For BOG Members: President Obama Addresses ISIS' James Foley Beheading Video - 8/20/2014

[freshwest]

Published on Aug 20, 2014

'No Just God Would Stand for What They Did'. Obama Calls for a 'Common Effort to Extract ISIS Cancer'

BREAKING NEWS -

Obama: US will confront Islamic State extremists, despite threats to Americans.

James Foley killing:
Obama vows 'relentless' response

President Obama delivers statement on slain journalist James Foley: "One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century."

Obama: "No faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day..."

James Foley:



(CBC) President Barack Obama addressed the U.S. public Wednesday about the killing of American journalist James Foley, vowing a "relentless" effort to stop ISIS.

In a horrifying act of revenge for U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq, militants with the extremist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria beheaded American journalist James Foley — and are threatening to kill another hostage.

"Jim was taken from us in an act of violence that shocked the world," Obama said. "No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day."

Obama spoke in televised remarks from Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where he's vacationing with his family, a day after the militants released a video showing the U.S. journalist being beheaded.

The president said the group's victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith could justify its actions. "A group like [ISIS] has no place in the 21st century."

The U.S. military pressed ahead with its campaign, conducting nearly a dozen airstrikes in Iraq since Tuesday. The White House must now balance the risks of adopting an aggressive policy to destroy ISIS against resisting any action that could result in the death of another American.

Obama will also confront the potentially necessary step of pursuing ISIS in Syria, where the U.S. has resisted launching airstrikes or deploying significant American firepower. The president was scheduled to make a midday statement Wednesday about Foley's killing.

U.S. officials confirmed a grisly video released Tuesday showing ISIS militants beheading Foley. Separately, Foley's family confirmed his death in a statement posted on a Facebook page that was created to rally support for his release, saying they "have never been prouder of him."

"He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people," said the statement, which was attributed to Foley's mother, Diane Foley. She implored the militants to spare the lives of other hostages. "Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world."

Foley, 40, from Rochester, N.H., went missing in northern Syria in November 2012 while freelancing for Agence France-Presse and the Boston-based media company GlobalPost. The car he was riding in was stopped by four militants in a contested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control. He had not been heard from since.

1st time ISIS killed U.S. citizen

The beheading marks the first time ISIS has killed an American citizen since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011, upping the stakes in an increasingly chaotic and multilayered war. The killing is likely to complicate U.S. involvement in Iraq and the Obama administration's efforts to contain the group as it expands in both Iraq and Syria.

The group is the heir apparent of the militancy known as al-Qaeda in Iraq, which beheaded many of its victims, including American businessman Nicholas Berg in 2004.

The video released on websites Tuesday appears to show the increasing sophistication of ISIS's media unit and begins with scenes of Obama explaining his decision to order airstrikes.
It then cuts to a balding man in an orange jumpsuit kneeling in the desert, next to a black-clad militant with a knife to his throat. Foley's name appears in both English and Arabic graphics on screen. After the captive speaks, the masked man is shown apparently beginning to cut at his neck; the video fades to black before the beheading is completed. The next shot appears to show the captive lying dead. The video appears to have been shot in an arid area; there is no vegetation to be seen and the horizon is in the distance where the sand meets the grey-blue sky.

At the end of the video, a militant shows a second man, who was identified as another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and warns that he could be the next captive killed. Sotloff was kidnapped near the Syrian-Turkish border in August 2013; he had freelanced for Time, the National Interest and MediaLine.

Sorry if that is a bit confused but it is the way the video description reads, looks like a collection of quotes and headlines from several sources not fully listed. Very tough news and disturbing in efforts to calm things down and leave the area.

It's a trivialt thing perhaps, but I'm bothered as it's the first time I've heard Faux call Obama 'President.' It all seems so surreal to me, but what do I know, I'm not there and not in the military, nor am I in any government position.

And the RWers and the Libertarians are set on destroying his reputation and authority to stop this in any way that does NOT make them richer.

[NYC_SKP]

1. I am humbled. I don't know how one does the job so well, so thoughtfully.

Seriously, I can't even express my admiration.

And I can't express my disgust and amazement with how the RW is able to chastise the president, our president, for daring to be on vacation, then take a moment, and then return to a break.

And then, after a full 14 hour day myself, I come back to DU to read the rants of a bunch of people who probably never met a person in distress telling me and us how horrible things are, it's Obama's fault.

You know what I mean, right?

Give me strength.

[NYC_SKP]

3. Imma change my sigline.

[freshwest]

4. I know. What's the saying? Those who can do, do so, those who can't stand by and criticize doers.

Just remember that people who are out to hurt others can gain nothing of value from their actions, all they can do is create misery.

Misery is easy to create. It's the tool of the maliciously lazy.

Happiness takes work, it is the reward for a a life being well lived.

Make the choice to not let others steal your hard earned joy.

Take the negative energy they fill you with and create something beautiful.

~ Anonymous

[NYC_SKP]

6. Somehow I knew that you knew this...

....but I'm saving it, I didn't realize how well you embraced the spirit.

Strength, freshwest.

Strength in our common vision and purpose.

[sheshe2]

2. Oh dear God!

I have been working long hours. I never saw this. I did not know, freshwest.

I am crying and damn anyone that ridicules me for this. I forgot, this is in the BOG. Thankfully human emotions are allowed here.

RIP James Foley.

[freshwest]

5. Yes, we can be human here.

[sheshe2]

7. ...

[freshwest]

8. I'll pm you in a moment... Thanks, sweets, you and NYC.

[classof56]

9. Freshwest, I thank you sincerely for this post.

Well said and right on the money. I take heart in your words, as I prepare to spend time with a family member who sadly will not be with us much longer. I've had this sensation lately, with all the horrors going on around us, that something is awry on the planet, like its tilted on its axis or something. Hard to explain. Anyway, as I prepare to deal with the grief that's coming in my life, I cannot dismiss the grief I feel for all of humankind in these terrible times. Hard to stay strong, for me anyhow. Soon I'll have a gorgeous view of the Cascade peaks as the backdrop for my long drive, while the lush green Willamette Valley waits to greet me. The beauty of nature never fails to console and uplift. I'll be grateful for that.

Many blessings to you and all those who care about our world and those who live in it. Oh, and may I say, I am truly grateful that Barack Obama is our President.