In the United States, citizens are granted with freedoms of press and speech, but the entire world is not on the same page.
James Foley was captured on on November 22, 2012, by a terrorist group referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Foley was an American freelance journalist who traveled to Afghanistan to cover the Syrian Civil War. His captors demanded 100 million Euros (about 132 million US dollars) in order for Foley to be released safely.
Foley was no stranger to the dangers of reporting in the Middle East. In April 2011, Foley and three other journalists were captured in Libya, where one journalist was killed. Foley was held in jail for 44 days and returned to Milwaukee after his release.
A video that surfaced on the ISIS YouTube page August 19, 2014 shows the beheading of Foley, which was titled “A Message to America”. The video was deleted off of the initial Youtube page it was posted to, but went viral very quickly. The masked captor made it clear that they also have Time Magazine writer Steven Joel Sotloff in their captivity, and he will be killed unless President Obama calls for a cease fire on ISIS.
Two weeks after Foley was killed, ISIS released a video of the beheading of Sotloff. The leader said that as long as the US continues air strikes on their people, they will continue to kill Americans in their possession.
“It’s scary to think about how these guys were captured and killed for reporting. I think we take our freedom of speech here for granted,” said Mary Platt, senior.
Foley and Sotloff, both who have been missing for two years, were first taken into captivity because ISIS did not want them reporting on the suffering citizens. ISIS makes up a small population of Northern Syria and Central Iraq, but is spreading quickly whether the citizens approve it or not. ISIS uses extreme force and violence to gain control, forcing parents to send their young boys to its recruit camps. At these camps, they teach them about their religion as well as how to shoot an AK-47, and teaching them how to use knives on dolls.
“It’s difficult to say what the US should do, since these people are brutal. They’re terrorists and they’re not going to be easy to reason with,” said Platt.
ISIS is a threat to the media’s freedom in both Iraq and Syria because they want to eliminate anyone who contradicts their ideology. The terrorist force gains control quickly by intimidating, kidnapping, torturing and murdering their captives. Citizens of Iraq and Syria are afraid of ISIS, and though they may not support them, they are forced to follow them, or they risk their lives.
