Ed Morrissey:
A new video has emerged on at least one Islamist extremist site purporting to show the murder by beheading of a second American journalist, Steven Sotloff.
BREAKING: New video appears to show execution of Steven Sotloff, the 2nd American killed by a self-professed member of ISIS – @leeferran
— ABC News (@ABC) September 2, 2014
Islamic State video purports to show beheading of US hostage Steven Sotloff http://t.co/vzRQAulLxH
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) September 2, 2014
BREAKING: ISIS on Tuesday released a video that appears to show the beheading of American journalist Steven Joel Sotloff.
— The Hill (@thehill) September 2, 2014
The reports are emerging so quickly that Josh Earnest could not provide any answers at the White House press briefing this morning:
White House says cannot confirm authenticity of video purported to show beheading of U.S. hostage Sotloff by Islamic State
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 2, 2014
In the video, ISIS names its next victim — a British hostage:
Islamic State video issues threat against British hostage it names as David Haines: SITE
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 2, 2014
That apparently is an attempt to warn the UK from allying with the US:
Video warns governments to back off "this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State": SITE
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 2, 2014
The New York Times ran a profile of Sotloff when the video of James Foley’s murder emerged:
Steven J. Sotloff, a 31-year-old freelance journalist, self-described “stand-up philosopher from Miami,” immersed himself in the tumult of the Middle East for years, repeatedly venturing into some of the most hazardous conflict zones. He reassured friends that he knew the risks as he wrote for publications that included Time magazine, The Christian Science Monitor and World Affairs Journal. …
Described by friends as selfless, Mr. Sotloff spent most of his life in Florida except when he attended a boarding high school, Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., where he apparently developed a penchant for reporting and writing. He coedited the student newspaper, The Kimball Union, graduated in 2002 and attended the University of Central Florida, where he played rugby, worked for the independent student newspaper, Central Florida Future, and expressed deep interest in travel to the Middle East.
He left after three years and, soon after, began to pursue journalism full-time.
“The guy lit up a room. He was always such a loyal, caring and good friend to us,” Josh Polsky, who shared a dormitory suite with Mr. Sotloff, said in a telephone interview. “If you needed to rely on anybody for anything he would drop everything on a dime for you or for anyone else.”
The video and its images will likely flood the Internet over the next few hours, pushed by ISIS’ social-media fronts and others. I won’t post those, although some of the news articles linked may have some contained within them.
Update: NBC has more on the sourcing:
How sweet:
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “If genuine, we are sickened by yet another brutal act by ISIL. Our hearts go out to the Sotloff family.”
Statements by the victim and his executioner:
https://twitter.com/passantino/status/506855865987526656/photo/1
Next on the chopping block British hostage David Haines.
Is Obama any closer to honing in on a strategy yet?
I am leaning toward Ted Cruz’ one of bombing ISIS back to the Stone Age before they obtain air power.
It is long past time to put and end to jihadism. Whether the left wants to believe it or not is immaterial. ISIS, Al Qaeda, and who knows how many other savage jihadist groups are murdering US citizens in their self-declared war against us. Diplomacy has not and will not work. These are not criminal acts to be charged in court, these are brutal war crimes that demonstrate these scum do not fear the US despite drone attacks and surgical air strikes against pinpoint targets. The manner in which we are fighting this war is analogous to treating a terminal cancer by removing only a couple of cancer cells at a time while ignoring the whole tumor as it grows and spreads.
Each time we respond with nothing but pathetic expressions of “our hearts are with the family” these scumbags grow more arrogant and aggressive, growing in strength as we display national weakness. It is time to accept these viscious, rabid dogs have declared war on us. It is time to set as a national goal the complete and merciless extermination of any jihadist group that attacks any US citizen or interest anywhere in the world. There will never be peace nor security so long as these vermin are allowed to breathe. They have made clear they will not stop their animalistic, bloodthirtsy acts. They want to meet allah? Fine. Send them on their way, courtesy of the US military. Engage those muslim nations that do not want to attack us, but make clear that the choice to participate in jihad will be repaid with total unrelenting destruction.
Now people are being killed expressly because Obama shows so much weakness they are doing it for spite. Little do they realize that Obama just doesn’t care.
With each beheading, Obama becomes weaker. They know they can kill with impunity because they know Obama will not act.
Also, with ISIS holding an American female aid worker hostage, you can already imagine the brutality she’s facing.
And what is CAIR tweeting about?
Why, Ferguson, Missouri, of course.
Please don’t expect 0Muslim to do much of anything about this. I’m sorry to say that 0Muslim cares more about golf than he does this horrific kind of thing. Seriously, this guy has probably spent more time golfing during last few years than he has looking into the ever growing ISIS threat.
At the most, this lazy and not so bright tyrant will simply hold a public address in which he’ll mention again that he has no strategy for dealing with ISIS in particular, and Islam in general. And the MSM? Well they’ll make a big deal about the new suit he wore while making this empty statement.
But then again, 0Muslim himself said “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”
Well, thanks to 0Muslim, the winds have definitely shifted in an ugly direction.
The world is a nasty place. If one ventures into areas that involve risk, it is by choice. The fool and the administration give lip service to beheadings. He trades known terrorist for a confirmed deserter. Why did he not trade polois, reid, brenner, clapper, and 50+ democratic congressmen’s/persons?
A muslim terrorist sits in the wipe house.
When told of the beheading, Obama said “Beheading? I be heading to the golf course”