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New ISIS Video Targets David Cameron & The UK

by Seth Millstein

A video has surfaced that purports to show members of ISIS executing five men who allegedly spied on the group on behalf of the U.K. As is usually the case with these videos, its authenticity couldn't immediately be verified; however, it bears the markings of previous ISIS videos, and one of the alleged members of the group seems to be speaking with a British accent, just like "Jihadi John." If you're curious about what's in the new ISIS video but, for understandable reasons, do not want to watch it, here's a rundown.

The 10-minute video opens with an intro sequence that, in the style of a movie trailer, introduces the five men who will later be executed. It then cuts to footage of those same men outside, wearing orange jumpsuits, and a masked man, purportedly an ISIS militant.

The five prisoners "confess" to having secretly filmed and photographed ISIS members, as well as ISIS buildings in Syria, using hidden cameras disguised as shirt buttons. They say that they gave this footage to a contact in Turkey, and one claims that he later saw his videos broadcasted on the BBC. It goes without saying that, as with every hostage video ever, the hostages may well have been forced to make these "confessions" against their will.

The masked ISIS man then speaks, with a slight British accent, directly to the leader of Great Britain.

This is a message to David Cameron. Oh slave of the White House, oh mule of the Jews. How strange it is that we find ourselves today hearing an insignificant leader like you challenge the might of the Islamic State. How strange it is that the leader of a small island threatens us with a handful of planes. One would have thought you would have learned the lessons of your pathetic master in Washington and his failed campaign against Islamic State.

But it seems that you, just like your predecessors Blair and Brown, are just as arrogant and foolish. In fact, David, you are more of an imbecile. Only an imbecile would dare to wage war against a land where the law of Allah reigns supreme, and where the people live under the justice and security of the Shariah. Only an imbecile would dare to anger a people who love death the way that you love your life.

He goes on for several minutes, with the footage cutting between him and the prisoners. The five men are then shot in the head at point blank range. The video ends with a child, perhaps 7 years old or so, wearing military garb and proclaiming that "we are going to kill the kafir [non-believers] over there."

Everything about the video is chilling, and British intelligence is now investigating the identity of the masked man in question. Earlier ISIS videos also showed a member of the group with a British accent, later identified as Mohammed Emwazi, a man who was killed in a U.S.-led airstrike in November.

Once again, it's not at all clear that the men who were executed had actually spied on ISIS, or committed any other transgression against the terrorist group. It's also worth noting that this latest video was released shortly after ISIS suffered a significant military setback. In December, Iraqi forces retook significant parts of Ramadi, a former ISIS stronghold, from the militant group, and it's been speculated that ISIS may have released this video in order to divert attention away from that defeat.