Obama Urges Joint Effort to End Jihadist 'Cancer'

U.S. President Barack Obama called for a joint effort to eliminate the "cancer" of jihadist terror in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, after Islamic State militants murdered an American journalist.

Obama said the entire world was appalled by the beheading of 40-year-old reporter James Foley, which the IS fighters videotaped and published on the Internet.

"There has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so it does not spread. It has to be a clear rejection of these kind of nihilistic ideologies," Obama said.

"The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. We will be vigilant and we will be relentless," he pledged.

Obama praised Foley, a freelance reporter who contributed to GlobalPost, Agence France Presse and other outlets before being kidnapped two years ago, as a courageous journalist working in dangerous area and "bearing witness to the lives of people a world away."

But he made no mention of a second kidnapped U.S. journalist, Steven Sotloff, who was shown alive in the video.

Saying Foley's execution was in reaction to the U.S. air attacks on IS fighters, the group threatened to also kill Sotloff, saying whether it does or not depends on Obama's actions.

Before Obama spoke, the Pentagon confirmed a fresh round of strikes in northern Iraq, where Islamic State militants have expanded their territorial holdings and were threatening the Kurdish populations and the regional capital of Arbil.

"We continue to conduct strikes in Iraq," said spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.

The U.S. Central Command said U.S. warplanes and drones conducted 14 air strikes against IS targets near the Mosul Dam in Iraq since Tuesday.

Since Tuesday, U.S. drones and fighter jets destroyed or damaged six IS Humvees, three sites for improvised explosive devices, one mortar tube and two armed trucks, U.S. Central Command said.

The latest air raids brought to 84 the number conducted since August 8. Of those, 51 were in support of Iraqi forces near Mosul dam, now under the control of Iraqi and Kurdish security forces.

The command said the latest strikes served to "further expand" Iraqi and Kurdish control of the area.

"These strikes were conducted under authority to support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish defense force operations, as well as to protect critical infrastructure, U.S. personnel and facilities, and support humanitarian efforts," it added.

Obama condemned the Sunni extremist group as a threat to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

"One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century," he said, using the acronym for the group when it was formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

"They have rampaged across cities and villages, killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery. They have murdered Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands."

"No faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day," Obama said.

"ISIL has no ideology. Their ideology is bankrupt."

He said he had spoken to the parents of Foley, and "told them we are all heartbroken at their loss."

"Jim was taken from us in an act of violence that shocks the conscience of the entire world."

Foley Represented 'Best of America,' His Parents Say

The parents of murdered journalist James Foley paid graceful tribute Wednesday to their "hero" son and urged his killers to release any other hostages they currently hold.

"We're very proud of him. He was a courageous, fearless journalist, very compassionate American. I mean, the best of America," Diane Foley said of her son, whose execution at the hands of jihadist group the Islamic State triggered global revulsion.

"Jim could feel the prayers. He was strong, courageous, loving to the end," she added, in an appearance with Foley's father outside the family's home in Rochester, New Hampshire.

"He was just a hero."

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he had called Foley's parents telling them he was heartbroken at their son's murder.

Foley, 40, covered the lives of civilians in war-torn Syria when he was abducted in November, 2012.

A video of the execution was posted on the Internet and U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed its authenticity.

The video also showed the militant threatening a young man introduced as fellow American hostage and reporter Steven Sotloff. Foley's father called on the captors to show mercy.

"They never hurt anybody. They were trying to help, and there's no reason for their slaughter," John Foley said.

The Islamic State, seeking to form a Muslim caliphate in the region, has marauded through Iraq in recent months, employing ruthless tactics and suicide bombings to surpass al-Qaida as the world's most feared extremist group.

The militant in the video said the killing was retaliation for U.S. air strikes against IS forces in Iraq, and the group has threatened more killings unless the air strikes stop.

According to Foley's mother: "Jim was just innocent, and they knew it. They knew that Jim was just a symbol for our country."

Foley's mother said the family has not watched the gruesome video, but father John Foley said he was appalled by how his son died.

"It haunts me, how much pain he was in and how cruel this method of execution is as opposed to so many others," he said. "We believe he was a martyr, a martyr for freedom."