Watching ISIS James Foley Beheading Video Could Lead to Charges in U.K.; Graphic Images From Video Blocked on Twitter

ISIS, via Live Leak

A video released by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) purporting to show the beheading of U.S. photojournalist James Foley, who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria in 2012, was confirmed by intelligence services, which are trying to identify the masked killed in the video. In the United Kingdom MI5 is worried about the strong London accent the killer had; counterterrorism experts claim British extremists in Iraq and Syria are among the most "vicious." Counterterrorism laws in the United Kingdom could make watching the ISIS video a crime, as NBC News reports:

In a statement, the [London Metropolitan] police force said it was "investigating the contents of the video that was posted online in relation to the alleged murder of James Foley." It added: "We would like to remind the public that viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the U.K. may constitute an offence under terrorism legislation."

Twitter, meanwhile, is blocking images from the video and suspending accounts that post it; the company says it does so when family members make such requests, and that it always "weighs public interest against privacy concerns."

In the video, Foley reads a statement blaming the U.S. airstrikes for killing him. The masked ISIS fighter shown in the video warns another American journalist in their custody, Steven Sotloff, would be next, and insists ISIS is not an insurgent group but a caliphate with dominion over Muslims worldwide.

Comments

[DrAwkward]

"purporting to show the beheading" I keep seeing this qualifier. Is there suspicion it's faked or doctored in some way? I won't watch it because I can't handle another beheading video ever.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

I'm not suspicious.

[Ed]

The govt confirmed it but it's not like they had him show his passport or something. It also doesn't show the actual beheading. It shows the knife go to the throat and then cuts to the decapitated head.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I wonder why that is.

[derpules]

because it takes a really long time to cut someone's head off with a knife and they were conscientious of the viewer's attention span?

[cavalier973]

"...cuts to the decapitated head."

*Purses lips, shakes head.

[jimt65]

the uncut video is out there just not in the popular sites

[Harvey_birdman]

Where? I have not seen it.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

"We would like to remind the public that viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the U.K. may constitute an offence under terrorism legislation."

And you're wondering why the Londoner in the video doesn't give a shit about freedom or human rights? Look no further, guys.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

The proud birthplace of common law and liberalism.

[Snark Plissken]

Didn't Benghazi already establish the dire need to censor videos in order to quell unrest?

[WTF]

What difference at this point does it make?

[Sudden]

Well played

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I have not and will not watch this video, especially now that I see the knife this asshole used.

They deserve to be captured and given to the bastard of Bolton.

[See Double You]

Goddamn Islamofascist scum.

[cavalier973]

"We would like to remind the public that viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the U.K. may constitute an offence under terrorism legislation."

I'm going to guess that this only applies to non-Muslim folk living in the U.K.

[cavalier973]

So when are they going to show us the video of the Israeli radical chopping off the head of an American journalist?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Is that sarcasm?

[cavalier973]

Yes.

Just trying to point out that Israel and the surrounding Islamic states are not morally equivalent.

Perhaps the answer to this is that Israel kills innocent people indiscriminately using bombs and bullets, and that they would never target an American journalist anyway, for obvious reasons. I still think that the capacity to kill someone in the manner portrayed in the video represents a special depth of depravity.

I would also have thought that the video would have provoked the opposite reaction in the American public than the video purportedly wants to provoke. That is, that Americans would want to send in more troops rather than pull all the troops out. Americans seem to have responded more along the lines of "Meh..."

[JEP]

THIS American wants to quit his job and rid the earth of these scum every time one of these articles pops up.

I think this kind of behavior absolutely requires a military response, but not by the US. Whatever the US would do would, at best, probably result in blow back 15-20 years from now or , at worst, mire our military in another clusterf*ck of a land war.

If I were the president, and wanted to address this kind of action by ISIS, I would try to get the other Muslim countries in the region to handle it. Turkey, for the most part, is a civilized country with a decent military and an air force. Turkey is perfectly capable of carrying out air strikes against ISIS, and actually has a reason to. If the beheadings don't convince them, the idea of a caliphate might.

Point being, the US keeps getting involved in the Middle East because it's "unstable" - and the oil and all that. The US can't occupy the Middle East and any aggressive action we take there will result in blow back.

The only solution to ending the intervention/blow back cycle is convincing friendly Muslim nations to start policing themselves.

When I see stills from that beheading video, I want to put a stop to it. Surely, some Muslim men must feel the same way. They have families, too, after all and might think "I don't want to live in that kind of world."

Of course, ISIS having American/Russian military equipment makes that kind of action must harder.

[Cabeza de Vaca]

There is a lot of people who think Turkey has been arming and funding ISIS. The current government of Turkey is very different than the Turkey of the last century.

[Sudden]

Yep, Erdogan, who originally was elected as a "moderate" Islamist (ha!) is fully behind these guys. The Kemalist factions of Western Turkey have suffered typically Euro/Mediterranean birthrates while the interior of the country has had Palestinian birthrates. The net result: Kurdish in the east and the secular western portion are outnumbered by dipshits in the middle of the country.

Kinda like the inverse of our country

[Gary1206]

Jep,
Why do folks continue to believe this: "...Surely, some Muslim men must feel the same way. They have families, too, after all and might think "I don't want to live in that kind of world."
How do we know this? I sure ain't seeing any actions/results from it. What if deep down they feel the same way as ISIS types yet don't have to do/say anything as others are doing their dirty work for them?

[Gary1206]

Cavalier, don't sell us short. This video does nothing for us in the US; now show us a Kardashian...that's a different story.

[TommyCelt]

@cavalier - Speaking for myself, I haven't seen one "Meh" reaction from anyone I know regarding this. Across the political/ideological spectrum, I've seen a growing and extreme anger since ISIS started making new, punctuated by Mr. Foley's ghastly murder. And a desire to bring ISIS down.
If ISIS is trolling for war, I highly suspect they're going to get it, boots on the ground and then some.

[bostonaod]

ISIS is not an insurgent group but a caliphate with dominion over Muslims worldwide.

Then what's with the ninja get-up? If they are insisting on the legitimacy of a state, why hide themselves?

[GILMORE]

Dude, these guys do want to return at some point to their western countries of residence and finish their engineering degrees. So, incognito-jihad.

Its not like they actually want to *stay* in the caliphate. Its a work-in-progress.

[jmomls]

*The US can't occupy the Middle East and any aggressive action we take there will result in blow back.*

Carpet bombing.
and/or
Neutron bombs.

Hard to blow back if your lungs are gone.

[Harvey_birdman]

Yeah, that won't get anybody angry at us. It's sure to work.

[Gary1206]

"...viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the U.K. may constitute an offence under terrorism legislation."
Then how does ISIS and others get to do it...and with impunity?

[Harvey_birdman]

The law only applies to non-muslims.

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