Experts: James Foley's Execution Video - Staged

August 25, 2014   

Staged? Experts cast doubt on the video released by ISIS showing the brutal execution of American journalist James Foley. The video shows Foley kneeling, dressed in orange, with the executioner, a man later identified as a Muslim with British citizenship, at his side. An examination by a British company specializing in forensics, which carefully examined the 4:40-minute video, raises three main questions: 1. The executioner begins to cut Foley's neck with a knife, but there is no sign of blood - even after 6-7 cuts across the throat. There are large blood vessels in the neck and in principle blood spurts should have burst from such a deadly action. 2. In the audio that accompanies Foley's words before his "execution", "bleep" sounds can be heard, which perhaps suggests that he was forced to repeat a sentence for the sake of the recording. 3. Foley does not look like a person who is about to be executed in a few moments. These doubts lead experts to believe that Foley's execution was not carried out in front of the camera, while the staged video was intended to heighten the terror of ISIS.