Jordan's King Abdullah, furious at the brutal death of Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, has vowed to pursue the Islamic State terrorist group until his military runs "out of fuel and bullets."
"We are waging this war to protect our faith, our values and human principles and our war for their sake will be relentless and will hit them in their own ground," state TV quoted the King as saying.
Abdulluah's pledge was made just before Jordan officials executed two Qaeda terrorists after a chilling video released by ISIS showed the airman being burned alive in a cage.
"He said there is going to be retribution like ISIS hasn't seen," said Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr., R-Calif., a Marine Corps veteran of two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, who was in the meeting with the king, according to Fox News. "He mentioned 'Unforgiven' and he mentioned Clint Eastwood, and he actually quoted a part of the movie."
The two terrorists killed in retribution for the death of Lt. Kaseasbeh were Sajida al-Rishawi, who was convicted for taking part in a 2005 triple hotel bombing that killed 60 in Amman, and Ziad al-Karbouly, an Iraqi who served as an aide to Al Qaeda in Iraq founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
According to Jordanian Army spokesman Mamdouh al-Ameri, the death of the terrorists is just the beginning of the nation's vengeance against ISIS.
"Our punishment and revenge will be as huge as the loss of the Jordanians," he emphasized.
King Abdullah was personally invested of the fate of the young pilot, who was from a prominent tribe in the Karah governorate and graduated from King Hussein Air College, which was named after Abdullah's father.
"The King told me that he was following up personally on Muath's case," the pilot's father, Safi al-Kaseasbeh told the Jordan Times. "He said Crown Prince Hussein, may God protect him, is no dearer to me than Muath."
According to reports, Lt Kasasbeh was captured by ISIS in December when his aircraft crashed during a bombing mission by the US-led coalition over Syria. Last month, Jordan considered an offer from the Islamic State to trade Al-Rishawi for the pilot, but reports yesterday said the pilot had been dead since January 3.
The killing not only sparked outrage across Jordan, a peaceful nation of about 6 million, but among the international community as well.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Obama asserted that the killing would "redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of our global coalition to make sure they are degraded and ultimately defeated."
"It's just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization," Obama said. "And I think it will redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of the global coalition to make sure that they are degraded and ultimately defeated."
British Prime Minister David Cameron also condemned the "sickening murder by Isil's barbaric terrorists", and acknowledged Lt Kasaesbeh, who "paid with his life while protecting his country and us all"
"These terrorists' brutal behaviour will only strengthen our resolve," he said. "We stand in solidarity with our Jordanian friends and we will continue to work with them and our other Coalition partners to defeat Isil.
"We will not stop until these evil extremists and their poisonous ideology are defeated."
