MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - US journalist Steven Sotloff criticized US foreign policy before he was killed by an Islamic State (IS) militant, according to the Daily Mail.
“Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be the preservation of American lives and interests, so why is that I am paying the price of your interference with my life? Am I not an American citizen? We’ve spent billions of US taxpayer dollars and we’ve lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so what are the people’s interests in reigniting war?” Sotloff said in a video released by the Islamic State, according to the Daily Mail.
“From what little I know about foreign policy, I remember a time when you could not win an election without promising to bring our troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan and to close down Guantanamo. Here you are now, Obama, nearing the end of your term, and having achieved none of the above and deceivingly marching us the American people in the blazing fire,” Sotloff added.
According to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest and US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, the US Intelligence community is still trying to determine the authenticity of the video, capturing Sotloff’s execution.
The Islamic State, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), is a radical Sunni organization which has been active in Syria. It launched a large-scale offensive in Iraq in June, declaring itself a “caliphate” and forcing thousands of people, mostly religious minorities, to flee.
In August, US President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes to help Baghdad fight against IS positions in Iraq.
In a video released on August 19, which captured the execution of US journalist James Foley, IS militants threatened to kill other US citizens if the United States did not stop its airstrikes. Steven Sotloff also appeared at the end of that video.
