While President Obama was out hiking on Friday, White House Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes took the podium with increasingly threatening rhetoric towards Islamic State terrorists.

Rhodes indicated that the beheading of American journalist James Foley was considered as “an attack on our country” that deserved a strong response.

Rhodes pointed out that President Obama had authorized military strikes for the sake of protecting Americans, and that the United States would continue to take out terrorists if they were perceived as a threat.