David Haines just before he was beheaded. Image: NBC News.
The Islamic State has been at it again. On Saturday, they released another video which showed the beheading of another international personality, David Haines, an British born aid worker based in France; the third one since they started the decapitation of key personalities they had kidnapped as a sign of how serious they are about their demands, particularly to the world’s super powers.
It all started when the world went abuzz with the release of a video showing the beheading of American journalist, James Foley last month. This was followed a few days later by another decapitation, this time, of another American, Steven Sotloff within the same month. In all the videos, the executioner was the same masked British accented man. The victims were all made to give the same speech which lamented the participation of their respective leaders in the fight against the Islamic State.
These speeches have been dismissed by the Americans as having been scripted by their captors and also having been delivered under duress. David Haines is a forty four year old man from Perth in Scotland and he was kidnapped last year while he was working for the French Aid organisation, ACTED. The father of two, according to his employers had been engaged in humanitarian work in Syria when he was kidnapped in March of 2013 having also worked in the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East, work that he had been doing since 1999. His family have been reported to have tried to make direct contact with his captors to no avail.
After the toppling of Sadam Hussein in Iraq, US troops gradually pulled out of that country with the last of the troops leaving in 2011. This resulted in the Islamic State gaining ground and establishing an Islamic Caliphate in a number of areas in both Iraq and Syria. The Obama administration did not take kindly to this scenario and launched air strikes beginning in August. Barak Obama went further and called for other powerhouses like Britain to help them in the fight against the expansion of the Islamic State. While the United States has announced its intention to bomb the Islamic State positions in Syria, England has delivered humanitarian aid, carried out surveillance, given weapons to Kurds and promised training in Iraq. This has apparently not gone down well with the Islamic State, resulting in the kidnapping and eventual execution of Haines.
Commenting on the beheading of his subject, David Cameron, who is also the prime minster, said his government would do everything in their power to ensure that they bring the perpetrators to book. He said that his government would drive back, dismantle and ultimately destroy the Islamic State.
