Obama promises to redouble efforts to defeat ISIS
President Obama promised he would redouble efforts of a broad coalition to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after the militant group released a video purporting to show captive Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh being burned alive.
The administration is still working to confirm the authenticity of the video but the Jordanian government confirmed on Tuesday that the pilot had been killed.
"Should in fact this video be authentic, it's just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization. And it I think will redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of a global coalition to make sure they are degraded and ultimately defeated," Mr. Obama told reporters. "It also just indicates the degree to which whatever ideology they're operate off of is bankrupt."
Over the weekend, another ISIS video purportedly showed the militants beheading a Japanese hostage.
The Jordanian government had been working to swap al- Kaseasbeh for Sajida al-Rishawi, an al Qaeda prisoner in Jordan who faces death by hanging for her role in triple hotel bombings in Amman in 2005. An audio message last week, purportedly from ISIS, only said the pilot would be killed if al-Rishawi was not released Thursday.
The deadline passed after Jordan said it could not free her without proof the pilot is alive. In a phone interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said his government had still not received any proof that al-Kaseasbeh was still alive. Jordanian state television is reporting that the execution happened on January 3.