I just found out about the latest Al-Qaeda beheading. I haven’t seen the video. Probably I never will.
I thought of Daniel Pearl. I wondered how and when the murdered man’s family learned of the manner of their son’s death. I wondered if he himself knew what was about to happen, as Fabrizio Quattrocchi did.
And such is the unalterably tactical nature of the human mind that mixed in with all that I thought:
Thanks for the reminder, Hellspawn. No thanks for the killing; we’ve had enough of that, but thanks for the reminder. In all this agonized talk about what we are, we were beginning to forget what you are. What you stand for.
What your pictures show.
Andrew Sullivan thought the same way, evidently:
And they [Al-Qaeda] are as stupid as they are evil. Iraqis now have contrasting images. Do they want to be run by people who cut innocent people’s throats at will or by people who have removed a dictator and are investigating unethical abuse of prison inmates? Zarqawi has now done something for our morale as well as his. He has reminded us of the real enemy; and he has reminded the Iraqis. One simple question: will CNN now show these video stills?
They are up on Drudge,horrific not for those of a gentle nature ,if there is enough pressure they might make the main media.
There is another infamous decapitation video of a Russian soldier in Chechya which is similar to this, and no doubt, Daniel Pearl’s. The violence is graphic, and the video stomach churning. Click at your own risk.
http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/lestweforget.html
Find the videos your discussing here.
Never forget who the enemy is.
This is going to put the news organizations in a bind. They have been showing the prison pictures for about a week now, 24/7. If they remain silent about the beheading, they will look just like the terrorist fifth column that so many people already believe them to be. If they publish them, the prison abuse scandal fades to insigficance, or worse. Some folk are already blaming Hersh for the beheading, as the terrorists themselves say this is their response to the prison abuse scandal.
They are so screwed. If they don’t show them, they reveal themselves as in league with the bad guys. If they do show them, they hurt themselves, and/or the Democrats.
Stupid move, for sure.
I watched the Berg video last night. The video quality is so badly mpeg’ed that the images are not as horrific as I feared. It is, however, a shock to realize “beheading” in these cases isn’t a swift stroke with a big sword. Imagine trying to saw through a joint of ham with a kitchen knife. While it screams.
The nastiest part to me, though, was the creepy ritualized way they were chanting “Allahu akbar” over and over while they worked. Like the chanting they do in the madrasas. It really sounds more like autistic self-stimulation than religious observance.
This was beyond stupid. The ‘street response’ seems to be “Kill ’em all, let Allah sort ’em out”
NOT, I think, what was intended. 9-11 didn’t cow us, it pretty much pissed us off. This has refreshed that fury. File it under “be careful what you ask for”…
S. Weasel
As an autistic male, I find it downright offensive as to compare those barbarians’ cult-ritual chanting with autistic stimming. There is simply no comparison. While I know what you’re trying to say, it’s still really, really offensive.
The autistic community barely survived last month, “Autism Awareness Month”. We’re still being actively discriminated against.
For the last month, a woman named Michelle Dawson has been actively slandered by the Cure Autism Now! jihad. You might want to read over the whole incident; maybe you won’t make ridiculous comparisons if you had a pinch of understanding.
No, I’m not suggesting to pass a new Autistic Civil Rights Act of 2004–no one has the right to force another to associate. All I’m suggesting is that you shouldn’t use such slurs. Why? Because they’re just plain mean.
Remember, Albert Einstein was autistic. Isaac Newton was autistic. Andy Warhol was most likely autistic. Bill Gates is autistic. Many, if not most, of the scholars and thinkers that made science what it is today were autistic. We just ask that we not be slandered for our behavioural oddities. That’s all.
Oh…well, back on topic.
Yeah, I agree the assertion that this will nullify the prison abuse scandal. Over here on American TV, the video stills are on every network. It was so disturbing we had to turn the TV off.
While the nationalistic “neo-conservatives” (right-wing Trotskyites) leave a bad taste in my mouth, the media definitely has an anti-war bias. Trust me, I protested against the war in March 2003 in front of my high school, and ended up on the evening news. I felt unclean for months and ended up as a dittohead.
While I’m sorry you have a cross to bear, Dylan, I will be astonished if it turns out that the ritualized chanting and gestures encouraged by some religions and the self-stimulating behavior of some people with organic brain conditions are not related in the most fundamental way. Perhaps they function as a mechanical means of quieting or overriding certain cognitive processes. Which can be a good thing, or a bad thing – depending on what trains of thought you’re trying not to have.
I’m offended by many things that are true. It isn’t pleasant.
Baghdad Broadcasting Caliphate online has already buried the Nick Berg video while putting the same Iraqi abuse picture back up on the front page where it’s been for days.
They’re so transparent, the don’t even try to hid their sickening bias anymore.
In terms of managing the news cycle, the Jihadi boys clearly have a lot to learn. Even before the Berg murder, I was talking to a Canadian friend of mine (one of admittedly rather robust opinions). We were talking about the Abu Graibh revelations, and his words were, and I quote: “You know what? F*** ’em.” His standpoint was that you don’t get held in Abu Graibh unless there is a more than reasonable suspicion that you’re a scumbag. My slightly more nuanced position was that he had a point but that the humiliation and abuse was beyond the pale, and the negative PR fallout was large (although nowhere near the apocalyptic levels that some of the more hyperbolic comments have claimed). With this act, Al Qaeda has guaranteed that most people will simply tune out further news of abuse in Abu Graibh. It’s got to the point where even Hezbollah is condemning it (although they too seem to be mainly concerned with the news management aspect). I guess it’s heartening to know that no matter how many dumb things our side does, our enemies seem to be able to trump them.
Baghdad Broadcasting Caliphate online has already buried the Nick Berg video while putting the same Iraqi abuse picture back up on the front page where it’s been for days.
I noticed this too, Susan. Actually, wirey guy is beginning to look like a little icon lamp stand.
S. Weasel says:
It really sounds more like autistic self-stimulation than religious observance.
To me it sounds like whacking-off to a snuff movie, or encouragement to do so. I can’t wait until that pathological culture joins the late, unlamented Soviet Union in the dust bin of history.
It is ironic that Hillary Clinton criticises the training of the Abu Ghraib guards.
Janis Karpinski’s pollitically correct views on discipline (her troops did not salute, etc) are very much those encouraged by Clinton and the feminists (who have incidentally said nearly nothing about the Abu Ghraib abuse, because it involves female perpetrators).
The feminists, it seems, have gone into hiding again!
I recall the awful footage of Lori Piestewa’s head being pulled about like a ragdoll (she apparently died of head injuries)…I recall Weyland Piestewa hinting that there may be more videos.
Indeed, what happened to Jessica Lynch and her colleagues in those dark 3 Hours seems to be of no concern to the media, the Red Cross, Amnesty, or Human Rights Watch. The media backed away from Jessica as soon as she dropped the rape bombshell.
If Amnesty and co were truly impartial, they would be equally strong in their condemnation of abuse of Americans, but they are not. It’s that hypocrisy which fuels American suspicion of such organisations.
Zevilyn:
The rape claim is contentious. Jessica herself has no memory of it, and the doctors at Nasiriyah hospital who treated and operated on her said that there were no signs of sexual assault on her and that her clothing was still intact when she arrived at the hospital. Do you know of some new evidence?
Anyway, that’s somewhat off-topic. According to this news item, that five-sided building in Washington DC called the Pentagon missed several chances to take out Zarqawi:
The problem now is to swiftly bring these “people” to justice before further atrocities occur.
Zevilyn:
The rape claim is contentious. Jessica herself has no memory of it, and the doctors at Nasiriyah hospital who treated and operated on her said that there were no signs of sexual assault on her and that her clothing was still intact when she arrived at the hospital. Do you know of some new evidence?
Anyway, that’s somewhat off-topic. According to this news item, that five-sided building in Washington DC called the Pentagon missed several chances to take out Zarqawi.
The problem now is to swiftly bring these “people” to justice before further atrocities occur.
It may not be stupid on AQ’s part. What they are distracting attention from is the US self-criticism, showing how different it is in some ways from Arab regimes. Remember these guys want an apocalypse in which every Muslim is a target and everyone has to choose sides. A “Kill ’em all!” from the American street is perfect for them.
Were I involved in allied information warfare, I’d be looking for appropriate ways to (1) calm down the US street, and (2) suggest to the Arab street that the AQ video shows human sacrifice by a heretical cult.
Guy gets it right if you ask me. In a guerrilla war, you want your enemy to be indiscriminate.
AlQ are possibly hoping to enrage US folk so that attacks within Iraq have manymore civilian casualties, consequently recruiting more Iraqis to the cause of ousting the occupiers.
Seems to be a calculated move.
Yeah, they’re evil geniuses.
Pff!
I agree with Guy; it’s a calculated attempt to sucker the US into commiting wholesale mayhem.
Difficult to do, because 1) executing POWs is sanctioned by Islamic law, and 2) Muhammad, who sets the example for all Muslims, made a regular practice of doing it.
Verity: check out some of the comments they posted over at the (Don’t) Have Your Say thread on the Nick Berg slaying:
Yes, folks HE WENT OVER TO IRAQ to make MONEY — the worst possible crime in the eyes of a socialist! He obviously had it coming! And again:
Yes, let’s blame the victim for his own brutal murder and not the murderers. Just sickening.
“Daddy, the Iraqi man broke my arm.” Not the sort of thing you say if all your injuries came from a car crash.
Nor is it common practice to be isolated from other soldiers at Walter Reed. The ridiculous amount of secrecy that surrounded Jessica and her injuries is more about protecting feminists than the nonsense about “privacy” and other nonsense excuses.
Why have armed guards around a car crash victim?
2 Baath Party Official’s confessed to it:
http://www.ktvu.com/news/3298166/detail.html
An essay:
http://www.newtotalitarians.com/JessicaLynchAmericasHappyPlace.html
Greg Lynch Snr reckons the Army are covering up (and guess what, he was gagged by the Pentagon just before the bogus “Army Report” was released), and that they know what actually happened, but won’t say.
(I add that JL’s Sharpshooter badge somewhat demolishes their argument about eyesight).
And here, Elaine Donnelly on the Army’s blatant cover-up:
http://cmrlink.org/WomenInCombat.asp?docID=221
The “Army Report” didn’t mention what JL saw from her Humvee…why?
Why won’t the Army tell the public and families about how JL’s colleagues died, and what their injuries were?
Why is the media protecting the Washington Post? (and why won’t they name the “unnamed Official” who lied to them). I bet Jessica would LOVE to know who that cretin was.
Kerry is already trying to bail the feminists out of Abu Ghraib, shifting blame away from England and co.
Janis Karpinski has got off lightly because she’s a woman.
BTW JL was wearing nothing except an Army T-Shirt when she arrived at Nasyriah hospital.
That’s what the Iraqi doctors told the London Times, the The Daily Telegraph, and other media last April…the story suddenly changed last November, funnily enough…then there’s the Ambulance driver who told an Iraqi newspaper that she was beaten up, and the Iraqi doc who initially said she was beaten up, then quickly changed his story.
No one in the media has read the book, or bothered to check the facts, or cross-reference.
BBC says troops left 2 days before rescue, Lynch says hours = BBC lied.
We should see the footage of Berg’s beheading, to not show all the footage is to treat the public like babies. The media’s patronising view that we the little people cannot handle it is offensive (well, it might anger us in the “wrong way”.)
I find incredible any claim that Jessica Lynch was not raped while in the hands of a gang of heavily armed, violently misogynistic, undisciplined thugs. I mean, come on, what are the odds?
Zevilyn:
The title of this link is “Mexican Air Force Releases Photos Of Alleged UFOs”. It seems to be that you have a penchant for conspiracy theories. What are you trying to tell me: that JL was abducted by aliens?
R C Dean:
Your disbelief about whether something could or could not have happened doesn’t make an argument. If you want to claim she was raped, show me the evidence! And where did you get the information about “heavily armed, violently misogynistic, undisciplined” thugs? I make no claim about whether she was raped or not. I just don’t see any evidence that she was.
Speaking of conspiracy theories, here is something to chew on:
Zevilyn wrote – “If Amnesty and co were truly impartial, they would be equally strong in their condemnation of abuse of Americans, but they are not. It’s that hypocrisy which fuels American suspicion of such organisations.”
Your claim demonstrates ignorance about what Amnesty was set up to do. Amnesty’s lack of comment is not a reflection of any bias or double standards, it is simply because their mission is to focus on government torture and violence, rather than non-government crimes committed by individuals.
You are expecting them to be an impartial press organisation, reporting violent crimes even handedly – but that is not their job, nor have they ever claimed to do this.
it is simply because their mission is to focus on government torture and violence, rather than non-government crimes committed by individuals.
Bzzzt! Sorry. But thanks for playing:
—Statute of Amnesty International
Both Iraqi resistance and al Qaeda fall more comfortably under “armed political groups” than “individuals”, don’t you think?
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, the Berg killing surely goes to show (yet again – if we did not already know it) that it was surely a disastrous mistake ever to get involved in the psychopath infested swamp that is the Middle East, and that the best thing we can do is to get the hell out of there.
Cydonia
Don’t really understand the point of the post.
What do you think the Alabama trailer trash that kick prison inmates to death stand for? Not Liberty, Truth and Freedom, surely?
So they are rogue elements, presumably. So if the US can have rogue elements, then presumably so can “they”. So then who is the “you” in “what you stand for” and “what your pictures show”?
And therefore: in what way is what you are reminded of about “them” in any sense morally superior to what “they” are are reminded of about you when they view the holiday snap shots from hell?
Rich,
I am equally mystified by the point of your comment.
I can deal with the factual question easily enough: “you” as I used in the last sentence of my post means Al-Qaeda and related Islamofascists.
Then comes the incomprehensible bit. You seem to be saying that the people who killed Nick Berg are a rogue element, as the US soldiers who abused Iraqi prisoners are a rogue element. A rogue element as opposed to what? To the non-rogue majority of Al-Qaeda, who want strive to get along peacably with those of different religion, politics or sexual orientation? No doubt we will be hearing an official Al-Qaeda spokesperson expressing his regrets for the breach of Mr Berg’s human rights any day now.
Natalie
Al-Qaeda is to the legitimate expression of Arab rejection of US hegemony what the US soldiers torturing their detainees are to a properly controlled military force. The whole of Al-Qaeda is the rogue to which I refer. However, it is possible to offer resistance to US military force and not be Al-Qaeda, just as it is possible (I presume) to be in the US military and not tie detainees up and beat them to death with a rifle butt.
It is important to retain this distinction because, inevitably, the boundaries are becoming blurred. While you profess to be speaking of Al-Qaeda, it is possible (and in your subsequent comment citing Islamofascists you appear to confirm) that you mean anyone who is Islamic and meets US use of force with force. And, of course, demonising and dehumanising a new enemy (in this case, anyone who resists the US) by combining it with a pre-existing one (Al-Qaeda) has been a useful tactic in many a conflict. The people in this video do not necessarily represent all people who reject the US invasion in Iraq and the act depicted here does not deligitimise all resistance to it.
So I suspect that what you actually experienced was not a loss of memory of what “they” are and and a need for a reminder, but a realisation of what the US is and a need for the coping mechanism of a bogeyman.
you have it highlited that it has pictures of porcupines but it doesn’t.