Another US hostage dead

[Tempest Storm]

An American Christian living in Saudi Arabia for the past 10 years was taken hostage 3 days ago, and the terrorists demanded that other terrorists being held is Saudi be released, or they'ld kill him. We didn't release them...



http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/...nap/index.html

(CNN) -- An Arabic TV news network said Friday that American hostage Paul Johnson Jr. has been beheaded by his Saudi captors.

Al Arabiya said its bureau chief had been shown the video of the killing.

Earlier Friday, Al Arabiya had aired an emotional statement from the wife of Johnson.

Johnson's wife, Noom, who is Thai, said she hoped the Saudi government "can help my husband."

U.S. and Saudi investigators concluded an intensive meeting Friday, Saudi officials said, as security forces spread all over the kingdom searching for Johnson.

Johnson, 49, a Lockheed Martin Corp. employee, had been kidnapped Saturday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. He helped maintain U.S.-built Apache helicopter gunships for the Saudi military.

Johnson's captors had threatened to kill him by Friday unless the Saudi government releases al Qaeda prisoners and Westerners leave the Arabian Peninsula.

Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin , the self-proclaimed military leader of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, claimed responsibility for Johnson's kidnapping and the death of another American on the same day on behalf of a group called the Al Falluja Squadron, which says it has ties to al Qaeda.

The State Department has urged all Americans to leave Saudi Arabia, but Johnson's sister, Donna Mayeux, said her brother "always felt safe in Saudi Arabia."

"My brother is an honorable man," she said. "He has always treated people with dignity and respect."

[bamthedoc]

We bring all to naught if we negociate with terrorists. They don't stop because of honor; they take advantage of it. It is unfortunate, and we should feel outraged at the terrorists for their cowardly acts! They aren't even targetting out military personel, anymore. They are targetting the innocent, civilian population -- including Iraqi civilians.

[Forged]

Here is a theory, if we leave Saudi Arabia and the Middle east all together and stop supporting Isreal(which doesn't even have a right to exist in it's current state) I bet the terrorist would hate us alot less...

[Hitsua]

No they wouldn't. If we left they would still hate us, and they would just be more able to plan attacks and train.

[Forged]

They aren't killing us because they are jelaous of our money or freedom, they are killing us because we think we are the worlds police, and because we have troops in Saudi Arabi and help Isreal.

[shutupandgoaway]

You guys are both pretty right, but Forged is righter- The Arab world hates us because of a mix of our Foreign Policy and our culture, but mostly our foreign policy, but who wouldn't? Of the 190 countries recognized by the UN, we have a military presence in 130 (excuse me if numbers aren't right, but I'm pretty sure it's around that area). What, exactly, is our business in that many countries? If we got our people out of other countries, and left the rest of the world alone, they'd still hate us, but NOWHERE near as much.

[CelestialBadger]

Why would the government bargain with terrorists. It's just one less guy to pay taxes.

[SouLess]

WARNING: THIS LINK CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MAN, CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK

http://drudgereport.com/jp.htm

WARNING: THIS LINK CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MAN, CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK

[Hitsua]

This war is over. We just need to do a clean sweep of the whole middle east. Screw civillians.

[CelestialBadger]

Actually we need to put an end to this adolescent perception that apathy makes you appear cool.

[Hitsua]

I'm serious. They have casued nothing but harm to us. Here we go and abuse a few soldiers, and they get all pissed off. So I suppose everyone they torture is nothing big.

[CelestialBadger]

Wow, you're trying to justify genocide based on bullshit claims. I seriously don't think anyone will refute me calling that post Hitleresque.

[SouLess]

Hitler was a god, he was just a little screwy in the head

[t.A.T.u97]

Oh my lord.

Thats scary, thats something you would see on rotton.com.

I feel extremely bad and I bet they cut him as slow and as painful as they could. Poor guy. How could anyone do such a thing?

These US soldiers dont know what they are doing when they sign up to go into battle. Someone I know has come back from Iraq and has seen people die and he has killed people and its a mess. They are scarred for life.

I think They need to tell people to evacuate the area and just bomb the shit out of them. That man did not deserve that and I feel so bad for him and his family. I could bear seeing my son or husband or anyone I knew dead, with their head cut off. Thats so sad.

[Hitsua]

This isn't a sympothy thread.

[t.A.T.u97]

Excuse me But ill say any damn thing I want to and theres nothing you can do about it

[D.F.I.]

He didn't deserve a death like that. That's all I have to say. A pretty shocking crime....and a horrible death.

[SouLess]

Did you guys see the beheading video? That shit is still stuck in my mind, and now this? I'm about half tempted to go in rambo style, but then I realized I'de have no clue where I am, and wouldnt know who to kill, so ya know...That and I'm a bit lazy

[FakeNameHere]

There goes an old chinese proverb: "Dont read a poem to a lion"

It means that a lion, which is violent, eats live meat and understands only violense will not sit down to listen to a thoughtful poem. The violent lion can only understand war, and guess what happens to represent the lion? Terrorists. Terrorists do not negotiate, they do not speak, their only way of communication is through war, which is what exactly Bush is doing. If negotiation is what you want, then you will get resaults, just resaults with more casualties and beheadings. Bush fights fire with fire, and he does it well.

Casualties - 100 out of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

[bamthedoc]

Bah... I had a nice long post abouw how Forged was wrong, and BF died on me... I will now try a shortened version and hope it sounds even half-way as nice.


As I outlined in another thread, Bush has brought more stability to the Middle East, and world in general, with this war in Iraq. North Korea has reopened diplomatic channels with the US and China -- which closed, violently during Clinton's time. There have been fewere world conflicts during three years with Bush than any one of Clinton's years. Syria has opened their boarders to US, and even UN, Weapons Inspectors. Afganistan and India have signed a nuclear arms agreement. Isreal and Edypt are talking again, but with actual forward momentum.

I'll also direct your attention to the destabilizing force in the Middle East -- that many, over the years, have been predicting would lead to WWIII. It's the severe hatred among Islamic sects. The three, at least major, tribes are Suni, Shi'ite, and Kurd.

The Suni is the smallest tribe, but it holds the most power. It controls the Middle Eastern media, and it controls most, though not quite all, political offices. Forgive me if I'm getting Suni and Shi'ite mixed up, but I believe this is correct (namewise). Saddam Hussien and Osama bin Laden are both Suni. It is mostly the Suni, though not all of them, that hate the US, Christians, Jews, and "godless infidels" who aren't US and aren't Islamic. They are also the ones who we know for suicide bombings and funding terrorist activities. I will point out that this is not all Suni.

The Kurds should be most infamous for the Armenian Genocide in 1907, which inspired Hitler. The Armenians, if you don't know, are Christians. The Armenian Genocide took place in Turkey if you still haven't a clue what I'm talking about. In anycase, the Kurds are more interested in a "balanced" power system. They are less interested, since about the 1920s, in finding anyone to hate. They've helped the US, but they also want their own "Kurdistan." The US would rather prevent this, at the moment at least, for stability reasons.

The Shi'ites are the largest, tribal population, but they hold the least power. They have been persecuted by the Suni, and the most infamous example is when Saddam Hussien gased "his own people" for helping the US during Persian Gulf War I. They are also the majority of people of Iraq who are helping us, now, and they love the US, Bush, and Allies. Kuwait is one of the few countries controled by Shi'ite politicians. The Shi'ites would like nothing better than a democracy -- which is how their tribal councils are set up if I remember correctly. They also have no qualms about Isreal. They abhor the Jihad declared by various Suni leaders -- Osama bin Laden for example.





Also...Isreal has every right to exist. Why? Isreal has existed longer than any Middle Eastern nation. Middle Easterners, in general were a nomadic people until about fifty years ago, after WWII. The British created the countries and boarders of the Middle East. They returned the Holy Lands of the Jews that were stolen from them by multiple invaders and such. Isreal has existed for 4,000 years, plus. There has never been a Palenstine. There haven't even been Palestinians until around 20 or 30 years ago. They are/were nomads with no central homeland. I don't want to go over that, again.