Posted on 02/02/2005 8:55:40 PM PST by Former Military Chick
A militant group's claim that it had kidnapped a U.S. soldier in Iraq and planned to behead him was suspected of being a hoax Tuesday, after a California toy manufacturer said photos of the purported captive on an insurgent Web site appeared to show one of its collectible dolls.
A group calling itself the Mujahedeen Brigades posted a photograph that appeared to show a stern-faced U.S. soldier sitting at gunpoint before a black banner with Arabic script. The posting called the soldier "John Adam."
U.S. military authorities said aspects of the photograph raised doubts: The soldier's vest, for instance, resembled no such equipment issued by the Army, and the claim on the Web site about the kidnapping appeared to contain misspellings. Nevertheless, they asked for a full accounting of military personnel in Iraq.
"No units have reported anyone missing," said Staff Sgt. Nick Minecci of the military's press office in Baghdad.
In the grainy photograph, the figure appears dressed in desert camouflage and leans stiffly against a concrete wall with his hands behind him. He wears a bulky vest and green kneepads. The barrel of an American automatic rifle is pointed at his head, but no one is pictured holding the weapon.
An executive for Dragon Models USA Inc. said the soldier looked exactly like a foot-tall G.I. Joe-type doll the company manufactured for sale at U.S. bases in Kuwait.
"This looks like our doll," said Liam Cusack, a company spokesman. "We don't want to say 100 percent that it is our doll, but it does bear a striking resemblance. We're hoping that this is actually a hoax."
Cusack said the doll appeared to be the black version of its "Cody" action figure, one of several thousand sold to U.S. military bases in Kuwait three years ago. The dolls are frequently used in dioramas of war scenes.
If in fact the photo is a hoax, it would be the second such sham that has received widespread attention in the media.
In August, television stations around the world broadcast a video of a 22-year-old San Francisco man who faked his own beheading. The man, Benjamin Vanderford, said he had circulated the video to show how easy it was to fabricate execution videos.
They should have included the CBS forged documents as another recent hoax.
Goshamighty. Anybody with eyes can see that it's a freakin' doll.
Are Kerry's medals also made by Dragon Models USA, Inc.?
When I was a kid!!!! G.I. JOE came home on leave from Vietnam to play with his girlfried, Barbie!! He always beat the CRAP out of Ken the draft-dodger while on leave!!
I have inculcated this fact into my children's psyche!!
It's a damn head hanging shame that articles such as this even have to appear.
Instead of it being in the mainstream, shouldn't this be shopped around to the in-house rags of mental wards?
lol
Could you post a link to the original thread? I missed the whole thing and my mom tells me it is the funniest FR thread ever!
Thanks for the link. What a great thread!
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