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Murdered journalist Steven Sotloff was kidnapped and sold to the radical Islamic State terrorist group, or ISIS, by one of the “moderate” rebel groups to whom the US government has considered offering support, according to his family’s spokesman. Barak Barfi told CNN that Sotloff—who was Jewish and a joint US-Israeli citizen—was sold for a sum of money in the tens of thousands of dollars at the Syrian border. He said credible “sources on the ground” had provided the dramatic and tragic details of the abduction. “For the first time, we can say Steven was sold at the border,” Barfi said....

American journalist Steven Sotloff, who was brutally beheaded by the Islamic State terrorist group, took great risks to keep his Jewish faith in captivity, a former fellow-captive of the murdered journalist told Yediot Aharonoth. However, it turns out that Sotloff was in fact Israeli. A media gag order on the issue was released on Wednesday, allowing publication of the fact that Sotloff made aliyah (immigration) to Israel in 2005 by himself, and studied at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya. Sotloff reportedly made sure to fast in secret during Yom Kippur and even prayed in the direction of Jerusalem, as is...

A newly released video showing the Islamist terror group ISIS’ execution of American Steven Sotloff has been deemed authentic, President Obama confirmed today at a joint news conference in Estonia.

No text, just video at the link.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) release video apparently showing beheading of US hostage, Steven Sotloff ---- David Cameron has said: "I've just seen the news. It's an absolutely disgusting and despicable act and I will be making a statement later."

The White House is pushing back on a report that the military operation to rescue captured American journalist James Foley was delayed by President Obama's "hesitation." U.S. forces conducted the rescue operation "as soon as the president" and his national security team "were confident it could be carried out successfully," according to a tweet sent Friday from the National Security Council's account. The comment was in response to a senior Pentagon official who reportedly confirmed to The Sunday Times of London that "hesitation" on the part of Obama delayed the July 4 operation to rescue Foley. Foley, who went missing...

According to a new Sunday Times report by Toby Harden, "Pentagon sources said Foley and the others might well have been rescued but Obama, concerned about the ramifications of US troops being killed or captured in Syria, took too long to authorise the mission." It's claimed that Obama was concerned about his administration being Carterized had the mission failed.

1,461 Days of Summer The headline was brutal. “Bam’s Golf War: Prez tees off as Foley’s parents grieve,” read the cover of Thursday’s New York Daily News. Obama’s gaffe was this: He had denounced the beheading of James Foley from a vacation spot in Martha’s Vineyard, then went to the golf course. Seems like he had a great time. Such a great time that he returned to the Farm Neck Golf Club—sorry, membership is full—the next day. Technically, Obama’s vacation began on August 9. It is scheduled to end on Sunday, August 24. With the exception of a two-day interlude...

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer (Ret.) is a CIA-trained former senior intelligence officer and he says that the rescue operation for American journalist James Foley wasn’t successful because President Obama “dragged his feet”. "Thursday morning, Shaffer appeared on WMAL radio in Washington, D.C., to discuss the ISIS execution of American journalist James Foley earlier this week. He told me and co-host Brian Wilson that the recently revealed rescue attempt led by Special Forces earlier this summer failed because President Obama was slow to give the go-ahead: I’m hearing from my friends in the Pentagon, they are giving him every single option...

Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that his Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation into the brutal execution by Islamic State militants of American journalist James Foley, in the latest move by the administration to use the criminal justice system to pursue terrorists.

The State Department downplayed comments from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) leaders that they are at war with America, arguing that their violence is not directed at any particular country or race. At a briefing Thursday, a reporter brought up anti-American comments from ISIL leaders: “I mean, even they are announcing, ISIL people in their message, whatever, the recorded message, other messages, that now we are in a war with America.” “This is not about ISIL versus the United States,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf objected. “They are killing anyone who gets in their way:...

Then he was turned over to the Islamic State as a token of this Free Syrian Army group’s allegiance to the new caliphate. The Free Syrian Army are the “moderates” to whom the Obama Administration has given weapons in Syria. Thus the incoherence of the Obama foreign policy is laid bare: he is funding what he considers to be heroic freedom fighters in Syria who, when they cross over into Iraq, become bloodthirsty terrorists.“James Foley Allegedly Used As Token Of Allegiance By Group That Joined ISIS,” by Erin Banco, International Business Times, August 20, 2014: According to Syrian sources who...

James Foley was one of a new breed of activists calling themselves journalists. He didn’t travel to report on a story, but to promote an agenda. And the agenda was obvious from his Twitter feed. [snip] Foley came to Syria to support the Sunni Islamist rebels against the Syrian government. He cheered on the Sunni Muslim terrorists fighting to ethnically cleanse the Christians of Aleppo. In the conflict between Israel and Hamas, his tweets and retweets were chock full of pro-terrorist propaganda. link

President Obama condemned the beheading of journalist James Foley and ISIS in a strongly worded statement to reporters moments ago, but didn’t offer specifics on how the U.S. would react policy-wise to ISIS killing Americans. “Today, the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of Jim Foley by the terrorist group, ISIL. Jim was a journalist, a son, a brother, and a friend. He reported from difficult and dangerous places, bearing witness to the lives of people a world away,” Obama said from Martha’s Vineyard. (snip) “Let’s be clear about ISIL. They have rampaged across cities and villages, killing...

Yes. As Twitchy readers know, ABC is reporting that the Obama administration knew of a recent ISIS threat to kill journalist James Foley. What did Obama do? This photo sums it up:

After 162 days with no information about his whereabouts, GlobalPost announced Friday that James Foley, an American journalist who went missing on November 22 in Syria, is almost certainly being held by the Syrian government in a detention center near the capital city of Damascus.... ...GlobalPost CEO and President Philip Balboni said: "With a very high degree of confidence, we now believe that Jim was most likely abducted by a pro-regime militia group commonly referred to as the Shabiha and subsequently turned over to Syrian government forces. We have obtained multiple independent reports from very credible confidential sources who have...

Warning for link - can be distressing. Evil straight from the pits of hell': American journalist James Foley reportedly beheaded by ISIS