MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti) - A Republican House candidate in Arizona, Wendy Rogers, is using footage from the Islamic State (IS) video showing the execution of American journalist James Foley in a campaign ad attacking her opponent.
"Terrorist threats are growing. Are we secure? Are we protected?" the narrator in Rogers' controversial campaign video asks.
"Keeping us safe and secure is Congress' job. Kyrsten Sinema hasn't done her job. Sinema voted in Congress to give terrorists full legal rights under the Constitution," the video continues.
The 30-second ad is challenging the Republican's opponent, Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema and includes an image of Foley kneeling before an IS militant who later kills him. Rogers uses parts of the execution video despite a public request from Foley's family for people not to watch or share the video.
"It is reprehensible and unbecoming of anyone seeking elected office to use the footage of an American tragedy for political gain, and Wendy Rogers should remove this ad immediately and apologize to Mr. Foley's family," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Tyrone Gayle said in an official statement to The Huffington Post.
"For Wendy Rogers to use such a reprehensible tactic to make baseless claims just to smear Representative Sinema proves how desperate her campaign has become," the spokesman added.
Footage from the Foley execution video has also been used in an ad for Republican Allen Weh, though the campaign only showed the IS executioner and not Foley himself.
The IS released the video showing the beheading of journalist Foley in August. Foley delivers a speech during the video condemning US-led airstrikes and is then killed by an IS militant standing behind him as retaliation for violence against the Sunni extremist group.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories it had seized. In August, the United States started launching airstrikes against IS positions in Iraq and extended its operations to Syria in September.
