Reuters
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US President Barack Obama yesterday expressed revulsion at the beheading of an American journalist by militants and vowed the US would do what it must to protect its citizens as international condemnation of the insurgents grew.
Not long after Obama called Islamic State a “cancer” with a bankrupt ideology, the Pentagon said US aircraft conducted 14 air strikes in the vicinity of Iraq’s Mosul Dam, destroying or damaging militants’ Humvees, trucks and explosives.
Islamic State posted a video on Tuesday that purported to show the beheading of journalist James Foley in revenge for US air strikes in Iraq. It prompted widespread horror that could push Western powers into further action against the group.
Britain’s prime minister cut short his vacation as UK intelligence tried to identify Foley’s killer, while France called for international co-ordination against the Islamist militants fighting in Syria and Iraq.
US officials said yesterday that intelligence analysts had concluded that the Islamic State video, titled “A Message to America”, was authentic. It also showed images of another US journalist, Steven Sotloff, whose fate the group said depends on how the US acts in Iraq.
