Video 'shows US man beheaded'

BBC ^ | 11/5/04 | BBC

[AngloSaxon]

Video 'shows US man beheaded'

The victim said he was an American from Philadelphia An Islamic militant website has shown a video apparently showing the beheading of an American in Iraq. The video showed five men in headscarves and ski masks cutting off the man's head with a knife.

Moments earlier the victim, bound and dressed in an orange jumpsuit, said he was an American from Philadelphia.

The group, thought to be linked to al-Qaeda, said it was carrying out the killing in retaliation for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers.

We will pursue those who are responsible and bring them to justice

Scott McClellan White House spokesman The poor-quality tape - shown on the Muntada al-Ansar site - began with the victim sitting on the floor with five masked men behind him.

It was titled "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American".

The CIA is said to be checking to see whether Zarqawi - a senior al-Qaeda operative accused of masterminding multiple bomb attacks against US forces in Iraq - was actually in the video.

Washington vowed to find the killers.

"It shows the true nature of the enemies of freedom," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

"They have no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children. We will pursue those who are responsible and bring them to justice."

However, the victim's father said the US authorities were indirectly to blame for his death for failing to get him safely out of the country.

'Devilish scorn'

The victim identified himself as Nick Berg, a US civilian contractor. His body was found near a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday.

Details of Nick's death added to the pain of his grieving family

"My father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne," the man said on the video. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah. I live in... Philadelphia."

One of the masked men read out a statement, saying they had offered to exchange the man for inmates of Abu Ghraib prison but the coalition authorities refused.

"How can a free Muslim sleep well as he sees Islam slaughtered and its dignity bleeding, and the pictures of shame and the news of the devilish scorn of the people of Islam - men and women - in the prison of Abu Ghraib?" he said.

"You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins... slaughtered in this way."

The statement also threatened US President George W Bush, saying he would regret the day he stepped into Iraq.

It described Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as a "traitor agent".

Disappearance

After reading the statement, they pulled the man to the side and put a knife to his neck.

The man screamed as he was killed.

His killers shouted "Allah is great" before holding what appeared to be a head up to the camera.

The 26-year-old Mr Berg, who owned a communications equipment company, was involved in rebuilding antennas in Iraq before he disappeared on 9 April.

But he went missing prior to that, and was later found to have been arrested at an Iraqi checkpoint in Mosul and held in an Iraqi jail with Iraqi prisoners for 13 days, his father told American TV on Tuesday morning, before the video was released.

Michael Berg said the US authorities were indirectly responsible for his death, by failing to secure his release and thereby causing him to miss his flight home on 30 March.

"He would have missed the escalation if they had let him go," he said.

The Berg family declined further comment after receiving news of the video.

[Joe Brower]

Howdy, John,

All the links I've seen for the video are overloaded. Small wonder. Don't spread it around because I don't want my bandwidth allocation to run over, but here is a copy of the file I managed to download and put on my own website:

http://www.joebrower.com/PHILE_PILE/MOVIES/iraq2vediom.wmv

[Califelephant]

When the prisoners were mistreated its bad because they're Iraqis

But when this guy got his head cut off its not a big deal because he's American

That's exactly right -- Senate Democrats and the liberal media seem to be more concerned about protecting the dignity of enemy prisoners than they are about protecting the lives of American soldiers and American citizens.

[sailor4321]

Thanks.

[Cvengr]

Iraq is not Vietnam. If we pull out, it is merely a retreat from an enemy that will follow. The enemy began the conflict and will not cease until they are defeated. Our occupation of that terrain is merely a maneuver to recenter their direction of attack away from the US and keep it on foreign soil.

This war is not one that will evaporate if we simply leave. Berg wasn't fighting them anymore and Americans will be wise to observe what the cost of appeasement to Muslim fanatics implies. It is not an avoidable conflict.

[Rushgrrl]

isn't this typical for those savages to "use" an excuse like "revenge" for the prison pictures, in order to justify yet ANOTHER animalistic torture/murder of another American. But yet, this goes almost unnoticed and I'm SURE that we, as a country, will be blamed for THIS as well by the Damnocrats. Disgusting.

[sailor4321]

Thanks, Joe!

[rintense]

" We will pursue those who are responsible and bring them to justice" - Scott McClellan White House spokesman

Read the tagline

[MarthaNOStewart]

YOU MISUNDERSTAND...I said pull-out so we can bomb the heck out of them and win this war...I did not say forget about it.

[beavus]

They first made him identify himself. Then one of them pulled out a knife and began sawing away at his neck. He screamed through several strokes until his head snapped back. I suspect that is when they severed his trachea, but he was probably still fully aware of what was happening to him. They continued to saw away until his head came off completely. Then they held his head up, his eyes still open.

What did he do to deserve this? According to the terrorists he was guilty of mistreating Iraqi prisoners. Had he ever seen an Iraqi prisoner? Did he have anything to do with Iraqi prisoners? No, but that is the way these cretans think.

It's time to splatter these bugs en mass. Any good bugs better start cleaning their own house because clean-up will cut a wide swath, and the timid will be collateral damage.

"We must meet this threat with our courage, our valor, indeed with our very lives to ensure that human civilization, not insect, dominates this galaxy NOW AND ALWAYS!" -- Starship Troopers

[Havisham]

CBS is responsible. Hackworth is responsible. John McCain's periodic outrage is a bore. Mr. Bush's hesitation in war is resulting in mission failure. Sorry, Nick.

[Viking2002]

These animals and modern society will never mix. I heard a great one on the radio today:

1) Locate where these sub-simians beheaded this guy

2) Cordon it off. No one in, on one out.

3) Announce that in 24 hours, all residents will leave the town through heavily-armed checkpoints. Single-file, and with only the clothes on their backs.

4) If the savages responsible for the killing of that man aren't turned over to the United States military by the time the last person leaves the town limits, the town will be carpet-bombed until there aren't two pieces of straw left touching each other. The town will literally be dust.

5) No American, taxpayer-funded aid will be forthcoming. You will eat sand.

[MarthaNOStewart]

WE wouldn't want to bomb our soldiers or the civilians, so either we heavily infiltrate and go for it, or we take out our people and just level it.

[rodguy911]

If there was ever any doubt about who we are dealing with it should be cleared up by now. Is it true that the rats are still clamoring for the other video tapes to be released? The Demon rats will do anything for political gain and at any cost, what degenerates.

[alloysteel]

The rules of engagement with al-Qaeda are now defined.

As part of the armament, every squad will have along an 18" machete, honed to a razor edge. When it is ascertained that the captives rounded up are non-Iraqis acting as combatants, fetch them in for interrogation in pairs. Start the questioning with the one that shows the most attitude. When he reachs the point where either he refuses to answer, or is giving obviously faulty information, lop off his head. Turn to his companion, and ask, could you answer the question? When he gets through babbling and jabbering (this may take a while), release him from custody and tell him to take the story of what he has seen and done back to his commander.

Oh. Videotape the entire proceedings. Then send a copy of the tape over to al-Jazeera. They seem to like these visuals.

[what's up]

Didn't Daniel Pearl get his head cut off too?

Barbarians.

[rintense]

I posted it on another forum I'm on (a football one) and people have gone Tillman... they want to sign up.

[humblegunner]

I have seen the entire video and saved it.
These are animals we are fighting, an alien mind.

I need not to comment about it now, I am far too emotional at the moment.