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Politcal Science Politcal Science Do Terrorist Beheadings Infuence American Public Opinion? Sponsoring Faculty Member: Dr. John Tures Researchers and Presenters: Lindsey Weathers, Erin Missroon, Sean Greer, Bre’Lan Simpson Addition Researchers: Jarred Adams, Montrell Brown, Braxton Ford, Jefrey Garner, Jamarkis Holmes, Duncan Parker, Mark Wagner Introduction At the end of Summer 2014, Americans were shocked to see the tele- vised execution of a pair of American journalists in Syria by a group known as ISIS. Both were killed in gruesome beheadings. The images seen on main- stream media sites, and on websites, bore an eerie resemblance to beheadings ten years earlier in Iraq. During the U.S. occupation, nearly a dozen Americans were beheaded, while Iraqis and people from a variety of countries were dis- patched in a similar manner. Analysts still question the purpose of the videos of 2004 and 2014. Were they designed to inspire locals to join the cause of those responsible for the killings? Were they designed to intimidate the Americans and coalition members, getting the public demand their leaders withdraw from the region? Or was it some combination of the two ideas? It is difcult to assess the former. But we can see whether the behead- ings had any infuence upon American public opinion. Did they make Ameri- cans want to withdraw from the Middle East? And did the beheadings afect the way Americans view Islam? To determine answers to these questions, we look to the literature for theories about U.S. public opinion, as well as infuences upon it. We look at whether these beheadings have had an infuence on survey data of Americans across the last dozen years. Beheading Cases Daniel Pearl Due to the recent beheadings done by the ISIS group, the memory of the 2002 horror of American Journalist Daniel Pearl’s decapitation resurfaced. ISIS, which is the newly formed terrorist group based in Syria, very closely emu- lates the early 2000s practices of the al-Qaeda group. Although ISIS is recreat- 168 Political Science ing the act of beheading and despite popular opinion, “A statement posted on jihadist forums Sunday…and purportedly issued by al-Qaeda’s General Com- mand said ‘It has no connection with the group’ and blamed it for ‘the enormity of the disaster that aficted the Jihad in Syria (CNN 2014).’” Al-Qaeda released gruesome viral videos starting with the beheading of Daniel Pearl. Qari Hashim was accused of Daniel Pearl’s murder but was ac- quitted by the court on Friday, October 24, 2014. He was detained again un- der the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) rules one day after being acquit- ted. Three other men were sentenced to life terms. In addition to these men, Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was said to be the “mastermind” behind Pearl’s be- heading (BBC News 2014), was sentenced to death. Nick Berg Nick Berg, a 26-year-old young man that from Pennsylvania, was kid- napped by a group of al-Qaeda terrorists. It is believed he was executed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was behind several bombings in Iraq. The execution was recorded and posted on an Islamic website and it immediately went viral and people all over the United States watched it. According to Fox News, in the video that was recorded of Nick Berg being beheaded, there were fve men wearing scarves around their heads with black ski masks standing behind a man that was on the foor in an all-orange jumpsuit that looked just like a prisoners uniform. The video shows the prisoner saying “My name is Nick Berg, my father’s name is Michael, my mother’s name is Susan. I have a brother and a sister, David and Sarah. I live in Philadelphia.” The video shows him on the foor with his hands behind his back, and then there was a statement that was made that was read in Arabic. Then, one of the men behind him takes a large knife from under his clothes, while one of the other men takes Berg on his side. After that, the men take the knife to Berg’s neck and thrust right through it. After they cut his head of, they hold Berg’s head before the camera. Right before they thrust the knife through him, there was a phrase that was repeatedly shouted. This statement that they were screaming was,” Al- lahu Akbar!” This is translated from Islamic meaning, ”God is great.” Berg’s body was found on a Baghdad highway on the same day that he was beheaded, U.S. ofcials say. (Fox News 2004a) A former United States Navy Judge Advocate General, Tim Susanin, told Fox News, ”To see this poor soul beheaded is gruesome and barbaric. We are really seeing the difculty that our troops are dealing with. They have now been infltrated by members of Al-Qaeda (Fox News, 2004a).” Michael Berg, Nick’s father, said, “I knew he was decapitated. That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn’t want it to become public.” The Bush Administration said those who beheaded Berg would be hunted down and brought to justice. 169 Owen Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley In addition to kidnappings, murders, suicide bombing attacks, and other acts of terrorism in Iraq, Al-Zarqawi was also accused of beheading two Americans: Owen Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley. Al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, released an audiotape demanding his Mujuhadeen fghters in Iraq to battle in a holy war. Soon after- wards, he was linked to a car bombing attack on the Jordanian embassy. Two weeks later he bombed the United Nations ofce in Baghdad (Faraj et.al. 2004). Jack Hensley was beheaded on September 21, 2004. On that day, a video showed the kidnappers beheading Hensley, an American worker from Marietta, Georgia. The 49-year-old was a contractor in Iraq (Fox News 2004b). The following day, Owen Eugene “Jack” Armstrong, the second of three men kidnapped, was beheaded and videotaped after a trade for Iraqi female prison- ers broke down (Fox News 2004c). The third man, a Briton, was also killed. James Foley James Foley was a writer for GlobalPost; he also made videos for other shows, including the PBS show NewsHour. He truly believed that war was hor- rible and he stood by that. He tried to show the world this with his report “hu- manity amid the horror of war (Stelter 2014a).” Foley was abducted while on a reporting trip to Northern Syria in 2012. Later there was a video posted on August 19, 2014 that showed his loved ones and the rest of this country what happened to him (Carter, 2014). “We have seen a video that purports to be the murder of U.S. citizen James Foley by (ISIS),” National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said. “The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity. If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American jour- nalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends (Carter 2014).” Steven Sotlof Steven Sotlof was a 31-year old freelance journalist who wrote for multiple publications and reported for many Middle Eastern countries. Sotlof was abducted in 2013 in Northern Syria. It is believed the abduction happened near the city of Aleppo; he was then imprisoned by the “Islamic State” (ISIS) at the location of Raqqa. About a year later on September 2, Sotlof was behead- ed by the jihadist group ISIS, this made Sotlof the second American journalist to be killed by ISIS. Sotlof, who was Jewish, was a dual citizen of the United States and Is- rael. He studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. An article by BBC said “Steven Sotlof… was described as an honest and courageous journalist… He often focused on the human side of the confict, writing about the plight of 170 Political Science displaced civilians in Syria struggling without adequate food or shelter in early 2013 (BBC 2014).” Now we know something about the cases of beheadings, designed to rally supporters and intimidate opponents. But what we need to understand is how these killings ft within the academic literature. What do we know about American public opinion, and the role of international events for infuencing it? And how have beheadings played a role in this crisis, or any crisis? Literature Review Foreign Policy & Public Opinion Many questions around the world surround what is the primary role of public opinion when talking about foreign policy. Holsti stated that “the center of persisting debates [is] between the liberal-democratic and realist approach- es to foreign afairs (Holsti 1992, 440).” Holsti also stated that there is a long liberal-democratic tradition, dating back at least to Kant and Bentham; the for- eign policies of democratic countries are more peaceful, in part because the public can play a constructive role in constraining policy makers. The question that everyone really wants to know is do people of the world really have a clear idea of foreign policy, for them to be able to listen to someone talk about it, and maybe even hold a conversation about it? Some people don’t always think that public opinion is important; they would rather hear about who was stuck on the side of the road than hear about something that could potentially afect their lives. According to Hans Morgenthau (1978) “public opinion is a barrier, to thoughtful and coherent diplomacy, hindering eforts to promote national interest that transcend the moods and passions of moment.” Holsti (1992 440) stated that most realists would distinguish between foreign policy and other public policy issues.
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