to be British.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest about
reports that the video on the internet shows the beheading of US
reporter Steven Sotloff by ISIS
The Prime
Minister was addressing Tory MPs in a private meeting in Parliament this
evening when he was informed of the latest video.
At
the end of the meeting of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, Mr
Cameron was seen looking at his blackberry before emerging to address
journalists.
It
comes just 24 hours after Mr Cameron outlined a fresh crack down on
extremists returning from the Middle East to wage war on Britain.
He
announced that police will be given the power to seize the passports of
terror suspects trying to join jihadists fighting in Iraq and Syria.
He
also revealed the Government was considering new powers to force
jihadis living in the UK to relocate, while airlines will be compelled
to hand over passenger lists before flights take off.
New
laws will also be considered to prevent terrorists returning to 'wreak
havoc' on the streets of Britain by removing their citizenship if they
are fighting for ISIS abroad.
The
Prime Minister admitted the Government would 'continue to consider'
what further action Britain could take against the ISIS fighters in the
Middle East - including what 'military measures we might take'.
In the Commons, Mr Cameron was asked directly if he was 'open to the idea of direct military participation in airstrikes'.
He replied: 'I don't rule anything out. I don't think we should.' He added: 'We should consider everything.'
The Islamic State
group which has taken over a third of Syria and Iraq has terrorized
rivals and civilians alike with widely publicized brutality as it seeks
to expand a proto-state it has carved out on both sides of the border.
In
its rise to prominence over the past year, the extremist group has
frequently published graphic photos and gruesome videos of everything
from bombings and beheadings to mass killings.
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