ISIS Use Beheadings to Make Up for Losses, Say US Officials
For months, Islamic State militants rampaged across Syria and Iraq, seizing cities, taking hostages and terrorizing all who dared to confront them. The tide began to turn in mid-August, when U.S. airstrikes pushed them from key Iraqi battlegrounds. Then, on Aug. 19, the group released a video that showed the beheading of American freelance journalist James Foley. The pattern continued. Within days of a military defeat, the group would release images of more beheadings — at least nine over six weeks — of Western journalists, aid workers and Muslim soldiers. The tactic signals that even as the Islamic State group suffers battlefield losses, it is holding on to its edge in the propaganda war. U.S. officials say that's the only way the militants can continue to maintain support and attract new recruits. AP ISLAMIC STATE TIMELINE On Friday, the Islamic State group released a new video showing the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning after nearly two strai