According to Reuters, the Abu

According to Reuters, the Abu Ghraib backlash has begun.

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Islamist web site showed a videotape
Tuesday of an al Qaeda-linked group beheading an American and vowing
more executions as revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The poor
quality tape showed a man sitting on the floor with five masked men
behind him. After one of the masked men read out a statement, they
pushed the bound man to the floor, cutting off his head and holding it
aloft. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of
the tape carried on Muntada al-Ansar Islamist Web site. On the tape,
the man identified himself as Nick Berg before the execution. "My name
is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael...I have a brother and
sister, David and Sarah," said the man, who was shown bound and seated
in a chair in the poor quality tape carried on Muntada al-Ansar
Islamist Web site.

My gut says this is legit.

UPDATE: 05/01/2004 It is.

The 26-year-old Berg was a self-employed civilian
contractor from suburban Philadelphia. He was found dead near a highway
overpass in Baghdad. Berg's mother says he'd been in Iraq doing
contract work to repair the country's infrastructure. She says he'd
been missing since April 9th. The military says there were signs of
trauma to the body.

The media had better start decrying this one right fucking now. They've
been focusing solely on relatively benign prisoner abuse for hours on
end for over a week now. They have made this into the firestorm that it
has become. They had better spend some time putting it out. I know. I
won't be holding my breath, either. UPDATE II:

"For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell
you that we offered the U.S. administration to exchange this hostage
for some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused," says a
hooded man standing behind the American.
"So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu
Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will
not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins, slaughtered in
this way."

Let me repeat that just in case you skimmed over the details: "...the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls."

Posted by: Kathy at 01:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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