As if like clockwork, just hours after reports surfaced that "Jihadi John", the British-accented Islamic State militant allegedly responsible for the beheading of western hostages, had been injured in a US air strike, the Islamic State released another video which, as the WSJ reports [7], "appeared to show the severed head of American aid worker Peter Kassig, a Muslim convert who risked his life to provide medical attention to victims of Syria’s civil war."
As the Daily Mail first reported yesterday [8], "Jihadi John, the Briton who beheaded two British and two American hostages held by Islamic State terrorists, has been injured in a US-led air strike, according to reports received by the Foreign Office. The masked ‘executioner’ with a London accent is believed to have narrowly escaped death when he attended a summit of the group’s leaders in an Iraqi town close to the Syrian border last Saturday."
[9]
More from the Mail [8]:
"We are aware of reports that this individual [Jihadi John] has been injured, and we are looking into them,’ a Foreign Office spokesman told The Mail on Sunday.
This newspaper has received an independent account of how Jihadi John was injured and rushed to hospital after a devastating air strike in Al Qaim, in Anbar Province, Western Iraq.
The Foreign Office spokesman added: ‘We have a number of sources of information coming in.
‘The incident occurred last weekend, and so we have received the reports in the last few days. We don’t have any representation inside Syria, and so it is difficult to confirm these reports.’
So perhaps in prompt and direct refutation that the infamous executioner had been injured, a few hours ago, ISIS release its latest execution video. Yet, oddly, as in several previous instances, the 15-minute video released Sunday doesn’t show the beheading according to the WSJ [7], but closes with a masked man clad in black standing above what he claims is Mr. Kassig’s severed head.
The extremist spoke with a British accent, and appeared to be the same man who appeared in four videos released over the past few months showing the killing of British and American hostages, i.e., the same Jihadi John who was said to have been injured.
Addressing U.S. President Barack Obama , the man says: “You claim to have withdrawn from Iraq four years ago and we said you were liars…and [now] here you are, you have not withdrawn,” justifying Mr. Kassig’s beheading as a response to the U.S.-led military coalition that is striking Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
“The spark has been lit here in Iraq and its heat will continue to intensify until by Allah’s [God’s] permission it will burn the crusaders army,” he continues, referring to the U.S.-led military coalition.
As the WSJ further reports, "the 26-year-old Indiana native was kidnapped in October 2013 as he delivered aid to eastern Deir Ezzour province. During the past year, he converted to Islam and took on the name Abdul Rahman, Arabic for “servant of the merciful.”
[10]
He prayed devoutly and fasted during the holy month of Ramadan, according to other Western captives who were freed by Islamic State after their governments paid ransoms to the group."
His friends had tried to talk him out of making his last trip to Syria from his base in southern Turkey in October 2013. The landscape in Syria had changed by then, and Islamic State was routing out the rebels and civilians who had given Mr. Kassig shelter and support during previous trips.
“If I do die, I figure that at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need,” Mr. Kassig wrote to his family in a letter they received in June.
Shortly after reports of the video emerged, Ed and Paula Kassig, Peter Kassig's parents, issued a statement:
“We are aware of the news reports being circulated about our treasured son and are waiting for confirmation from the government as to the authenticity of these reports. We will have no other statement at this time and ask that you please respect our privacy.
“The family respectfully asks that the news media avoid playing into the hostage takers’ hands and refrain from publishing or broadcasting photographs or video distributed by the hostage takers. We prefer our son is written about and remembered for his important work and the love he shared with friends and family, not in the manner the hostage takers would use to manipulate Americans and further their cause.”
And in other, related news, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told CNN [11]that he may have to consider recommendations to place ground forces in Iraq to help forces there locate targets if, in fact, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff makes that recommendation.
But these would not be fighting forces, Hagel said. "There will be no American combat troops in Iraq or Syria."
So just more "military advisors"?
Gen. Martin Dempsey has suggested at least twice that a recommendation of ground troops could come, although he has emphasized he has not made that proposal yet.
He has also said that he doesn't "foresee a circumstance when it would be in our interest to take this fight on ourselves with a large military contingent." The general landed in Iraq on Saturday to make a first-hand assessment of the situation.
In other words, the "situation" will likely change soon.
