Video of James Foley beheading 'may have been staged'

[webfact]

Video of James Foley beheading 'may have been staged'

MELBOURNE: -- A film purporting to show the beheading of James Foley was probably staged, according to a forensic science company, which suggests the American journalist's execution may have been carried out off-camera.

A blip in the footage, released on social media last week by Islamic State militants, indicated that Foley may have had to repeat a line as he read a script to camera while kneeling in the sand with his hands tied.

The footage was most likely edited later using "slick post-production techniques", according to the analysis for The Times in London by an unnamed international forensic science company that has worked for police forces across Britain, the news organisation claimed.

There was also no blood on Foley's neck as the masked militant appeared to drew a knife across his neck.

The analysis suggested that the militant, who speaks with a London accent and is believed to be British rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, may have been a frontman for the execution, and not necessarily the killer.

Full story: http://www.theage.com.au/world/video-of-james-foley-beheading-may-have-been-staged-20140825-1082n4.html


-- The Age 2014-08-25

[oldsailor35]

Is this good news or bad news. Is there a body or not ?

[Bobobirdiebuddy]

No company name given, no way to check the veracity of this claim. More useless rumor mongering.

[Greer]

So now they are trying to downplay the sick mongrels part in the killing?

No matter what, they need to find him and deal with him. Anything less will be tantamount to saying "We are helpless."

[Goshawk]

Is this good news or bad news. Is there a body or not ?

if you watch the video . . you actually see no beheading. You see someone appearing to rub an object across Foley's neck (with not the slightest amount of blood squirting out) before the 'film' then quickly cuts to an image of . . well you know what. Very odd. Must say that when i (reluctantly) watched it, my initial reaction was . . . this looks staged.

[arjunadawn]

A cursory look at the video story suggests something else is going on.

[arjunadawn]

Is this good news or bad news. Is there a body or not ?

if you watch the video . . you actually see no beheading. You see someone appearing to rub an object across Foley's neck (with not the slightest amount of blood squirting out) before the 'film' then quickly cuts to an image of . . well you know what. Very odd. Must say that when i (reluctantly) watched it, my initial reaction was . . . this looks staged.

Malcolm Gladwell, "Blink." Trust your instincts, they are likely correct.

[Suradit69]

No company name given, no way to check the veracity of this claim. More useless rumor mongering.

" ...that has worked for police forces across Britain ..."

Somehow that phrase raises more concerns than assurances. Are all these police forces (??) unable to cope with fairly basic forensics? Do they typically call in at a Copyworld shop or drop stuff off at a Kodak kiosk for analysis?

[timmyp]

A few days ago I read some claims on the internet that execution in the video wasn't real.

Although I have a weak stomach for gore, I felt the claims that I read were worth investigating. I used Tor to find the full video claiming to be Foley's execution and downloaded it.

I don't know what it looks like to cut someone's throat and behead them. but the video most certainly appears to be staged, not an actual execution.

I don't question that Foley was killed, only that he wasn't killed in the video that was released.

Honestly, I am mostly surprised this wasn't questioned by the mass media earlier. Watch it for yourself. Not to worry, it's not gory and nasty, you will just think, "Why was this purported to be an actual execution?"

[Goshawk]

I don't know what it looks like to cut someone's throat and behead them. but the video most certainly appears to be staged, not an actual execution.

i do . . i saw one a few years ago (a genuine one) and it is the most horrific thing i've ever experienced. The blood flows immediately, the screams are penetrating, it's an awful thing to witness and it affected me for quite some time after.

edit: i got over it . . but it hardened, then strengthened, the soul to understand what evil is capable of.

[Benmart]

I prefer to pray for the deceased, regardless of the mechanism or circumstances of his death.

The ensuing stories do not alter anything IMO.

[Benmart]

I don't think they remotely resemble the same guy. take a look at the real Foley and then at the guy in the video. Not even close!

For something really funny, check out the "relatives" which are probably crisis actors, they can hardly keep from laughing, especially the "sister".

She's just smiling all the way through. this is simply incredible!

Bizarre indeed.

Another life senselessly taken and another opportunity for senselessness.

[ggt]

Dead...is final...what does the details matter to the victim...?

[Number 3]

Agreed ! Is this foley ? Careful analysis I would suggest appears it is not. If it isn't then what is the covert operation going on here one would wonder. I have really studied both pics and others on the Internet. I simply fail to believe that this is foley. And the sister .....????

[Goshawk]

what does the details matter to the victim...?

not all things are the way they first appear . . . http://visualfunhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/headless-sun-tanner.jpg

[arjunadawn]

I prefer to pray for the deceased, regardless of the mechanism or circumstances of his death.

The ensuing stories do not alter anything IMO.

You are correct, to a point. It begs the question though: if what people are musing about might be true, than not asking questions regarding the nature of death certainly would be a foolish. If it is assumed something is amiss, but then one elects to have no further thoughts on this because of the provability that a death did occur, then people would be drones.

[wandasloan]

A few days ago I read some claims on the internet that execution in the video wasn't real.

Well, that pretty much wraps it up then. Just for verification, however, I'm waiting for the final report of the Official Thai Visa Crime Forensic and Moon-Landing Verification Committee before I make up my mind. I see from the posts that the committee is almost ready to report its conclusion.

.

[kurnell]

The video is clearly fake, whether he is actually dead or not.

[timmyp]

A few days ago I read some claims on the internet that execution in the video wasn't real.

Well, that pretty much wraps it up then. Just for verification, however, I'm waiting for the final report of the Official Thai Visa Crime Forensic and Moon-Landing Verification Committee before I make up my mind. I see from the posts that the committee is almost ready to report its conclusion.

.

My point is that others have been speculating about this already prior to the news report being released, I wasn't saying that chatter on the internet proves anything to be true.

[connda]

I don't know what it looks like to cut someone's throat and behead them. but the video most certainly appears to be staged, not an actual execution.

i do . . i saw one a few years ago (a genuine one) and it is the most horrific thing i've ever experienced. The blood flows immediately, the screams are penetrating, it's an awful thing to witness and it affected me for quite some time after.

edit: i got over it . . but it hardened, then strengthened, the soul to understand what evil is capable of.

Same here. I watched one, I believe Nick Berg, in the early 2000s. Really disturbing. Evil doesn't even come close to describing it. I chose not to view Foley's. Representatives of The Religion of Peace? Ah huh.

Even if faked, I still really don't want to go there. But interesting connotations if it was faked. Was it too unconsiousable for the Brit Jihad John to carry out?

[Goshawk]

The video is clearly fake, whether he is actually dead or not.

the knife that the masked man waves at the camera then rubs against Foley's neck . . . and the one lying beside the headless 'corpse' appear to be different!

many saying that, so i had to check it out myself . . . and you know what? yep.

[kurnell]

The video is clearly fake, whether he is actually dead or not.

the knife that the masked man waves at the camera then rubs against Foley's neck . . . and the one lying beside the headless 'corpse' appear to be different!

many saying that, so i had to check it out myself . . . and you know what? yep.

At least one of them is rubber.

[nikthekiwi]

No company name given, no way to check the veracity of this claim. More useless rumor mongering.

" ...that has worked for police forces across Britain ..."

Somehow that phrase raises more concerns than assurances. Are all these police forces (??) unable to cope with fairly basic forensics? Do they typically call in at a Copyworld shop or drop stuff off at a Kodak kiosk for analysis?

There are very capable people within the British Police. Just ask the any organisation that has opposed them whether that is true or not.

[Bigfarang1948]

Odd that Fox News is adamant that "sources confirm" the execution video is real. Who knows; maybe these sources have a different video that wasn't staged. Maybe the US is just using this as more ammunition for continuing to Drone bomb ISIS. If you have seen the real thing you will definitely know the difference. RIP

I don't know what it looks like to cut someone's throat and behead them. but the video most certainly appears to be staged, not an actual execution.

i do . . i saw one a few years ago (a genuine one) and it is the most horrific thing i've ever experienced. The blood flows immediately, the screams are penetrating, it's an awful thing to witness and it affected me for quite some time after.

edit: i got over it . . but it hardened, then strengthened, the soul to understand what evil is capable of.

[Franky Bear]

No sympathy for the journalist as war journos are the lowest of the low and will do anything to get a story which includes putting service men's lives in danger even resulting in death. But hey,....hey got his shot/story

Ask any servicemen and they will tell you that.

I despise them

[retarius]

I prefer to pray for the deceased, regardless of the mechanism or circumstances of his death.

The ensuing stories do not alter anything IMO.

I don;t pray because I don't believe in God, but I do agree with your comment about the circumstances of his death. Despite the hysterical outrage in Western media I fail to see what is worse about beheading than about dropping bombs, cluster bombs and white phosphorus from aeroplanes or artillery on innocents in Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, or Libya. Innocent women, children and men torn to pieces by shrapnel and debris from the explosion, or burnt to the bone by phosphorus, the result is often the same...the death of an innocent vicitm.

Bombing may be quicker than beheading but also may result in much greater loss of life and what about the ones 'only' injured? They can have a lifetime of suffering. 'Collateral damage' from a bomb or beheading by a jihadi...morally equivalent

[schondie]

I used to believe what I was told by the BBC et al but then I became more cynical to certain obvious lies they told me.

This one is a little suspect as his speech is a little too perfect. Most people would be stuttering, looking extremely nervous and generally no having their sh!t together like this chap. Does that make sense? No it doesn't.

Does the accusation that anyone who sees inconsistencies in the official narrative is a mentally ill conspiracy theorist? No it doesn't.

[arjunadawn]

I don;t pray because I don't believe in God, but I do agree with your comment about the circumstances of his death. Despite the hysterical outrage in Western media I fail to see what is worse about beheading than about dropping bombs, cluster bombs and white phosphorus from aeroplanes or artillery on innocents in Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, or Libya. Innocent women, children and men torn to pieces by shrapnel and debris from the explosion, or burnt to the bone by phosphorus, the result is often the same...the death of an innocent vicitm.

Bombing may be quicker than beheading but also may result in much greater loss of life and what about the ones 'only' injured? They can have a lifetime of suffering. 'Collateral damage' from a bomb or beheading by a jihadi...morally equivalent

From a purely detached, objective point of view, you are correct. Beheadings... bomb dropping... are all relative to the observer. I suppose there is the sterility that is implied with distant modes of war- drop a bomb, the pilot (or drone) returns, mission accomplished. Clearly this gives the false impression of a clean act. The beheading, however, makes no pretense. It is equally as barbaric yet sheds any pretense to sterility. The value it does serve to the west is to shed the false notion that we are dealing with an equal but different culture. Yes, in modes of war all methods of killing are brutal and, perhaps finally, equal. But these "people" practice such a lifestyle (Sharia) and beheadings and executions and crucifixions and dismemberment, evisceration, and burning, etc., on a daily basis, throughout the world, on their own as much as infidels. The comparison of bomb dropping and beheadings aside, videos such as this serve to remind us that inherently, what we are dealing with is barbarism and no amount of equivocating about bombing being equal can change that.

[HughJass]

the video was faked to make it acceptable for mass viewing on prime time news channels and get the message across which was basically saying the death of the next American depends on what Obama does next thus putting the pressure on him to call off the bombings of the ISIS troops...which of course he wont because they have control of lucrative oil fields around Kirkut and Obamas sponsors aren't happy...they killed him off camera at a later time and even then staged the result so it didn't look as bad ( very little blood)...they are clever these people and understand the power of the media

[arisaje]

I don't know what it looks like to cut someone's throat and behead them. but the video most certainly appears to be staged, not an actual execution.

i do . . i saw one a few years ago (a genuine one) and it is the most horrific thing i've ever experienced. The blood flows immediately, the screams are penetrating, it's an awful thing to witness and it affected me for quite some time after.

edit: i got over it . . but it hardened, then strengthened, the soul to understand what evil is capable of.

@ Goshawk unfortunately this innocent reporter was certainly killed by decapitation, although it is probably feasible to say that the killer had some issues with his beheading using the knife that was in the video.

It probably was an issue, a blunt knife or the killer panicked and couldn't go through with it once he started. Which makes it possible they had to cut the video and jump to a picture of the headless body later. Cutting out the confusion and problems that happened during the incident.

All very sad to be honest.