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Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
ISIS Beheads Journalist, Shares Video on Internet
A gang of barbarians pretending to be Muslims and calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has apparently beheaded journalist James Foley and shared the video on social media sites. ISIS has also slain people for refusing to convert to Islam, has banned music in those territories it controls and has filled mass graves simply because it could. Every member of ISIS is a war criminal, and given the inflexibility of the group, this will be a war of extermination.
James Foley was a photojournalist covering the civil war in Syria when he went missing in November 2012. He was contributing video to Agence France-Presse when unnamed gunmen kidnapped him. Right there, one has proof that ISIS is irrational. At that point in the war, any video released was going to undermine the Assad regime in Damascus, the enemy of ISIS. By kidnapping him, ISIS effectively gave its enemy a break.
Mr. Foley's family has confirmed that he is dead. They released a statement hours ago that read in part,
We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people. We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world. We thank Jim for all the joy he gave us. He was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person. Please respect our privacy in the days ahead as we mourn and cherish Jim.
This gracious statement illustrates the differences between those whom ISIS fears and the subhumans in ISIS itself. ISIS not only felt the need to kill him in a way that can best be described as painful and horrific, but it also felt compelled to show off their barbarity on the Internet.
The Committee to Protect Journalists believes roughly 70 members of the profession have died in Syria trying to report on the war there. Another 20 are missing, presumed kidnapped like Mr. Foley. It is an honor to carry the same International Federation of Journalists card Mr. Foley did as do most of the others killed or missing.
When a group takes to killing journalists as a matter of policy, the reason is that the group cannot handle the truth. Ideologues inevitably must face the fact that their intellectual roadmap doesn't cover every bump in the terrain of reality. Yet having claimed to understand THE TRUTH, they are threatened by anything fact that contradicts their narrow view. ISIS fears facts will undermine its pitiful version of Islam, and they will.
However, this is not a debate at the Oxford Union. This is a war against those who are on a religious crusade (the term is used deliberately) to impose barbarism on the people of Syria and Iraq as well as other territories that may fall to the movement. They are enemies of civilization, and they will not rest until they have won or are dead. This journal's preference is heavily in favor of the latter.
America and other major powers must ensure that ISIS is rolled back and eliminated. That means sending weapons to the Kurdish peshmerga, developing an Iraqi army and air force that can actually fight, and using western intelligence gathering capabilities to find not only the leadership but each and every member of ISIS and ensure that they never get a decent night's sleep again.
© Copyright 2014 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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