Posted on 02/01/2005 11:22:09 AM PST by Peach
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken an American soldier hostage and threatened to behead him in 72 hours unless the Americans release Iraqi prisoners.
The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried militants' statements, included a photo of what appeared to be an American soldier in desert fatigues seated with his hands tied behind his back.
A gun barrel was pointed at his head, and he is seated in front of a black banner emblazoned with the Islamic profession of faith, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet."
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Marine Sgt. Salju K. Thomas, said he had no information on the claim but "we are currently looking into it."
A statement posted with the picture suggested the group was holding other soldiers.
"Our mujahadeen heroes of Iraq's Jihadi Battalion were able to capture American military man John Adam after killing a number of his comrades and capturing the rest," said the statement, signed by the "Mujahedeen Brigades."
"God willing, we will behead him if our female and male prisoners are not released from U.S. prisons within the maximum period of 72 hours from the time this statement has been released," the statement said.
The claim, carried on the Web site ansarnet.ws, could not be verified.
More than 180 foreigners have been kidnapped in the past year. At least 10 of them, including three American civilians, remain in the hands of their kidnappers.
The only American soldier known to have been taken hostage is Pfc. Keith M. Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, who was shown in a video in April being held by militants. Another video aired in June showed what purported to be Maupin's slaying, but the picture was too unclear to confirm it was him and the military still lists him as missing.
Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun went missing in Iraq in June and later photos surfaced on Arab television showing him blindfolded with a sword to his head. In July he made his way to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Back in the United States, he said he had been captured, but in December he was charged with desertion for the incident.
Bump for a good laugh at AP - Stupid bastards/
Yep. Had it been Photoshopped, one look at the image file in an ASCII editor would have revealed the name of the image editor, and what version that image editor was.
Ping to my post #894
You might want to e-mail Andrew Cochran and tell him your findings because he is going out telling people the photo has been photoshopped where you just proved it hasn't been altered since it was taken.
I love R. Lee Emery!
On it's way, I included the screengrab of the image properties dialog box.
Added that link to my e-mail
Verrry smart of you to look at that. Good catch. The MSM wouldn't know how to do research anymore; they've relied on the DNC talking points for too long.
Big Sky Guy, you are a sage. Bam. Dead to rights. My HERO! Come here for a BIG hug. No no no...don't run away! OK. That's it. You run from me? A noogie for you. ;-)
LOL! I admit I was bored. LOL :)
Well, DUH. A magazine clip might have bullets. And we wouldn't want to endanger the hostage.. Someone might get hurt.
My AUWT-law!!!
Maybe Dan Rather might call me....Nah.... probably not. LOL :)
Any theories as to the origin of the picture then?
And is it possible the listed date may be wrong because the date was set incorrectly on the camera itself?
Hug or noogie. Your choice. One or the other. :-)
It's quite possible the date and time on the camera are incorrect. Whoever owns the camera probably didn't realize that information got stamped transparently into the data of the image itself. I have no clue when the camera was made, all I know is, by Googling the info, the manufacturer is in Russia, and that the camera is a 3.1 MP camera.
Amazing.
I'm greedy, I'd take both. LOL ;P
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