Obama, Outraged Over Beheading, Vows to Stay on Course

Edgartown, Massachusetts: President Barack Obama declared Wednesday that the entire world was "appalled" by the beheading of an American journalist by militants in Syria, but vowed that the United States would not change course in Iraq, where the United States has been conducting airstrikes against terrorists, despite threats by the group to kill another reporter in the days ahead. (James Foley Represented 'Best of America': Parents)

"The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people," Obama said in a brief statement from Martha's Vineyard, where he was vacationing. "We will be vigilant and we will be relentless."

Before speaking to reporters, Obama said he placed a phone call to the parents of James Foley, the slain reporter, telling them that Americans were "are all heartbroken at their loss." He described Foley as a "journalist, a son, a brother and a friend who was "taken from us in an act of violence that shocked the conscience of the entire world." (Britain Investigating Whether James Foley Executioner Is Its Citizen)

But the president's harshest and most emotional words were reserved for the Islamic State group, the militants who released a video of the killing of Foley on Tuesday. U.S. intelligence agencies Wednesday verified the authenticity of the video, which shows a masked man decapitating Foley, who was kidnapped in Syria nearly two years ago. It also shows another American captive, the journalist Steven Sotloff, and warns that he would be the next to die. (Video of US Journalists is Authentic: National Security Council)

The president called the Islamic State group a "cancer" in the region and accused them  of having "rampaged across cities and villages, killing unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence." He said it had committed torture and rape against innocent women and children and continued to enslave those they did not kill. (Images, Videos of Beheaded Journalist Removed From Twitter)

"No faith teaches people to massacre innocents," Obama said. "No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. People like this ultimately fail. They fail because the future is won by people who build and not destroy." (For Jihadists, Social Media a Platform to Recruit, Spread Fear)

The killing of Foley triggered a fierce response. The New York Daily News and The New York Post both used the same banner headline on their front pages: "Savages." Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain released a statement saying "the brutal murder of James Foley is shocking and depraved." (Islamic State Jihadists Claim Beheading of US Journalist James Foley, Release Video)

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement condemning the Islamic State group for "the horrific murder of journalist James Foley, an abominable crime." Ban said "the perpetrators of this and other such horrific crimes must be brought to justice." (Have Never Been Prouder of Him', Says James Foley's Family on Facebook)

The four-minute, 40-second video was posted on YouTube but the website later took it down. Titled "A Message to America," it shows Foley kneeling in a desert landscape, clad in an orange jumpsuit in an apparent reference to the uniforms worn by prisoners at the U.S. military detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Standing to his left is a masked Islamic State fighter who begins speaking in English, with what sounds like an East London accent. Pulling out a knife, he says that Foley's execution is in retaliation for the recent U.S. airstrikes ordered by Obama against the extremist group in Iraq.