James Foley's family releases final ISIS email to parents, 'sheep-like' American public

James Foley&#039;s family releases final ISIS email to parents, &#039;sheep-like&#039; American public

(Image credit: Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

On Thursday evening, GlobalPost, the news organization that employed slain American reporter James Foley, released the last email Islamist State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants sent to Foley's family. The news organization said it released the Aug. 12 message "in full in the interest of transparency and to fully tell Jim's story," but also noted that "in addition to the extreme views it espouses, the email contains factual inaccuracies."

For example, the Foley family was not "given many chances to negotiate" for Jim's release. After more than a year without contact, the Foleys received their first message from Jim's captors on Nov. 26, 2013, asking for money, fast.... They made their sole demand for a ransom of 100 million euros (about $132 million) or the release of unspecified prisoners held by the United States. [GlobalPost]

ISIS's next contact was the message last Tuesday, addressed to "the American government and their sheep like citizens." The militants said they had nicely left America alone "since your disgraceful defeat in Iraq," but then "the scum of your society who are held prisoner by us, THEY DARED TO ENTER THE LION’S DEN AND WHERE [sic] EATEN!" They then go on and taunt the U.S. and vow to shed lots of American blood. Read the entire email at GlobalPost if you're curious.

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The Foleys, meanwhile, say their own religious faith is helping them "stay away from the bitterness," as father John Foley put it to GlobalPost. The family is Catholic, and Pope Francis called on Thursday to offer his support and prayers. At a memorial mass on Wednesday, Rev. Paul Gausse told the family and assembled mourners that they "are not just praying for us and the Foley family, but praying for those who have perpetrated this kind of evil." ISIS needs prayers, he added, because "this is being done in the name of God. How insane can that be?"

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.