Who was James Foley?

[steevo]

The American journalist recently beheaded by Islamic State. But what kind of man was he? Well his tweets paint quite a picture as revealed by Daniel Greenfield who is also a journalist.

Foley came to Syria to support the Sunni Islamist rebels against the Syrian government. He was a vehement advocate and while he didn’t necessarily side with any single group, he echoed the one sided narrative rather than telling the truth about the Islamists. His Twitter feed was full of urgings to arm the Jihadists.

He cheered on the Sunni Muslim terrorists fighting to ethnically cleanse the Christians of Aleppo. In the conflict between Israel and Hamas, his tweets and retweets were chock full of pro-Sunni Syrian terrorist propaganda.

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[Teddy Bear]

Very interesting Steevo, I had never heard of Foley before, and this certainly casts some light on his character.
After reading the article, and seeing great similarity between him and the usual BBC types, one can't help but share the emotion of some of the comments:

beniyyar • 3 hours ago
I only speak good of the dead, James Foley is dead, good!
NonSense • 8 hours ago
Well.. suddenly I'm god damn satisfied they chopped his head off
glennm • 9 hours ago
this guy lost his head long before it was cut off

Now I've never seen the video of him supposedly having his head cut off, and have no desire to do so, but I read a very interesting comment also on this story, and I think you'll agree might have some merit. Let me know what you think.

Shuey • 2 days ago

First, I am not and never have been a conspiracy nut. I hate Alex Jones, for example.

That said, I just started reading about Foley yesterday and watched the full beheading video on LiveLeak. I was able to stomach watching it ONLY because I already heard/read that the screen goes dark BEFORE you would see the worst of it. If you haven't seen it, the real deal video does NOT show the actual beheading. Just the first couple seconds of beginning to cut his neck with no blood or gore other than a still photo of the two body pieces at the very end.

On the LiveLeak video page, many of those commenting were claiming the video is a fake and that no beheading was actually done. Some also pointed out that Foley's parents didn't seem nearly as upset as one would expect. "So maybe they know he isn't really dead and so does the government ... and the government has to pretend they are fooled by the fake video", they said. I will agree that the Foleys did seem a bit upbeat considering the news, but maybe they are strong or just well prepared since he was a hostage once before?

Despite the reasons the posters stated to support their claims of "fakery", I scoffed to myself. While there are some issues with the video that could be proof of fakery, I thought it was a dumb claim to make since everyone who is "in the know" (including his parents) seemed convinced. More importantly, I could not come up with any reason that Foley would have for going along with a faked beheading ...even while under threat.

So now, some 12 hours later, I stumble across a link to this FrontPage story. I don't know, but this story could be the missing piece of the puzzle to explain why there might have been a fake beheading video. Maybe Foley wants to "disappear" into a life with ISIS. Or maybe he wants to be able to work undercover back home in the U.S.to help them strike here?

The video does fade out as "John" begins to saw at Foleys neck with the knife. However, there are a couple odd things about that: 1) Foley does his little speech in the video without any nervousness or fear. Quite a feat when you are convinced that your head is about to be sawed off with a knife, and 2) Foley shows absolutely no reaction or fear as the knife is forcefully applied to his throat. None, and that doesn't seem humanly possible if it were really happening, and finally 3) The killer FORCEFULLY saws back and forth about 8 times before the fade out and there is absolutely no blood yet. I even captured the video and played it in slow motion and zoomed in with a high quality digital filter .... still no blood visible. This is really odd because I've read that a throat slit typically spurts blood the instant the cut penetrates about a quarter inch.

Finally, why would a group that has released many graphic beheading videos (with every gory detail) suddenly release their most important video with the worst part edited out and then only a still photo of the severed head and body at the very end? Photos are easily photo-shopped.

Anyway, I'm not sure I believe it was faked so I doubt most here will either. But it sure was strange to find this FrontPage story on the heels of the allegations of a "faked" video .... which clearly COULD have been a fake.

And now I read that Foley actually supported ISIS. Hmmmmmm ... and let's not forget that he was supposedly a hostage years ago and "escaped". Was that another instance where he was actually there to work with his captors and they "let him come home"? You tell me.

[steevo]

It may have some merit good grief. You develop enough suspicion with plenty of reason over the years and a fakery here doesn't seem far fetched after reading his analysis. If the BBC, NY Times, CNN etc. can create and/or use this kind of gross deception, why not ISIS.

[Teddy Bear]

One thing I can't understand if this is a fake murder, what is it supposed to achieve?
We know with Hamas they will fake murders to demonize Israel as responsible. Here they're showing themselves (ISIS) as responsible, and we already know from their treatment of non-Sunnis that they are vile and despicable.
So what would be their angle?

[steevo]

It's the question. I can see some merit in Shuey's postulation, Maybe Foley wants to "disappear" into a life with ISIS. Or maybe he wants to be able to work undercover back home in the U.S.to help them strike here? Also, ISIS doesn't appear concerned about their image when it comes to global repulsion so I can see them doing this as another in-your-face power trip.

One more thing. They were hoping to get many millions as ransom and when that didn't work out, they had to show the consequence.

[Teddy Bear]

Aug 25, 2014 0:29:09 GMT steevo said:

One more thing. They were hoping to get many millions as ransom and when that didn't work out, they had to show the consequence.

It seems clear that Foley wanted to do as much as possible to assist IS with their agenda, more than he could do as a journalist. For that reason it's odd that IS would have thought the best way to do it was by beheading him, rather than have his propaganda continue. I can see if he wants to assist IS strike within the USA by giving them information, but doesn't want to impact his family, therefore wants to take himself 'out of the picture'. Otherwise IS certainly has enough real examples of barbarity without the need for this one, but you may be right that since the US doesn't pay ransoms, IS might be trying to apply more pressure on them using other American hostages they might hold.

I see that one American hostage has just been released in Syria, could IS's scheme be working?
American man kidnapped when heading to Syria freed after two years in captivity

Since IS have brought more negative attention on themselves than was apparent already, there has to be a very good reason for them to have beheaded Foley, or make it look like they have. Could they think that it might bring more jihadists to come fight with them to share in this 'glory'? It's clear that for the most part to understand the mentality of these barbarians one has to think in very different ways than we are used to.

[Teddy Bear]

It appears that the MSM is also finding something fishy about his beheading, including The Times, but that article is only available via subscription. They are still going along with the claim that he was killed, but off camera. According to experts who analysed the film, they too found the actual 'beheading' as shown as suspect, but the picture after it was decapitated appears real.

Although as far as I can see the MSM haven't yet referred to Foley's pro-Sunni views, and time will tell whether they will, one thing is for sure, it won't be the BBC that lead with it. I do hope BBC journalists are sweating though that despite their pro-militant Islam agenda they might still become victims of it, more than we know they are already.

Perhaps Foley thought they weren't really going to behead him, and it was only for a scam, but being the twisted beings they are, they decided it would serve their purposes better if they did.

Video of James Foley beheading 'may have been staged'
Sydney Morning Herald August 25, 2014 - 3:23PM

A film purporting to show the beheading of James Foley was probably staged, according to a forensic science company, which suggests the American journalist's execution may have been carried out off-camera.

A blip in the footage, released on social media last week by Islamic State militants, indicated that Foley may have had to repeat a line as he read a script to camera while kneeling in the sand with his hands tied.

The footage was most likely edited later using "slick post-production techniques", according to the analysis for The Times in London by an unnamed international forensic science company that has worked for police forces across Britain, the news organisation claimed.

There was also no blood on Foley's neck as the masked militant appeared to drew a knife across his neck.

The analysis suggested that the militant, who speaks with a London accent and is believed to be British rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, may have been a frontman for the execution, and not necessarily the killer.

"I think it has been staged," one of the forensic experts told the news organisation.

"My feeling is that the execution may have happened after the camera was stopped."

The Times said that the company did not question that Foley had been beheaded, but rather pointed out that camera trickery appeared to have been used.

Foley's words, which ran for one minute and 26 seconds, appeared to have been scripted, according to the analysis.

The militant was wearing a full-face mask, but the analysis concluded he was speaking the words in the footage.

The company also analysed the start of the supposed beheading.

"After enhancements, the knife can be seen to be drawn across the upper neck at least six times, with no blood evidence to the point the picture fades to black," the analysis said, noting that sounds allegedly made by Foley did not appear consistent with what would be expected.

The next shot is of Foley's decapitated body, with his severed and blood-covered head resting on his body.

The clip was released on YouTube last week as a "warning" to the US to stop its military involvement in Iraq.

The US recently began a bombing campaign in the north of Iraq to help turn back an advance of Islamic State fighters who had made advances against Kurdish-controlled areas and threatened to massacre religious minorities.

[steevo]

Just keep in mind, a still photo is the easiest to completely alter and ISIS know better than anyone the view of a head completely severed. You get a good photoshopper and anything can be created. I'm not convinced either just pointing out what I believe is fact when it comes to such deception.

[Teddy Bear]

The Four Stooges?
Sad thing is that only 3 of them were putting on a show.

I agree with your estimation. As I've said I haven't tried to look at any video evidence, and am well aware that it can be doctored. Having seen numerous Hamas attempts it's a fair assumption that others will also be trying it on.

Time may tell.