Foreign Ownership of U.S. Government Debt Passes $6 Trillion WHY DONT WE QUIT FUNDING TERRORIST AND CUT OFF THE WELFARE AND QUIT LETTING THESE EVIL PEOPLE OVER OUR BOAREDER THAT WILL PAY OFF OUR DEPT

Foreign Ownership of U.S. Government Debt Passes $6 Trillion

September 2, 2014 - 1:00 PM

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By Terence P. Jeffrey

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Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao listen to national anthems in Beijing on Dec. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Lintao Zhang)

(CNSNews.com) - For the first time in the nation’s history, foreign interests now own more than $6 trillion in U.S. government debt, according to the most recent Treasury Department report on major foreign holders of the debt, which includes the numbers through the end of June.
As of the end of June, foreign owners held $6,013,200,000,000 in U.S. Treasury securities, up from $5,976,500,000,000 as of the end of May.
Thirteen years ago, at the end of June 2001, the foreign-held U.S. government debt was $983,300,000,000—and had been trending downward for four months. Since then, it has grown more than six-fold.
Of the $6,013,200,000,000 in U.S. government debt held by foreign interests, $4,108,200,000,000 was categorized by the Treasury as “foreign official” debt holdings---meaning it was owned by institutions controlled by foreign governments.

“Foreign official institutions,” says the Treasury, “include the following: 1. Treasuries, including ministries of finance, or corresponding departments of national governments; central banks, including all departments thereof; stabilization funds, including official exchange control offices or other government exchange authorities; and diplomatic and consular establishments and other departments and agencies of national governments. 2. International and regional organizations. 3. Banks, corporations, or other agencies (including development banks and other institutions that are majority-owned by central governments) that are fiscal agents of national governments and perform activities similar to those of a treasury, central bank, stabilization fund, or exchange control authority."
The largest share of the foreign-owned U.S. government debt is held by interests in Mainland China, which owned $1,268,400,000,000 in U.S. Treasury securities as of the end of June. (Another $158,200,000,000 is held by interests in Hong Kong.)

The second largest share of the foreign-owned U.S. government debt is held by interests in Japan, which owned 1,219,500,000,000.
The third largest share of foreign-owned U.S. government debt is held by interests in Belgium, which owned $364,100,000,000 in Treasury securities at the end of June. The fourth largest share was held by interests in what the Treasury calls “Carribbean Banking Centers” (Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, and the British Virgin Islands), which owned $308,300,000,000 in Tresury securities at the end of June. And the fifth largest share was held by interests in nations characterized by Treasury as “Oil Exporters” (Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria.) Interests in these nations owned $262,100,000,000 in Treasury securities.
As of the end of June, the Federal Reserve owned $2,396,972,000,000 in U.S. Treasury securities. Together, the $6,013,200,000,000 in U.S. Treasury securities owned by foreign interests and the $2,396,972,000,000 owned by the Federal Reserve equaled $8,410,172,000,000 in U.S. government debt. That was about 67 percent of the $12,572,219,622,017.57 in U.S. government debt "held by the public," which includes debt borrowed from individuals, corporations and foreign and domestic government entities outside of the federal government itself.

The total U.S. government debt at the end of June was $17,632,606,234,365.92. This included the $12,572,219,622,017.57 in debt held by the public plus $5,060,386,612,348.35 in what the Treasury calls “intragovernmental debt,” which includes money the government has borrowed from such things as the Social Security trust fund to cover other government expenses.
A 2013 Congressional Research Service report on Chinese holdings of U.S. government debt noted efforts by the U.S. government to reassure the government of the People’s Republic of China that U.S. government debt is a good investment.
“Since the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008, U.S. government officials have increasingly sought to offer assurances to Chinese officials regarding the safety of China’s holdings of U.S. government debt securities and to encourage China to continue to purchase U.S. securities,” said the CRS report. “For example, during her first visit to China on February 21, 2009, (then) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was quoted as saying that she appreciated ‘greatly the Chinese government's continuing confidence in the United States Treasuries,’ and she urged the government to continue to buy U.S. debt.”
The CRS report continued: “However on March 13, 2009, (then) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at a news conference stated: ‘We’ve lent a huge amount of capital to the United States, and of course we’re concerned about the security of our assets. And to speak truthfully, I am a little bit worried. I would like to call on the United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets.”
“The U.S. debt issue was a major topic during Vice President Joe Biden’s trip to China in August 2011,” said the CRS report. “At a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on August 19, 2011, Vice President Biden stated that ‘we appreciate and welcome your concluding that the United States is such a safe haven because we appreciate your investment in U.S. treasuries. And very sincerely, I want to make clear that you have nothing to worry about in terms of their—their viability.’”
The latest State Department report on human rights in China says: “The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is an authoritarian state in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constitutionally is the paramount authority. CCP members hold almost all top government and security apparatus positions.”

Is Obama Helping the Islamic Militants? YES HE IS AND USEING OUR TAX DOLLARS TO DO IT THEN THEY WILL COME HERE AND KILL US THANKS TO THE RETARDS TTHAT WANTED THE 1ST BLACK PRESIDENT WAS IT WROTH IT WHEN ALL IS DONE AND SAID WE THE CHRISTIANS WILL WIN

Is Obama Helping the Islamic Militants?

By Paul Dowling / 1 September 2014 / 0 comments

Is Obama, by Having No Strategy, Helping Islamic Militants?
"The duty of a Patriot is to protect his country from its government."  – Thomas Paine
Facts & Questions
It is my intent, Dear Reader, simply to present facts and to ask questions.  Your job is to answer them for yourself.  If you are a little worried, by the time you finish reading this article, then I have accomplished my purpose: I have raised your level of concern about what is going on in our country.
Current Developments, Labor Day Weekend, 2014
The Islamic State, according to the latest reports, is now operating in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, as they plan to attack the US.  This attack could come in the form of a vehicle bomb, a biological threat (such as bubonic plague), or something even worse.
Federal law enforcement officials are aware of this threat and have issued warning bulletins for Labor Day Weekend.  Americans are being advised not to travel to Juarez, Mexico, at this time.
This news comes on the heels of Obama’s admission that he has no strategy for dealing with the Islamic State.  Doing nothing, however, is actually a strategy—if you are an Islamist president who wants to help the Islamic State.  A president who does nothing is exactly what would help Islamists to attack the US with increased effectiveness.
Obama’s Intentional Border Crisis
Obama is a Commander-in-Chief who has pulled the border patrol back 70 miles from the border.  Obama has ordered patrolmen not to return fire, when fired upon—unless they want to lose their jobs.  (This immoral policy has, unfortunately, already led to one death).  Obama has told many of the border patrol guards to process illegals, rather than focus on the actual guarding of the border.  Obama has, in short, made sure that he executes policy that does nothing to keep terrorists from crossing into the US.
What If?
What if Islamist militants come into the US and explode a bomb?  What if the president then decides to call a state of emergency and declare martial law?  What if our Constitution-hating president uses this emergency to suspend the Bill of Rights and sends police into homes to confiscate firearms, leaving Americans defenseless?  What if Obama dissolves the Congress for six months, per his Executive Order 11921, thereby avoiding Trey Gowdy’s Benghazi hearings that are to take place in the House?
A Couple of Concerning Executive Orders
President Obama, in his first term, issued Executive Order 11921, which says that, when invoked, the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency is empowered to establish control over all mechanisms of the production and distribution of energy, wages, salaries, credit, and the flow of currency in American financial institutions during a national emergency.  It also provides that the president may declare a state of emergency, with no Congressional oversight for six months’ time!  What is not clear is whether or not, at the end of six months’ time, the president might be able to declare still another six-month emergency period.  Could this go on ad infinitum?
Another executive order of concern is Obama’s Executive Order 13618, which allows the president to take over every means of communication, including radio, television, and internet—silencing every voice but his own—given an emergency situation, such as a war or a threat of war.  Seeing as how we now live in a state of perpetual warfare—the war on terror, the war on drugs, and so forth—what might this mean?  Is this even desirable in a democratic republic?  Broadcasters would cooperate without government coercion in a true emergency.  So, this amount of executive overreach is surely unwarranted in a free civil society.
None of these executive orders are constitutional, of course.  The executive order is not even mentioned in the US Constitution.  But this president goes against the Constitution time and again, and the government generally responds by following his lead.  This is the case, due to the fact that Obama has appointed many of the leaders who are in charge of deciding whether to implement his orders.
Presidential Purge
President Obama has purged over 200 top military brass from the US armed forces and has replaced them with commanders sympathetic to his views on such issues as firing on the American public if asked by the Commander-in-Chief to do so.  Obama has taken practical measures to ensure his orders will be obeyed, by placing people in charge who are more loyal to him than they are to the American people and the US Constitution.
Could It Be?
Could it be that President Obama is setting the wheels in motion to become a dictator in the truest sense of the word?  What if Islamists are willing to help him achieve his goal, due to the signals he has sent them to indicate he is a Muslim?  (Obama has protected Iran’s nuclear program, blown Israel’s cover on the bombing mission they planned in 2013 to take out the Iranian nuclear program, leaked the plans to Israel’s Iron Dome, et cetera.)  What if doing nothing has, indeed, been Obama’s strategy all along?
Concerns

We have never had a president, in the history of our republic, who has refused to protect our border from terrorists to the extent that he has actively canceled out the border patrol.  We have never had a president who has unilaterally disarmed our missile defenses from 5,500 down to 1,550 without any concessions from our adversaries.  And we have never had a president who has dramatically decreased the size of our armed forces in at a time when the threats to America were on the rise.
Sounding an Alarm
Will it help matters, if we cast light upon the possibility of an Obama police state in the making?  Hopefully, it will never materialize.  But a sleeping, unaware public could only encourage matters in the wrong direction.  So please, Dear Reader, sound the alarm to your friends and neighbors.  The Islamic State is coming!  And Obama is not stopping them.

Mariah Carey - All My Life + Lyrics (HD)

ALERT -- Dept. of Homeland Security Lose Track of 6,000 Foreigners on Student Visas...

(ABC News) -- The Department of Homeland Security has lost track of more than 6,000 foreign nationals who entered the United States on student visas, overstayed their welcome, and essentially vanished -- exploiting a security gap that was supposed to be fixed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
"My greatest concern is that they could be doing anything," said Peter Edge, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who oversees investigations into visa violators. "Some of them could be here to do us harm."
Homeland Security officials disclosed the breadth of the student visa problem in response to ABC News questions submitted as part of an investigation into persistent complaints about the nation’s entry program for students.
ABC News found that immigration officials have struggled to keep track of the rapidly increasing numbers of foreign students coming to the U.S. -- now in excess of one million each year. The immigration agency’s own figures show that 58,000 students overstayed their visas in the past year. Of those, 6,000 were referred to agents for follow-up because they were determined to be of heightened concern.
“They just disappear,” said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. “They get the visas and they disappear.”
Coburn said since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, 26 student visa holders have been arrested in the U.S. on terror-related charges.

Keep reading...

Report: ISIS Planning Biological Attack

A laptop found in the northern region of Idlib in Syria raises concerns among intelligence officials in the Middle East reported the site Foreign Policy. According to the report, the computer was found in the hands of a commander of a moderate rebel organization in Syria, and contains comprehensive guidance for making biological weapons for an “attack that will shock the world.”

Aug 31, 2014, 04:30PM | Gal Cohen

ISIS Channel 2 News/AP

Is the extremist terrorist organization ISIS planning to carry out a biological attack? The laptop belonging to a member of the organization was found in Northern Syria by one of the commanders of the rebels in the country, the Foreign Policy website reported.  According to the report, the computer contains a lot of information, which included instructions for making weapons of mass destruction.

According to the article on Foreign Policy, the computer was found last January on an ISIS base in Idlib, near the border with Turkey.  "I took the computer with me but I had no idea what was in it or if it even worked," said the person who found the computer - one of the commanders of the more moderate Syrian rebel groups, identified as Abu Ali.
The computer worked without problem and no password was required for its operation, but first it seemed to him that all of the folders were empty.  However, in a hidden folder that has 146 gigabytes of material, including information on ISIS members, articles and guides in three languages, ideological speeches, videos, instructions for Jihad fighters around the world, and most worrying – an assembly guide along with instructions for making bombs and biological weapons, under the title - "preparation for the attack that will shake the world."

Weapons of Mass Destruction Channel 2 News/Reuters

"The Symptoms Begin Within 24 Hours"
I had been made public that the laptop belonged to an operative named Mohammad S., who went from Tunisia to Syria and joined ISIS after studying chemistry and physics in his country. In the document, which included 19-pages in Arabi, there were instructions for the development of biological weapons by the use of infected animals diseases - such as spreading plague. "The development and production of these weapons is cheap and can bring down hordes of people," the document states.
The guide lists, among other things, safety mechanisms in handling weapons and tests that were used to make weapons before. "When bacteria is introduced into the body of a little mouse, the symptoms will begin to appear after 24 hours," the report said.  Among the many provisions was also Fatwa (Islamic religious ruling), that permits the use of weapons of mass destruction. Fatwa was signed Saudi cleric Nasir al Fahd, currently imprisoned in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.
ISIS now controls the University of Mosul in Iraq, several laboratories in Syria.  The West and persecuted minorities in Syria and Iraq are very afraid of the dangerous mixture of a murderous ideology and weapons of mass destruction. "The information is on the computer," reads the Foreign Policy website, "they will not leave behind a book about their deadly ambitions.”

Watch The Main Newscast - Click Here

Authorities in the Golan: “The Worst Predictions Are Beginning to be Realized”

The continuations of the battles across the border in Syria, that are spilling over into Israel, are putting a strain on the residents and community leaders in the Golan. "The residents here fear for their safety," said a Golan Heights authority to Channel 2 News Online. "We are keeping to routine, but are on alert," noted a resident of the Golan Heights today who sent her son to first grade.

Sep 01, 2014, 04:01PM | Gal Cohen

Pillars of Smoke From Fighting in Syria Channel 2 News/Guy Varon

Shooting from Syria, that is disrupting the lifestyle and worrying community leaders: In southern Israel, residents returned to normal after the operation, and now in the Golan Heights peaceful life has changed to fear as heavy fighting across the border fence with Syria continues to spill into Israel. Settlements in the Golan Heights expressed concern today for the safety of residents as well as concerns about a fatal blow to tourism in the region.

"The presence of Al-Qaeda across the border is worrisome, and residents here fear for their safety," one of the leading authorities of the Golan Heights told Channel 2 News Online.  "Assad was not peace-loving, but the border was quiet.  Now there’s a murderous terrorist organization that works directly against the residents of the Golan Heights."
While community leaders of the Golan Heights are certainly fearful, they are not entirely surprised. "The worst predictions presented to us in recent years are beginning to be realized," says an authority of the Golan Heights. "Al-Qaeda fighters are sitting on the border and the fighting continues to penetrate across to the border.
Even this morning, on the first day of the school year, when a mortar shell fell in the Golan, thousands of parents sent their children to the first day of the school.  "This morning my son went to first grade in light of the explosions," Karen Gelbart, a resident of Kibbutz Ein Ziwan told Channel 2 News Online.  "It's not an easy or pleasant situation, but we are keeping to routine.  I feel that the schools in the area are prepared for any situation, but we are also staying alert.”

Mortar Fell In Open Field in the Golan Channel 2 News

Mortar on the Way to School
A mortar shell fell in the Golan Heights this morning and exploded in an open area.  The mortar was shot as part of the fighting in Syria, in the Quneitra area. No injuries or damage were caused, but the area was declared a closed military zone, and farmers working in nearby plantations were evacuated from the area.
On the other side of the border, the fierce fighting between members of the terrorist organization Jabhat al-Sawn and the forces of President Bashar Assad continue near the Quneitra crossing and near the UN facility that is in the center of this area.  At this stage, neither party has been able to achieve victory in battle, and the echoes of the constant firing are heard all over the Golan Heights.
The defense system continues to closely monitor the changes in light of border fighting, to assist the United Nations forces in any area and observe what is needed to combat the terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaida, hoping that they will keep their distance and not get involved in a direct confrontation of Israel in the north.

Watch The Main Newscast - Click Here

DONT KNOW WHYY OU ARE ALL SHOCKED THIS IS YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK OBAMA GIVES OUR TAX DOLLARST O HIS MUSLIMS BROTHER HOOD TO KILL US

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’

By James Nye for MailOnline

Published: 12:16 EST, 2 September 2014 | Updated: 13:45 EST, 2 September 2014

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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

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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

Mother appeals to ISIS leader to release her son

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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

White House working to confirm Sotloff video authenticity

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.'

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.

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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'

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.'

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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.

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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.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2740998/ISIS-release-video-showing-beheading-American-journalist-Steven-Sotloff.html#ixzz3CBcNwXnp
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