Posted on 03/06/2002 2:29:23 PM PST by Cinnamon Girl
SHOULD THE U.S. SHOW THE VIDEO TAPE, MADE BY THE TERRORISTS, OF DANIEL PEARL'S MURDER?
IF THE PEARL FAMILY GIVES PERMISSION? IF IT IS SHOWN ON LATE NIGHT TELEVISION?
Connie Chung described the tape as follows:
KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Slain American journalist Daniel Pearl discussed his Jewish heritage and made propaganda statements, under apparent duress, on a roughly produced videotape that also contained violent footage of his death.
CNN Correspondent Connie Chung viewed a copy of the videotape Tuesday. The tape included a direct threat to target other Americans if the demands of Pearl's kidnappers aren't met.
The original videotape was sent to Pakistani authorities last week, who turned it over to U.S. officials. The copy, which lasted three minutes and 15 seconds, was more than 30 seconds shorter than the original videotape, but sources authenticated it as consistent with the original.
The tape began with the Wall Street Journal reporter saying, "My name is Daniel Pearl. I'm a Jewish-American. My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am a Jew." Then, looking at the camera, he recounted numerous family visits to Israel and noted that a street in a town in Israel was named after his great-grandfather, who was one of the founders of the town.
Pearl's kidnappers had accused him of being an agent for the CIA and for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government adamantly denied that he was a spy.
Following the discussion of Pearl's heritage, there was a clear edit in the tape. Pearl can be seen looking at the camera and struggling to make statements from memory.
"Not knowing anything about my situation, not being able to communicate with anybody, and only now do I think about some of the people in Guantanamo Bay. They must be in a similar situation, and I have come to realize that this is the sort of problem that Americans are going to have anywhere in the world now," he said.
Among the demands Pearl's kidnappers had made is that Pakistani nationals being held by the U.S. military at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba be released. The detainees are associated with the al Qaeda network and the deposed Taliban government of Afghanistan.
Pearl then looked off camera and makes this statement: "We can't be secure, we can't walk around free, as long as our government policies are continuing and we allow them to continue."
There is another clear edit in the tape, and Pearl then is shown saying, "We as Americans cannot continue to bear the consequences of our government's actions, such as the unconditional support of the state of Israel."
In the tape, Pearl does not appear to have been beaten. In some segments, his hair is mussed, while in others, it is slicked back.
The section of the videotape where Pearl is seen speaking lasts about 90 seconds. As he speaks, pictures of bodies and funerals and words, such as "Afghanistan," are superimposed on the screen.
According to Chung, that portion of the tape is then followed by a 50-second section containing graphic scenes of violence against Pearl.
"I will not describe [the violent scenes] out of respect to Daniel Pearl and his family," Chung said.
Other sources who have viewed the tape said the it shows Pearl being stabbed and decapitated, although it is unclear whether he was still alive at the time. His body has not been found.
After the violence sequence, a picture of Pearl appears on the tape with a title -- National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistan's Sovereignty -- superimposed on the screen. That group claimed responsibility for Pearl's kidnapping.
The group's demands then scroll from the bottom to the top of the screen, including demands that Pakistanis at Guantanamo be released, that the U.S. presence in Pakistan end and that F-16 fighters -- which Pakistan purchased from the United States but never received -- be delivered.
The tape ends with a threat that if these demands aren't met, what happened to Pearl could happen to other Americans in Pakistan.
1. PAKISTANI AUTHORITIES BELIEVE THE VIDEO TAPE WILL BE SOLD ON THE STREETS OF PAKISTAN (AND MAY ALREADY BE.)
2. OMAR SHEIKH'S LAWYERS ARE ALREADY CLAIMING THAT THE VIDEO IS A FAKE.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
..and that F-16 fighters -- which Pakistan purchased from the United States but never received -- be delivered.
Showing this tape will go a long way toward stopping these monsters for good. No decent person, no matter their religion or nationality, would willingly support people who do such things.
If there is any good to Daniel Pearls death, it may be that showing his sacrafice, even edited to remove the more graphic details, might help to stop more bloodshed.
Come on Connie, tell us. Just between you and me.
God help me if I ever suffer the indignity of being a 'media focus'for any reason.
The horror.
I agree; but I also think that it should be required viewing for:
(1) Utopian liberals protesting our "treatment" of terrorists at Camp Gitmo, and
(2) Lawyers who for publicity's sake are suing the US gov't over whatever they say they want (all they actually want is the associated exposure).
Maybe that would slow down the protests and frivolous suits.
..In other words, absolutely show it, the TRUTH will (and must) out.
This guy is a media weasel!!! Heworked for a decent enough publication but the same one that employs Al Hunt. It is news and MUST be shown. No one gave the media the right to disclose what it wishes and conceal what it wishes. I may not choose to watch the actual decapitation but, who knows? Again, if this was anyone but a presstitute, there would be no question and Larry King or some other media sc**bag would be sticking a mike in his widow's face and asking, "And, how does that make you feel?"
Americans need to stop being coddled IMHO. This is what the world is REALLY like. Horrors like this happen all the time and most Americans do not even know it. It is time to wake up and smell the decaying Flesh.
On the other hand, I would like very much to see a video of his kidnappers and executioners receiving appropriate punishment.
The problem was, no one saw tapes of Hitler's atrocities and hardly anyone knew there was such a thing as a concentration camp. To most people, the "holocaust" part of WW2 came as a surprise at the end of the bloody war that pitted Nazi soldiers against soldiers from other countries.
For exactly this reason, I think the tape should be shown. We do need to know what the Muslims are doing, especially when they're doing it to an American citizen. Also, what about those of us who travel? Shouldn't we be making informed decisions about touring Muslim countries? If American tourism falls off, those Muslim governments may well feel the financial pinch and rush to do round up terrorists in their midst.
I forced myself to look at that Chechan beheading, believing that I owe myself the whole truth. If the Pearl beheading tape is show, I suggest that they edit out all the anti-American propoganda and leave in only the "I am a Jew" part and the beheading itself.
They showed CRAZY stuff on TV...no nudity, but one scene at 5pm showed a lady getting shot in the head...they show the back of her head splatter as she is shot in the forehead.
And the numerous kung fu sword scenes. Since China's murder rate is so much higher than the US this PROVES violence on tv leads to violence in the street and that culture and penalties have nothing to do with crime. After all, you get executed for murder in China. In the US, you get 10 years or so.
Thats why there is so much murder in the US compared to China. And in Japan, where I saw arms and heads getting cut off on broadcast tv. (samari show)
Tipper Gore was right!
The tapes should be shown, as well as the tape of the Navy Seal being dragged off to his death. So many Americans are super-whimps ... we are at war! ... WE WILL NEVER FORGET!
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