'Abandoned' British journalist shown in newly-released IS video

A British journalist identified as British journalist John Cantlie has purportedly appeared as a captive of Islamic State militants (IS) in a video posted by the organisation’s supporters online. The IS, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq, has already beheaded two American journalists and one British aid worker in recent weeks in what it said was reprisal for U.S. air strikes against it in Iraq. But in the new three-minute video, the man identified as Cantlie appears in good health and promises to “convey some facts” in a series of “programmes,” suggesting there would be further instalments.

Well, it’s true. I am a prisoner. That I cannot deny. But seeing as I’ve been abandoned by my government and my fate now lies in the hands of the Islamic State, I have nothing to lose.

John Cantlie on the video posted by IS

In the new video, titled “Lend Me Your Ears, Messages from the British Detainee John Cantlie,” the man identified as Cantlie says he was captured by the Islamic State after arriving in Syria in November 2012. He says he worked for newspapers and magazines in Britain including the Sunday Times, the Sun and the Sunday Telegraph.

After two disastrous and hugely unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, why is it that our governments appear so keen to get involved in yet another unwinnable conflict?

John Cantlie

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