That’s done it. The beheading of a second American journalist has convinced a majority of Americans that the jihadist terrorists known as the Islamic State pose a significant threat to the United States. And they want this country to do something about it.
As everyone knows by now, the Islamic State posted another video to its website on Tuesday, showing the beheading of freelance journalist Steven Sotloff, who was captured in Syria a year ago. U.S. officials have confirmed that the video is authentic.
In the video, a militant dressed entirely in black, including a mask across his face, says: “I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State. Just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.”
The fighter appears to be the same person who appeared in the video that ISIS released two weeks ago, showing the beheading of James Foley. That video ended with a shot of Sotloff, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, kneeling in the sand. The militant standing next to him displays a knife and says, “The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision.”
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The latest video ends the same way, this time showing a captive who has been identified as a British citizen, David Cawthorne Haines.
After the murder of Foley, President Obama created a storm of controversy when he responded to a question about how the U.S. will respond to ISIS advances in Syria by saying, “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet.”
While no Pentagon official would publicly contradict the president, many of them said privately that the military had come up with several strategies to counteract ISIS, including detailed and specific plans. But so far, none had been approved by the president and his advisers.
The video of Foley’s murder was posted while Obama was vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard. After making a statement condemning the act, he then returned to his vacation. Less than 10 minutes after issuing his remarks, he was back on the golf course.
This was in stark contrast to the actions of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who canceled his own vacation, returned to his office and promptly raised the threat level in the U.K.
After the release of the video showing the murder of Sotloff, the president was a little more emphatic. Obama said the U.S. “will not be intimidated” by the jihadists and declared: “So the bottom line is this: 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.”
The president promised: “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.”
Do you believe that? Going by the evidence so far, it’s no wonder that the jihadists don’t.
When asked what the U.S. response to the latest atrocity should be, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) replied simply, “Kill them.” It won’t take too many more “incidents” before a majority of our fellow citizens will be ready to go to war to do precisely that.
Until next time, keep some powder dry.
Chip Wood was the first news editor of The Review of the News and also wrote for American Opinion, our two predecessor publications. He is now the geopolitical editor of Personal Liberty Digest, where his Straight Talk column appears weekly. This article first appeared in PersonalLiberty.com and has been reprinted with permission.
