Westerners may have been involved in the execution of Peter Kassig. Yahoo/Reuters

Syrian prisoners about to be executed. Yahoo/AP

A British medical student and a French man are accused of participating in the murder of Peter Kassig and many Syrian prisoners. Yahoo/Reuters. A father in the United Kingdom claims that it is very possible that one of the executioners may have been his son. France also claims that one of the executioners was a Maxime Hauchard, who had left France to become a Jihadi in August of 2013. French judges had opened an investigation into Hauchard after he arrived in Syria. French media had interviewed Hauchard and he was quoted as saying his goal was to become a "martyr". The British suspect is a different person then "Jihadi John", the man with a British accent who has carried out the executions of 4 additional western hostages. The man, Nasser Muthana, is a 20 year old medical student who has appeared in propaganda for ISIS before. 

My Comment:

First of all, I didn't want to post a picture from the video but I did for two reason. 1. The actual photo wasn't graphic in anyway and 2. it shows that a bunch of other people got executed by ISIS as well. The nameless Syrian soldiers deserve to have their deaths paid attention to as well. Say what you want about the Syrian regime but these soldiers were still people and nobody deserves to die like they did. The focus is on Kassig, but it is important to note that ISIS is killing everyone in the region. 

As for the story itself, it is more confirmation that Europe has a huge problem with its citizens fighting abroad in Iraq and Syria. ISIS is the main destination for these fighters but the Al-Nusra front and other extremist groups are getting recruits as well. The fear is of course that these fighters could return someday and wreak havoc. Even if they didn't commit terror attacks themselves, they could train others and teach a new generation of home grown terrorists. The problem isn't with people like Hauchard and Muthana, it is with people the various intelligence agencies have missed. There are bound to be dozens of fighters who are in Syria and Iraq now who come from countries that have no idea they are there. 

I'd also like to point out that Reuters was quoting the Daily Mail as a source. Now I do trust Reuters so if they are saying the Daily Mail report is legitimate then I don't feel bad about passing that information along. Still, the Daily Mail doesn't have a whole lot of credibility as far as I am concerned. The case for Muthana's involvement in this murder isn't as strong as it is for Hauchard. He still probably is involved, and his father would have no reason to lie, but just keep in mind that the Daily Mail has been wrong  before.

UPDATE: Father of British man takes back statement claiming that his son was involved in Kassig's murder. -AFP. Like I said, the Daily Mail has been wrong before... The source for this current claim is the BBC which, while biased in its own way, is more credible then the Daily Mail.