Rhodes: Killing of Foley a Terrorist Attack Against US

White House Deputy National Security advisor Ben Rhodes on Friday described the brutal killing of U.S. journalist Jim Foley by Islamic State militants as a terrorist attack against the United States. "We see that as an attack on our country," Rhodes said. Images of Foley being beheaded by the militants were released by the Islamic State group on August 19. Rhodes said the extremist group poses a greater threat now than six months ago. He added that Washington is ready to take action against Islamic State militants when U.S. interests are threatened. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby would not comment as to whether the United States intended to expand its airstrikes into Syria where the Islamic State is based. Foley was captured in 2012 while covering the conflict in Syria. The Islamic State group has since expanded its hold over eastern Syria into northwestern Iraq, declaring the area a "caliphate." Rhodes' statements came as US fighter and attack aircraft launched three airstrikes near Iraq's Mosul dam, a crucial infrastructure which Islamic State militants captured, then lost. The U.S. has conducted 93 airstrikes against the militants in northwestern Iraq since August 8, 60 of which have been near Mosul dam. Iraqi government attempts to bridge the increasingly bloody sectarian divisions in the country and forge a united front against the militants was undermined Friday when militants attacked a Sunni mosque northeast of Baghdad, killing dozens of people as they attended their weekly prayers. Eyewitnesses and Sunni religious officials are accusing members of a hardline Shi'ite militia of the crime. Some government military commanders, however, are pinning the blame on Islamic State militants. The Islamic State militants have drawn support from Iraq's disenfranchised Sunnis, including former Iraqi military officials, and actively recruit around the world. According to a US federal law enforcement official, there are an estimated 12,000 foreign fighters in Syria, of that, more than 1,000 are thought to be from Western nations. An estimated 100 are believed to be Americans. U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Thursday said the extremists have now become more than just a terrorist group, but rather a well trained, armed, organized and financed Islamic entity that poses an "imminent threat" to U.S. interests. Kurdish fighters have joined with Iraqi security forces to try and push back the militants under an umbrella of U.S. airstrikes in the region.



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