(CNN) -- For the fifth time this year, ISIS has flaunted its savagery by posting a video about a Westerner's beheading.
This time, it was the
family of American hostage Peter Kassig that received the horrific news.
But the video that purportedly shows the aftermath of Kassig's
beheading is different from the other videos -- and shows hints of
desperation by the terror group, analysts say.
Here are some key points about the latest video and what they could indicate about ISIS:
The actual killing isn't shown
The video, released online Sunday,
shows the aftermath of a beheading, but the victim's decapitated head
is not clearly recognizable. The White House confirmed that the video
showed Kassig.
Kassig, 26, was a U.S. soldier who served in Iraq in 2007.
He returned to the Middle East as a medical worker, helping victims
caught in Syria's civil war. That's when ISIS captured him.
Kassig converted to Islam in captivity and also went by the name Abdul-Rahman Kassig.
The ISIS video doesn't
show the actual killing, unlike previous videos. But it does show -- in
gruesome detail -- the beheadings of what the group claims are pilots
for the Syrian government, which is also battling ISIS forces.
"It can't be said enough," said CNN's Nic Robertson. "This is the most barbaric they've done so far."
Unlike the glossy
productions of the past, the latest footage appears to be more hastily
produced, CNN national security analyst Bob Baer said.
"I think what this tape indicates is these guys are on the run," said Baer, a former CIA analyst.
"They didn't have time
to do a nice setup (with) a lot of production values. I think they know
they're being targeted. There's a lot of American platforms in the area
looking for the hostages, so I think they're trying to beat those."
And for the first time
in such a video, the speaker names the place where he is standing with
the victim -- in the town of Dabiq in Aleppo province, Syria.
There was no threat of another beheading
In each of the previous
beheading videos, an ISIS militant shows another Westerner who it says
will be next to be killed. And each time, it has followed through on its
threat.
In the latest video,
ISIS did not show images of another Westerner targeted for beheading.
But that doesn't mean Westerners are spared from more killings, said
Haras Rafiq of the anti-extremist think tank Quilliam Foundation.
"As we see the U.S. and
the coalition making gains against ISIL, we will find that they try and
show that they are still strong, try and show that they are just as
barbaric as they have been, and unfortunately one of the things we'll
see is that the videos will become more and more barbaric," Rafiq said.
ISIL is another acronym for ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State.
"I think it's a sign of
desperation," he said. "I think it's a sign that they know and feel they
are under attack, they're under siege and they're struggling."
Yet after almost 900
airstrikes by U.S.-led coalition forces, ISIS is still operating and has
shown it is still killing Westerners.
"I think until we really deal with the political problems in that part of the world, the airstrikes will only go so far."
The video is clearly "a prize piece of propaganda for them," Robertson said.
It is likely also meant
to scare Syrians and Iraqis into obeying ISIS' orders when it comes
calling, said retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Joe Ruffini, a counterterrorism
expert.
"What ISIS is telling
them is, 'When we come in and tell you to do what we tell you, you know
what the consequences are if you say no,'" Ruffini said.
But it also comes at a
time when the United States and its anti-ISIS allies are claiming their
airstrikes and support for ground forces fighting the group are
beginning to slowly turn the tide, said retired U.S. Maj. Gen. James
"Spider" Marks.
"Clearly there are no
coincidences," Marks told CNN on Sunday. "This is timed very
specifically to those activities by the coalition and, I would say, the
results of those activities."
Has ISIS peaked? Terror group suffers setbacks in Iraq
The U.S. says it is making progress
Since beginning
airstrikes in August, U.S. officials have touted successes in disrupting
ISIS communications and logistics, slowing its advances and forcing
fighters to disperse into smaller formations.
Earlier this month,
President Barack Obama said the fight was entering a new phase that
would rely heavily on Iraqi ground troops and other local fighters.
More recently, U.S. officials have suggested more openness to a role for U.S. ground forces in the fight.
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey testified last week that commanders are "certainly considering" the prospect that U.S. forces might be needed to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul, currently held by ISIS.
In the latest ISIS video, the narrator taunted Obama to do just that.
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