Photo of James Foley by Jonathan Pedneault.

A man believed to be kidnapped journalist James Foley was beheaded in a video released to the public by militants who say another captured American will be killed if the United States continues its campaign against ISIS in Iraq.

Foley, a freelance photographer, was taken in Syria in 2012.

Bloomberg: The president, while flying back to vacation yesterday from Washington to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was briefed on the video by his deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said spokesman Eric Schultz. “It doesn’t change the equation,” John Nagl, a former Army commander in Iraq, said of the video and it’s possible effect on the renewed U.S. military involvement in Iraq. “It’s just one more example of how barbaric and uncivilized these guys are.” Read more

The United States has been using airstrikes and military advisers to combat a group of militants who seized a large swath of Iraq and declared a caliphate.

Juan Cole recently discussed ISIS on Truthdig Radio:

The situation is immediately reminiscent of Daniel Pearl, the American journalist and Jew who was beheaded in a video taken in Pakistan in 2002.

For more on Foley, visit the website set up by his friends and family. There is a place on the home page to leave a message, whether or not hope is indeed lost.

To support the protection of journalists risking their lives abroad, visit Reporters Without Borders.

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer