USA Today – by Kim HjelmgaardThe radical jihadist group Islamic State released a video Sunday it said shows American aid worker Peter Kassig being beheaded in Syria. The video was posted on social media.
The video has not been confirmed as genuine and it is not clear that the footage depicts Kassig.
“We are aware of a video that claims to show the murder of U.S. citizen Peter Kassig by the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS. The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity,” National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said.
Kassig, a 26-year-old former U.S. Army Ranger from Indiana, worked for charity groups in Lebanon and Syria and was captured in Syria by militants in October last year.
During his captivity, his family says Kassig converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman, which means “servant of the most merciful.”
The video released Sunday is over 15 minutes long and appears to show several other men, perhaps as many as a dozen, being beheaded.
In the video, a militant clad in black with a concealed face is pictured next to a severed head that is said to be Kassig’s.
“Here we are, eagerly awaiting for the remainder of your crusading armies to arrive,” Kassig’s purported executioner says in the video, addressing President Obama and the West.
The U.S. and coalition forces have been bombing Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq for weeks, but no ground troops are deployed.
Kassig’s family released a statement Sunday. “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,” Ed and Paula Kassig said.
Last month Kassig’s parents released parts of a letter written to them by their son.
“Don’t worry dad, if I go down, I won’t go thinking anything but what I know to be true. That you and mom love me more than the moon and the stars,” Peter Kassig wrote.
Over the weekend, the Daily Mail newspaper reported that the British-accented terrorist — dubbed “Jihadi John” by British media — alleged to be the executioner of two British and two American hostages was wounded in a coalition airstrike against Islamic State. The British government said it was investigating the report.
The man who speaks in the video released Sunday talks in similarly British-accented English.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday he was “horrified” by the apparent “cold-blooded murder” of Kassig.
If his death is confirmed, Kassig will be the third American, after journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, to be beheaded by the group, whose tactics are so extreme that al-Qaeda disavowed it earlier this year.
British journalist John Cantile, 43, remains an Islamic State hostage. He last appeared in a video from the group at the end of last month.
Another Rita Katz production? Everything from that site is Israeli propaganda and should be taken with a large grain of salt.
Regardless of whether or not this is another staged event, the fact of the matter is this: If you go to Syria, you risk having your head chopped off, and the same applies if you stay here, and decide to be a commie.
If he’s “an American aid worker”, which is probably just a euphemism for “spy”, he should have been aiding hungry Americans right here at home.
It’s a turbulent world right now. Heads are going to roll all over the place, and I have no sentimental attachment to his. Be on the good side of the fight, and you’ll have a better chance of keeping your head attached.