Oh, on that sense I agree. This is a foolish thing to put on video; it's exactly what your enemy wants to find and study. Especially when the Iraqi security forces are slowly but surely increasing in skill, this type of thing goes from being bold and audacious to being reckless and overconfident.
It is representative of another trend, if you notice. The insurgents by and large are retreating. The bombings and killings are becoming more rare. The open conflict is becoming a string of kidnappings, beheadings, and media events.
To state another way, the insurgents are moving into a phase where the cannot continue a full scale insurgency, but they can simulate on through the media.
In that regard, tapes like this are necessary, because they SCARE people. The insurgents are well on their way out, but they won't go quietly. Thanks to the internet and Al Jazeera, they'll cling to the front pages long after they've be reduced to a broken band of stray criminals.
It didn't say in the article whether Time turned the tape over to the CIA.
Knowing them they probably didn't. It's more important to them to stay on the terrorists' good side, so they can get the next tape.
Thoughtful and true, Wolf. And here's a prediction: Iraq's new government will declare martial law and go after the terrorists viciously and without compromise. Since the U.S. Army and Marines cannot be used as the instrument of foreign martial law, a withdrawal will take place much earlier than expected -- probably phased to some friendly Gulf state like Qatar or Bahrain, so as to be ready for conflict with Syria or Iran