As was apparently the case with beheaded journalist James Foley, Steven Sotloff was also handed over to ISIS by rebels. Such a reality would again destroy the much ballyhooed narrative of western leaders that there are moderate rebels who can defeat ISIS. A spokesman for the Sotloff family even calls those politicians.

Via POLITICO:

A spokesman for Steven Sotloff’s family contends the slain American journalist was sold to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant by Syrian rebels and says the Obama administration “could have done more” to save him.

Appearing on CNN Monday evening, Barak Barfi said that his sources in the region have told him one or more of the Syrian rebels sold Sotloff to ISIL for $25,000-$50,000. He referred to them as “so-called moderate rebels, that people want our administration to support,” a jab at lawmakers and political figures — including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and many others — that have suggested arming the Syrian rebels.

Barfi, a research fellow at the New America Foundation, reserved stronger criticism for the Obama administration, whom he accused of spreading inaccuracies and failing to do enough to secure Sotloff’s release. The White House has confirmed two separate videos released in the last month showing an ISIL militant beheading Sotloff and fellow captured U.S. journalist James Foley.

“We know that the intelligence community and the White House are enmeshed in a larger game of bureaucratic infighting and Jim and Steve are pawns in that game and that’s not fair,” he said, in a reference to Foley.

The sentiment echoed by the Sotloff family spokesman about there being no moderate rebels is one Shoebat.com (and others) has been making for quite some time. In the case of both Foley and Sotloff, each man indicated sympathy for Syria’s rebels through their writing and tweets.

This story – when read in conjunction with a recent New York Times piece that reports Qatar is buying influence through the Brookings Institute – is quite instructive. Qatar is throwing money at Brookings who is influencing members of Congress to support Syrian rebels.

In light of these revelations about the deaths of Foley and Sotloff, even giving said politicians the benefit of the doubt that there are moderate rebels, must also come with a concession that they are either no match for ISIS or can be bought by ISIS.

As Shoebat.com reported, Foley appears to have been handed over to ISIS by said ‘moderate rebels’ aligned with FSA.