President Obama recently addressed the beheading of American journalist James Foley at the hands of ISIS, promising that the U.S. would relentlessly pursue his cold-blooded killers.
"All of us feel the ache of his absence, all of us mourn his loss," the president said in a statement Wednesday. "We will do everything we can to protect our people and the timeless values they stand for."
In his speech, Obama slammed the Islamic State, the Iraqi terrorist group responsible for Foley's beheading, calling them "morally bankrupt" and a "cancer."
The group "speaks for no religion," the President declared, adding that he is praying for the Foley family. "No faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, or what they do every single day."
James Foley, 40, was from Rochester, N.H., and disappeared in northern Syria nearly two years ago while working as a freelancer in the war-ridden region. No one had heard from him until Tuesday, when a gruesome video surfaced revealing his fate. The extremists in the video called the beheading retribution for recent U.S. airstrikes in Iraq.
Foley's family say they hope that he's remembered for showing the deep compassion lacked by his terrorist killers.
"Jim was very loved, very proud to be a journalist," his mother Diane Foley told reporters outside the family home in New Hampshire.
"He had such courage," she said. "He had incredible heart, and he always cared about people who were suffering."
Foley's mother also urged the nation to pray for a second journalist whose life has also been threatened by ISIS.
American journalist, 31 year old Steven Sotloff, disappeared while working in Syria in August 2013. He has worked for several media groups including Time magazine and the Christian Science Monitor.
"We're just praying our government can find a way to save Steven and the others who are there," said Diane Foley. "Let's come together as a country, please. Jim believed in our country."
"We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world," she continued.
President Obama has promised that justice will be served in regards to Foley's horrific death.
"The United States of American will continue to do what we must do to protect our people," the president said. "We will be vigilant, and we will be relentless ... to see that justice is done."
