UPDATE: A lot of visitors are coming here for information on the latest beheadings in Iraq (September 2004). You can find those videos and photos here.
Another decapitation. Photos here. The media shouldn’t “protect” us from the photos and videos, as they are doing. We need to all see for ourselves what the murderers are capable of. The media showed us Abu Ghraib and there’s no reason to shield us from images of terrorist butchery.
The terrorists are certainly living up to their carefully cultivated reputation. So what do we do? Has anything been accomplished as a result of our war on terror? Are we any safer? I really don’t know, but it seemed we were making some progress while we were focused on Afghanistan, and then everything seemed to deteriorate with Iraq and Abu Ghraib. It’s too soon to make sense out of this puzzle, but I see absolutely no reason for any optimism.
Update: I just heard Cheney and then Bush speak briefly about the murder, with the usual, “We will track each and every one of the killers down. This will not stand….” But isn’t that just what we heard about Bin Laden and al Qaeda after 911 — and don’t they seem, in an odd way, to have been made even more dangerous in their diaspora? And hasn’t it been two and a half years? With new mini-bin Ladens being created daily by the militant Islam hatred mill, are we caught forever in a black hole, with no way out, ever?
Sorry for all the questions, but my febrile brain is on overdrive.
I heard someone on the news last night put forward what seemed like the most ridiculous and impossible notion: We must, he said, meet with the terrorists and negotiate in some way.
Treason! Impossible! They butchered 3,000 Americans and beheaded Nick Berg and America never negotiates with terrorists!
He acknowledged this, but said it still has to be done, and that is the only way nightmares like this are ever resolved. He pointed to Israel finally talking with Yasser Arafat — a disaster in the end but an important step nevertheless. Under Reagan, of course, we negotiated secretly with Iranian terrorists to free American hostages. This fellow said there’s simply no other way, and that the odds are right now behind the scenes someone in the US government is communicating with someone either in al Qaeda or with connections to them.
I am as sickened as anyone else at the thought of ever, ever talking with al Qaeda. And judging from the way they talk about the US, it’d be hard to believe they’re that hot to talk with us. And besides, could we ever trust a thing they say? Don’t they make Kim Jong Il and Mao look like little darlings?
But all that said, is there any other practical way to really “win”? Is this the kind of war where we can simply shoot our way to victory, considering that the enemy has fanned out across the globe — and considering that we are bogged down in a stupid and failed effort in the one country al Qaeda isn’t. (And yeah, I know about al Zarkawi, America’s new bogey man and source of all evil, a Jordanian with no proven ties to either bin Laden or Saddam.)
Well, I seem to have veered off topic a bit, but it was healthy to get all those thoughts down on “paper.” Now, let’s get on with our splendid war on terror. Onward, Christian soldiers.
1
By vaara
What do we do?
BOMB YEMEN!!
/ bush_logic
June 18, 2004 @ 3:44 pm | Comment
2
By richard
Sounds good to me….
June 18, 2004 @ 8:45 pm | Comment
3
By Michael
Bah, if you had any guts, you would BOMB OMAN!
June 18, 2004 @ 10:51 pm | Comment
4
By verns blog
RE: Paul Johnson beheaded; photos released
June 19, 2004 @ 2:54 am | Comment
5
By Vern Gill
I disagree completely with your statement about the media, or at least about is seeing what “they” are capable of. The mere fact that it will be seen will be considered a success by the murderers. They are not interested in negotiating anything. They want to instill fear in the “Western” mind. The more the video is seen, the more they have accomplished their goal. I watched the Berg video because I too had to “see what they are capable of”… If I could take any one thing back in my life, it would be watching that video. The depravity, the brutality, the sadistic glee is beyond comprehension. It should not be seen. If it were not seen, if aljazeera or fox refused to show it, if cnn and cbs issued statements that they would not provide airtime, it would take some of the punch out of the practice. I don’t necessarily believe it would stop outright, but it would almost certainly slow down…
June 19, 2004 @ 2:55 am | Comment
6
By Simon
I reacon the terrorists are going to keep killing hostages in this brutal way (beheading) and make it public. Only until the terrorists have hostage someone who is famous – only then will the governments take the killing and demands seriously… …I only pray God is with the hostages who are in real danger, they will be recognised for their courage. God be with them always.
June 19, 2004 @ 7:41 am | Comment
7
By richard
Vern, by seeing the video you were filled with revulsion, it was the worst thing you have ever seen. So you now know, in a way you never before could, just how vile these monsters are. So it was not a victory for them. You are now against them more than ever. It was a very good thing that you watched it — being made sick by it was exactly why. That’s my whole point.
June 19, 2004 @ 8:21 am | Comment
8
By Anonymous
if we were not in Iraq then these terrorists thugs (which exist in every country where islam is prevelent) would be training and building stockpiles of weapons to attack us with, they intiated the attacks on the embassies, the cole, and 9/11…….why dont you guys get it, we need to fight all of these idiots on there own turf All over the middle east.
June 19, 2004 @ 1:26 pm | Comment
9
By richard
Here’s the thing, darling: These terrorists were concentrated in Afghanistan. Many were Saudis. There was, we believe, one Al-Qaeda-related fellow named Zarkawi off in Kurdish Iraq, uninvited and unprotected by Saddam. So what the fuck are we doing in Iraq if our purpose is stoppinbg terrorism? Common sense, which is always in short supply in this White House, says you focus on Afghanistan and then Saudi Arabia. Now we’re so bogged down in Iraq we are losing Afghanistan and incapable of doing much anywhere else. We are fucked. Iraq was in no way a terrorist state — until we decided to visit. It was evil under Saddam, cruel, tyrranical. But their track record in terrorism absolutely pales nex to Syria and Saudi Arabia and Iran. So get your story straight, and try to understand how Iraq is ruining our war on terror, not helping.
June 19, 2004 @ 1:43 pm | Comment
10
By Eddie
I agree, we have no business in fucking IRAQ. That’s what we get for having/electing (or did we) a Bush into office. When there’s Bush, theres war. Makes Clinton seem a model citizen in comparison. Kerry may look wiffle waffle but isnt dumb enough to pull the shit Bush has been for almost 3 years. All 9-11 did was give Bush a reason to do this, he never has one. Al Queda fucked us up, not Iraq, hes right… we made Iraq worse than it seemed and in the process, have made it worse everyone, for the wrong reasons. Weve done shit over there. Death after death, its ridiculous. Its a travesty, not a war.
June 19, 2004 @ 3:37 pm | Comment
11
By richard
Eddie, I think you said it pretty nicely. Iraq may have benefitted from our help — at least they aren’t under Saddam — but the timing was off and the mission was porrly planned. First things first, and the very first thing was al Qaeda. Iraq could have waited at least another year or two, if not forever, since Saddam was an old dictator in the decline of his power.
June 19, 2004 @ 4:02 pm | Comment
12
By RWK
Kill those fuckers……..Fuk em…
June 19, 2004 @ 5:06 pm | Comment
13
By William Barnhart
I’m so sick of these rag head motherfuckers,that I’m ready to take the LAW IN MY OWN HANDS and grab one of these bed sheet wearing assholes in a public place and cut their fucking head off.An eye for an eye.The next one I see in the Hagerstown Maryland area , I just might have to show these asholes that this AMERICAN is tried of there SHIT.My GOD be with all AMERICANS. GOD BLESS THE USA
June 19, 2004 @ 10:14 pm | Comment
14
By richard
William, that is a diseased and dangerous mindset and you’d better get some commonsense. This idea that we can win revenge by attacking any Muslim — well, it’s plain sick and stupid. That’s blatant racism, the kind that can justify murdering little girls in a southern church or dragging a helpless innoncent man from a pickup truck. Please focus your rage where it belongs, at the al Qaeda members.
Also, for some perspective, think of how the Iraqi people felt when they saw the Abu Ghraib pictures. Is it justified for them to just start blasting at Americans, using the same logic as yours, an eye for an eye, even if it means the murder of innocents?
June 19, 2004 @ 10:19 pm | Comment
15
By Tray Allen
The beadings are “The Base’s” low tech version of shock and awe. It’s time for us to resume our brand of the same by eliminating the stockpiles of WMDs burried in Syria, seek and destroy Iran’s atomic weapons program, more aggressive special ops forces along Afgani/Paki border. Let the chips fall where they may but when you have cockroaches you need an exterminator.
June 20, 2004 @ 6:32 am | Comment
16
By Carl
They want to keep us hostage using the price of oil? Lets return the favor with imports of food! What can they grow in sand? TIME to show them we will not be bullied!
June 20, 2004 @ 6:36 am | Comment
17
By Lew from the Bronx
Right on Mr. Tray. You got it right man. We need to kick ass. You know the other day we has a bunch of musis come into our neighborhood near the grand concourse and well it’s amazing what 10-guys can do with bats. We shocked and we awed, baby
June 20, 2004 @ 6:38 am | Comment
18
By Medina
We needed to get Saddam out of there because he broke the U.N. resolutions dozens of times…we should have gone after him after the first time he broke one….horn-dog Clinton was too busy with Monica that he put her aHEAD of Osama….He had Osama if he wanted him and Clinton blew it….sorry for the pun…
Listen, under the Iraq invasion less than 1000 soldiers have died…I’m so sorry for that…but this is far less than 1 year of WW1, WW2, Vietnam and Korea…after the first year in each of those wars we lost sooooo many more lives… A nation is FREE of Saddam…
We did the right thing…The media has not done even ONE story on the GREAT things going on in IraQ. I have heard that solgiers are pissed off about that too…they have worked so hard over their doing good things and the media and press only reports the bad things…
come on people, you know how that works….don’t fall for it…
June 20, 2004 @ 9:50 am | Comment
19
By richard
You don’t remember the original George Bush being right there — when Saddam was far more brutal and ferocious — and turning tail? And all you can say is that Clinton was the one who blew it? Very silly.
Yes, the world is better off without Saddam. It could have waited, however, until the far, far more dangerous enemy had been dealt with. Instead, the “war on terror” has deteriorated and will almost certainly fail.
June 20, 2004 @ 10:34 am | Comment
20
By Palladiansearch
With lives in the balance, it is too late to question the response of our leaders to the terrorists.
June 20, 2004 @ 11:06 am | Comment
21
By Anonymous
June 20, 2004 @ 11:10 am | Comment
22
By richard
We MUST question them — it is the time to decide whether we need to change our leadership, and we need to see what our current leaders have done. The answer is, of course, that they’ve done more harm than good and it’s time for a change. Thank God we’ve got that issue resolved. Now register to vote.
June 20, 2004 @ 11:12 am | Comment
23
By David
Let’s be honest. Islam and Democracy are headed for a collision course. It doesn’t matter what country these people live in the common tie is Islam. They don’t want women to be equal, they don’t want alcohol, they don’t want rock n’ roll, they don’t want HBO or ESPN, they want life to be ruled and governed by their religion. A religion that says how to live, what to eat, who to marry, when to pray, etc. They view democracy as a sin, freedom as a sin, America as a land of sin.
At some point everyone will have to choose a side. These people cannot be bargained with, cannot be apeased, and cannot be over looked or under estimated. We all pay a large portion of our checks to the government to protect us. To build bombs, stealth bombers, cruise missiles, nuclear subs, etc. Speaking as a Marine who fought in the Gulf War and Somalia on the ground…..let’s get some of this technology off the shelf and start erasing these idiots off the map. Why keep fooling around with them on the streets when we can kill them remotely. And what happens when they detonate a nuke in NYC? Who will we attack then? Will we send troops into Iran?
I love rock n’ roll, beer, and women without hoods on their heads and their bodies all covered up so let’s do what has to be done so we can all stop watching our fellow Americans having the heads cut off. Beating people in the streets, burning their bodies, and hanging them from a bridge? Sorry people you just ate a MOAB (mother of all bombs). If someone in my family ever has their head cut off I’ll be the first one on a plane to the middle east to kill as many of them as possible, and I’ll be sure to send back the video’s of it.
Semper Fi
June 20, 2004 @ 12:43 pm | Comment
24
By richard
Interesting. What do you think of our investing hundreds of billions of dollars into an effort to liberate these monsters?
This solution you raise comes with a huge can of worms. America could never again pretend to be a non-imperialist nation. We would be holding an entire race responsible for the crimes of a relative few, and we would become a practitioner of racial genocide.
A more partical solution is obvious, though not easy. (And it may be too late, considering how invested we are in Iraq in terms of blood and $$.) Put the money we’re spending on war in the Middle East into researching alternative sources of energy. Once we escape the yoke of oil, the region is no longer an area of “strategic interest.” Then let them slaughter themselves all they want. We’ll help protect Israel if necessary, but they do a good job of protecting themselves as it is (which isn’t to say I always admire Israel’s tactics; I think they go way overboard at times, but when you look at their situation it is at least understandable if not always justifiable).
But of course, Halliburton and Bechtel and the other contract-loving firms that bought Bush the White House won’t like this idea, so don’t expect any shift from the status quo.
June 20, 2004 @ 1:22 pm | Comment
25
By Medina
in regards to Richard’s response to my post..I don’t think Clinton is the only one who blew it…however, he DID blow it…AND he was our last president in power before this current administration..if you want to bring up Bush 1 then let’s bring up Reagan, Carter and so on…
i would rather move on from here, however, when talking about this current administration, one has to remember that at time…now and then, Clinton will have to be mentioned because some of his residue is left over on to this current administration….a little bit from the 70’s and 80’s too…but Bush 2’s administration will no doubt need to be mentioned when talking about some of Kerry’s decisions….IF Kerry is in power within the year…that’s simply the way it works…
June 22, 2004 @ 7:13 am | Comment
26
By Medina
question to all of you? what do you think about us drilling in our own country for oil? i know it’s been a hot debate at times…but I would love to hear you guys talk about it and the solutions or slaps that could come from it.
thanks
June 22, 2004 @ 7:15 am | Comment
27
By richard
I have no problem drilling for oil in America if it’s carefully regulated and watched. If I can be convinced it could really free us from the yoke of Mideast oil I’d be even more for it. But if we’re going to destroy the Alaskan wilderness for a short-term fix — it’s something we need to consider very carefully.
June 22, 2004 @ 8:46 am | Comment
28
By another whiner
sick of the war sick of the crap…. can’t we all just get along and go to work and be productive members of society – enough of this whining about bush. it’s everybody’s fault including that so-called soldier john-retarded ass-kerry. thank god for your neck and pull yourselves together and jog another 5k for cancer survivors and build your kid a sandbox so he or she can take a dump in it… marry an arab if you want discounted gas for your car. it’s only gonna get worse, so put on REM’s document cd and sing along to “it’s the end of the world as we know it” and you’ll feel fine.
June 22, 2004 @ 4:07 pm | Comment
29
By richard
Whiner, I do think Bush has to take special responsibility for Iraq and what it has meant for the “war on terror.” This was something he wanted to do from day one, as Bob Woodward, Paul O’Neill, Richard Clark, Kevin Phillips and everyone else in the know has written. Do you not believe he should be accountable for that which he wrought?
June 22, 2004 @ 4:40 pm | Comment
30
By corrado
About just change our method of fighting this assholes and get down and dirty just like them. We catch one we execute right there, on site and hang them for all to see. No more be nice guys, worried about civil rights, what civil rights have them given to the civilians????
June 22, 2004 @ 8:12 pm | Comment
31
By richard
Sorry Corrado, but that doesn’t work with people who are not afraid of death, who see death as a promise of eternal bliss and awaiting virgins. These guys are mean, like dogs. I don’t know what the answer is, and I’m not feeling very optimistic that there is an answer, except containment. Terrorism is everywhere: just look at what they did in Russia yesterday, murdering more than 50 people! And there’s Indeonesia, and Sri Lanka and Tel Aviv and Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan and…..well, it’s not an easy war to win.
June 22, 2004 @ 8:17 pm | Comment
32
By Anonymous
check out the accusations on this site – it really makes you think…..
http://www.prisonplanet.tv/articles/may2004/051104beheadsuscivilian.htm
June 22, 2004 @ 8:53 pm | Comment
33
By another whiner
richard, you’re exactly right – people should and will be accountable for their actions. this administration is doing that overseas at a HUGE price -i realize there are no winners in war, but i seriously doubt kerry would do anything about it. the UN is just as sissy — all pomp and no teeth. the violence has gone on for tooo long now. someone’s gotta fight so the innocent can have a life.
have you seen thenausea.com? the atrocities on that site by all in the world should be enough to demand justice at whatever cost. UN talks have been unproductive in part because its member nations don’t value human life.
June 23, 2004 @ 7:05 am | Comment
34
By richard
Thanks Whiner, good link.
I’m closing comments now — this post’s been bombarded by some pro-Bush character assassins and I don’t want to deal with them. Thanks to all for contributing.
June 24, 2004 @ 2:59 pm | Comment
35
By verns blog
RE: Paul Johnson beheaded
August 3, 2004 @ 6:16 pm | Comment
36
By verns blog
RE: Paul Johnson beheaded
August 3, 2004 @ 6:17 pm | Comment