With the beheading of a second American journalist, Steven Sotloff, militant group ISIS delivered another brutal message to the Western world. And, as with the execution of journalist James Foley before him, ISIS ended its video -- titled "A second message to America" -- with a threat to another Western hostage, this time a Briton. The three are not the only Westerners held by the militant group. And their plight has raised fears for the safety of all those taken hostage. Thousands of Syrians and Iraqis have been slain by ISIS militants as the Sunni extremist group seeks to build an Islamic caliphate stretching across a swath of territory.ISIS has other Western hostages besides the two murdered American journalistsHostages can be useful bargaining chips or exchanged for ransom paymentsU.S. and UK governments have policies against paying ransom for hostagesAbductions are often kept quiet for fear of jeopardizing efforts to secure the release of the victims
A video like the one showing Sotloff's killing "really energizes" supporters of ISIS, and beheading is employed for "maximum propaganda" to "terrify" _' enemies, Cruickshank said. It emerged after Foley's death that _ special operations units were sent into Syria this summer to rescue him and other hostages, but their mission proved unsuccessful. The _ government has used every military, diplomatic and intelligence tool we have, and we always will.