Regarding the ISIS-held Jordanian pilot Lt Muath al-Kaseasbeh: in the aftermath of the Japanese journalists’ butcheries, Jordan’s King Abdullah II ibn al Hussein appears to be taking a hard line. Correctly so.

Elijah Magnier, chief international correspondent for Kuwait’s Al Rai newspaper, told MailOnline: “I have reliable contact in the Jordanian government who says a message has been passed to ISIS.

“It warns that if they kill the pilot they will implement the death sentences for Sajida and other ISIS prisoners as soon as possible.

“There are other prisoners in Jordan that ISIS would like to free.”

A thing that might color the King’s decision: Catherine Herridge of Fox News thinks the second Japanese journalist had already been butchered at the time of the “negotiations” for a swap. The pilot may already be dead, also.

I’m not sure al Hussein’s line would work in the United States; it would start us down a slippery slope to what for us would be a very dark place. But I’m not at all going to criticize the King of Jordan for taking such a step should he find it necessary.

h/t Belmont Club