IS-Linked Terrorists Appear to Carry Out Their Threat; Captured French Citizen Herve Gourdel Beheaded in Algeria

The French government has not confirmed the validity of the video but they don't tend to fake these things.

The video -- titled "A message of blood for the French government" -- surfaced as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls addressed the French National Assembly, the country's lower house of parliament, about the fight against ISIS.

For his part, President Francois Hollande just announced "We will never surrender to terrorists."

Jeff Jacoby recently wrote an article, "Why beheading?"

Clearly the terrorists relish the horror beheading evokes in America and other Western democracies, as well as the fear it inspires among Kurds, Shiites, or other local forces standing in the path of their juggernaut. Psychological warfare is an essential element in Islamic State’s military strategy, writes Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. Even when heavily outnumbered, Islamic State has been able to leverage its reputation for implacable brutality "to dissuade Iraqi forces from ever seeking battle." And by killing American and British hostages with such sadistic relish, it aims to intensify the desire of many in the West to wash their hands of involvement in Iraq once and for all.

But there are other ways to terrorize, other gruesome means of mass murder -- suicide bombings, poison gas, hijackings. Why the emphasis on beheading?

He answers that question.

posted by Ace at 01:27 PM

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