Dressed in black and walking through the ruins of what is said to be the besieged town of Kobani, in northeastern Syria, a man identifying himself as British hostage John Cantlie speaks to the camera to deliver a foreign correspondent-style report. It is not known when the roughly five and a half minute video, which was posted on social media by the Islamic State terrorist group, was recorded. The latest film begins with what is said to be an aerial view of the battle-ravaged border town filmed from a drone, with an opening graphic, in both English and Arabic reading "Inside 'Ayn al-Islam,'" which changes the Arabic name of Kobani, Ayn al-Arab. With the black and white Islamic State flag flying in the corner of the screen, a pulsating circle appears, identifying the position of Cantlie. "Hello, I'm John Cantlie and today we're in the city of Kobani, on the Syrian-Turkish border. That is, in fact, Turkey right behind me," he says matter-of-factly, pointing to the dusty hills in the background. "We are here in the heart of the so-called PKK safe zone which is now controlled entirely by the Islamic State. Now the Western media and I can't see any of their journalists here in the city of Kobani have been saying recently that Islamic State are on the retreat," he adds. Last Wednesday, John Cantlie's father, Paul Cantlie, died of "complications following pneumonia," his family said. Earlier this month, speaking from a hospital bed through a voice box, 81-year-old Paul Cantlie called on Islamic State to allow his son to return home safely. John Cantlie, a photojournalist, was captured in northern Syria in November 2012. He had previously been taken hostage in July 2012 along with Dutch photographer Jeroen Oerlemans while working near the Syrian border with Turkey. They were released later the same month by a group of Free Syrian Army fighters. Cantlie told the media after his release that they were threatened with death unless they converted to Islam, and both were shot and slightly wounded when they attempted to escape Gains against Islamic State are often fragile even with the support of U.S. airstrikes on militant targets in Iraq and neighboring Syria. The United States led nearly a dozen airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq on Sunday and Monday, including the besieged Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobani, according to the U.S. military. The man who identifies himself as Cantlie says there do not seem to be any groups, other than Islamic State, in the city. "Good old John Kerry doesn't seem to think the mujahedeen are retreating," he says, referring to the American secretary of state. "He called Kobani a horrible example of the unwillingness of people to help those who are fighting the Islamic State. That's a dig at Kurd-hating Turkish President Erdogan. But the point is, from where I'm standing right now I can see large swathes of the city, I can even see the Turkish flag behind me and all I've seen here, in the city of Kobani is Mujahideen, there are no YPG, PKK, or Peshmerga in sight." The United States said it had air-dropped medical supplies and weapons to Kurds in Kobani provided by Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a move Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticized last Wednesday because Islamic State fighters managed to seize some of the weapons. "Kobani is now being reinforced by Iraqi-Kurds who are coming in through Turkey, while the mujahedeen are being resupplied by the hopeless United States Air Force who parachuted two crates of weapons and ammunition, straight into the outstretched arms of the mujahedeen," the man who identifies as Cantlie says, giving some clue as to when the video may have been filmed. Reuters was unable to independently verify the content of this video, which was obtained from a social media website. Obama reacted too late Meanwhile, many within the American administration are saying that the White House's response to the growing Islamic State threat is a case of "too little too late." The PBS Frontline documentary "The Rise of ISIS" recently brought more of these voices to the forefront, with former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffery saying that his administration "did almost nothing" in response to intelligence warnings earlier this year that Islamic State radicals were gaining ground in Iraq and threatening the country's stability. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who was also interviewed in the documentary, admitted that U.S. President Barack Obama's security team made a mistake in refusing to arm moderate rebels in Syria who -- it is now argued -- could have acted as a counterweight to Islamic State. "I think we made the wrong decision in not providing assistance to the rebels," Panetta bluntly says in the film. The Pentagon also revealed this week that in the 10 weeks since U.S. forces began bombing Iraq and later Syria, the fighting had cost the American taxpayers $580 million, or $8.3 million per day.
Credit: Reuters
Cantlie has been held prisoner by Islamic State since 2012. In the past, Islamic State has issued videos depicting the ritual beheading of two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff. British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines have also been beheaded.
ISIS issues new propaganda video featuring hostage John Cantlie
In a foreign correspondent-style report, Cantlie, held hostage by Islamic State since 2012, describes the group's domination of Kobani • Meanwhile, PBS documentary features administration officials who say U.S. reacted too late to Islamic State threat.
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