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| Obama, ‘Appalled’ by Beheading, Will Continue Airstrikes | Obama, ‘Appalled’ by Beheading, Will Continue Airstrikes |
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| EDGARTOWN, Mass. — President Obama declared on Wednesday that the entire world was “appalled” by the videotaped beheading of an American journalist by Islamic militants, speaking as American warplanes conducted 14 airstrikes in Iraq and the State Department asked the Pentagon to send as many as 300 more American troops to Iraq for security. | |
| “The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people,” the president said from Martha’s Vineyard, where he was vacationing. “We will be vigilant, and we will be relentless.” | “The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people,” the president said from Martha’s Vineyard, where he was vacationing. “We will be vigilant, and we will be relentless.” |
| Mr. Obama’s remarks came hours before administration officials said that the president had authorized a secret mission in July to rescue the American, James Foley, and other American hostages in a remote area of Syria. But when commandos arrived, the hostages were not there, American officials said. | Mr. Obama’s remarks came hours before administration officials said that the president had authorized a secret mission in July to rescue the American, James Foley, and other American hostages in a remote area of Syria. But when commandos arrived, the hostages were not there, American officials said. |
| Mr. Obama’s harsh remarks, the failed rescue mission and Wednesday’s military action reflected new pressure on the administration not to step back from the assault on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as well as a recognition of the grim reality that other American hostages held by ISIS face a similar threat. | Mr. Obama’s harsh remarks, the failed rescue mission and Wednesday’s military action reflected new pressure on the administration not to step back from the assault on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as well as a recognition of the grim reality that other American hostages held by ISIS face a similar threat. |
| The events were also a shift in the complexion of the American confrontation with the terrorist group — until now an abstraction to most Americans — after its release of a gruesome video depicting the beheading of Mr. Foley, which ISIS militants said was in retaliation for the American airstrikes in Iraq. ISIS threatened to kill another American journalist held hostage, Steven J. Sotloff, if the airstrikes continued. | The events were also a shift in the complexion of the American confrontation with the terrorist group — until now an abstraction to most Americans — after its release of a gruesome video depicting the beheading of Mr. Foley, which ISIS militants said was in retaliation for the American airstrikes in Iraq. ISIS threatened to kill another American journalist held hostage, Steven J. Sotloff, if the airstrikes continued. |
| Within an hour after Mr. Obama’s remarks, in which he pronounced ISIS a “cancer” that had to be expelled from the Middle East, the United States Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, announced it had carried out 14 more airstrikes around the Mosul Dam and destroyed more ISIS military vehicles and equipment. There have been 84 American airstrikes so far since Mr. Obama first announced the offensive against the militants on Aug. 7. | Within an hour after Mr. Obama’s remarks, in which he pronounced ISIS a “cancer” that had to be expelled from the Middle East, the United States Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, announced it had carried out 14 more airstrikes around the Mosul Dam and destroyed more ISIS military vehicles and equipment. There have been 84 American airstrikes so far since Mr. Obama first announced the offensive against the militants on Aug. 7. |
| Secretary of State John Kerry stepped up the administration’s tough tone. “Make no mistake: We will continue to confront ISIL wherever it tries to spread its despicable hatred,” he said in a statement, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. “The world must know that the United States of America will never back down in the face of such evil. ISIL and the wickedness it represents must be destroyed, and those responsible for this heinous, vicious atrocity will be held accountable.” | Secretary of State John Kerry stepped up the administration’s tough tone. “Make no mistake: We will continue to confront ISIL wherever it tries to spread its despicable hatred,” he said in a statement, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. “The world must know that the United States of America will never back down in the face of such evil. ISIL and the wickedness it represents must be destroyed, and those responsible for this heinous, vicious atrocity will be held accountable.” |
| The graphic video of Mr. Foley’s beheading — released Tuesday night and verified by intelligence officials on Wednesday as authentic — spurred renewed debate about American objectives in Iraq, where the Pentagon’s warplanes unleashed a barrage of bombs this week in an expansion of the limited goals of protecting Americans and providing humanitarian aid initially set forth by Mr. Obama. Despite the attacks, ISIS continued its sweep across Iraq and laid siege to Amerli, a small town in the nation’s center, where residents and an Iraqi Army unit stuck inside are running low on food, medicine and water. Aid dropped by Iraqi army helicopters has failed to meet the town’s needs. | The graphic video of Mr. Foley’s beheading — released Tuesday night and verified by intelligence officials on Wednesday as authentic — spurred renewed debate about American objectives in Iraq, where the Pentagon’s warplanes unleashed a barrage of bombs this week in an expansion of the limited goals of protecting Americans and providing humanitarian aid initially set forth by Mr. Obama. Despite the attacks, ISIS continued its sweep across Iraq and laid siege to Amerli, a small town in the nation’s center, where residents and an Iraqi Army unit stuck inside are running low on food, medicine and water. Aid dropped by Iraqi army helicopters has failed to meet the town’s needs. |
| “The situation here is going from bad to worse because we are running out of all things needed for life,” said Adel al-Bayati, a local official reached by phone in the town on Wednesday. | “The situation here is going from bad to worse because we are running out of all things needed for life,” said Adel al-Bayati, a local official reached by phone in the town on Wednesday. |
| The plight of Amerli — home to members of Iraq’s Turkmen minority, who are Shiite Muslims considered infidels by ISIS — has raised alarm in Iraq and abroad because it bears similarities to other areas where the Sunni militant group has committed mass killings as they have seized territory across northern and western Iraq. | The plight of Amerli — home to members of Iraq’s Turkmen minority, who are Shiite Muslims considered infidels by ISIS — has raised alarm in Iraq and abroad because it bears similarities to other areas where the Sunni militant group has committed mass killings as they have seized territory across northern and western Iraq. |
| On Martha’s Vineyard, Mr. Obama said he had spoken by phone to Mr. Foley’s parents, telling them that Americans “are all heartbroken at their loss.” He described Mr. Foley as a journalist, a son, a brother and a friend who was “taken from us in an act of violence that shocked the conscience of the entire world.” | On Martha’s Vineyard, Mr. Obama said he had spoken by phone to Mr. Foley’s parents, telling them that Americans “are all heartbroken at their loss.” He described Mr. Foley as a journalist, a son, a brother and a friend who was “taken from us in an act of violence that shocked the conscience of the entire world.” |
| He made no mention of Mr. Sotloff, whose life, according to the masked executioner standing by his side in the video, hinges on Mr. Obama’s “next move.” | He made no mention of Mr. Sotloff, whose life, according to the masked executioner standing by his side in the video, hinges on Mr. Obama’s “next move.” |
| At the State Department, Marie Harf, a spokeswoman, said American plans for additional airstrikes would not change even though other American hostages were being held by the militants. “We don’t make concessions to terrorists,” she said. | At the State Department, Marie Harf, a spokeswoman, said American plans for additional airstrikes would not change even though other American hostages were being held by the militants. “We don’t make concessions to terrorists,” she said. |
| Mr. Obama’s fear that ISIS militants would massacre Yazidis, another religious minority, as they fled across the rugged Sinjar mountains was one of his stated reasons for authorizing American airstrikes on Aug. 7. | Mr. Obama’s fear that ISIS militants would massacre Yazidis, another religious minority, as they fled across the rugged Sinjar mountains was one of his stated reasons for authorizing American airstrikes on Aug. 7. |
| “Let’s be clear about” the Islamic State, Mr. Obama said in his remarks Wednesday. “They have rampaged across cities and villages killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery.” | “Let’s be clear about” the Islamic State, Mr. Obama said in his remarks Wednesday. “They have rampaged across cities and villages killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery.” |
| Republican lawmakers who have been pressing for a more aggressive strategy against ISIS seized on the beheading as evidence that Mr. Obama had not done enough to confront the Sunni militants and acknowledge them as a direct threat to Americans. | Republican lawmakers who have been pressing for a more aggressive strategy against ISIS seized on the beheading as evidence that Mr. Obama had not done enough to confront the Sunni militants and acknowledge them as a direct threat to Americans. |
| “Just as Al Qaeda’s initial killings of Americans abroad foretold the carnage they would unleash within our borders,” Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said in a statement after the video’s release, “this barbaric beheading of a defenseless hostage is the clearest indication to date that ISIL has declared war on the United States, on the American people, and on freedom-loving people everywhere.” | “Just as Al Qaeda’s initial killings of Americans abroad foretold the carnage they would unleash within our borders,” Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said in a statement after the video’s release, “this barbaric beheading of a defenseless hostage is the clearest indication to date that ISIL has declared war on the United States, on the American people, and on freedom-loving people everywhere.” |