President Barack Obama says Americans will not be intimidated by the "horrific" violence of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants after the beheading of a second U.S. journalist.
Obama made his comments during his visit to Estonia, not long after his administration confirmed the beheading video of Steven Sotloff was authentic.
ISIS released the video on Tuesday, two weeks after the militants released a video showing the killing of James Foley, another American journalist.
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Sotloff, a 31-year-old Miami-area native who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, vanished a year ago in Syria and was not seen again until he appeared in the video that showed Foley's beheading.
"The U.S. Intelligence Community has analyzed the recently released video showing U.S. citizen Steven Sotloff and has reached the judgment that it is authentic," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin said in a statement Wednesday.
Obama said during a press conference with Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves that the U.S. is in for a long campaign to "degrade and destroy" ISIS.
"It's not only that we're going to be bringing to justice those who perpetrated this terrible crime against these two fine young men," Obama said. "More broadly, the United States will continue to lead a regional and international effort against the kind of barbaric and, ultimately, empty vision that [ISIS] represents.
"That's going to take some time, but we're going to get it done, I'm very confident of that."
Obama added that the topic of ISIS and other regional militant groups will be addressed at the NATO summit in Wales later this week.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday that it is believed that "a few" Americans are still being held by ISIS.
Psaki would not give any specifics, but one is a 26-year-old woman kidnapped while doing humanitarian aid work in Syria, according to a family representative who asked that the hostage not be identified out of fear for her safety.
Last week, Sotloff's mother, Shirley Sotloff, pleaded with his captors for mercy, saying in a video that her son was "an innocent journalist" and "an honourable man" who "has always tried to help the weak."
Barak Barfi, a spokesman for the Sotloff family, said Tuesday they were grieving after having seen the video.
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