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Beheading video

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Colloquial term in the U.S. popularized during the War on Terror for videos released by Islamist militant groups depicting interviews by hostages taken by said groups. The prelude to these videos usually show the subject alive and pleading for their lives sometimes accompanied by their captors, sometimes not. The demands made are usually broad and general, such as total withdrawal of the hostage's country from some country, usually Iraq. Invariably a video depicting the actual beheading is released a few days later.[1] These videos entered the popular consciousness following the Daniel Pearl video. A video widely circulated on the internet depicting a Russian soldier believed to be Alexei Shcherbatykh being beheaded by Chechen rebels was released in 1999. This video has been dubbed as "Chechclear" by many viewers.

The ubiquity of these videos has been made possible by cable news outlets with 20 hour news cycles, and the use of the internet by alleged terrorists themselves, sympathizers, bloggers and shock sites.

A hoax beheading video by Benjamin Vanderford received wide attention by the American press.[2] The creators of the video claimed to have released the video to point out how uncritically the media and Islamists would accept an anonymous video (the video turned up on Islamist websites and U.S. media outlets immediately).

Beheading videos released since 2001


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