# Al Jazeera reporting the beheading of the South Korean hostage **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665 "2004-06-22T16:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/21 "2004-06-22T18:22:58Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I hardly think we’re just flipping them off. Even the Saudi gov’t is getting into it, killing the terrorists who killed Johnson. My point is the right decision is the right decision, sometimes it will give the impression that we’re appeasing them, sometimes it won’t. Don’t you think it would be stupid to avoid a course of action for the sole purpose that we’ll give the terrorists the wrong impression? > [@](#): > > Like **NurseCarmen** said, I think Spain’s capitulation gave the terrorists a sense that terrorism will work. Take a look around, sadly, it seems to be working all too well. > [@](#): > > I guess I’m an optimist. I think we will win this sooner or later, but we’re not going to win it by cutting and running when things get tough. We’ll we’re not going to win by sticking around. This war has already created the next generation of terrorists. We’re going to have some serious fucking problems in the next few decades because of this misadventure. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/22 "2004-06-22T18:26:04Z")
I think some of the time the target of terrorists really isn’t the country itself but it’s citizens on an individual basis. They know America isn’t going to break under their pressure but they are quite positive that many individual Americans will reconsider going over there if Americans are the target. Same with targeting Brits, South Koreans, Japanese, etc. 'Cept with Spain they’ve convinced themselves that the whole country advocated through a vote to remove their presence and support in Iraq because of the terrorist act directed at them. All I can say is that the next time Spain alligns itself with a multinational force, who’s soldiers and/or civilians do you think are going to be #1 on the terrorist target list? ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/23 "2004-06-22T18:31:31Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > … All I can say is that the next time Spain alligns itself with a multinational force, who’s soldiers and/or civilians do you think are going to be #1 on the terrorist target list? The link in that force must likly to break? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/24 "2004-06-22T18:45:19Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > 'Cept with Spain they’ve convinced themselves that the whole country advocated through a vote to remove their presence and support in Iraq because of the terrorist act directed at them. All I can say is that the next time Spain alligns itself with a multinational force, who’s soldiers and/or civilians do you think are going to be #1 on the terrorist target list? **Lieu** , keep in mind that Spain has recently sent additional troops to Afghanistan to deal with AQ. So the point here is, if all goes well, AQ won’t go after Spain the next time, because Spain already wiped their asses out. Remember Spain didn’t pull out and do _nothing_. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/25 "2004-06-22T18:45:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Spain listened to their people, > They’re out of the damn country World Eater, Yeah, but which half of their people should “the United States” listen to? Last I checked we were pretty evenly divided in this country. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/26 "2004-06-22T18:53:48Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > World Eater, > > Yeah, but which half of their people should “the United States” listen to? Last I checked we were pretty evenly divided in this country. Wasn’t over 80% against being in Iraq? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/27 "2004-06-22T19:24:59Z")
Uh, yeah, **if Al Queda members worldwide all go to Afghanistan and Spain wipes them all out** then they have nothing to fear. That’s one miiiiiighty big “if all goes well”. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/28 "2004-06-22T19:25:00Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > First thing we do, I say, is get every contractor in the region, and arm them. You want to take another Lockheed Martin engineer or another translator? You get through their machine gun first. You want to try to bomb a compound in Saudi? Be prepared for your vehicle to be taken out with by RPG. > > Now is not the time to turn tail, nor the time to show anything other than unrelenting strength of will and purpose. Give them no quarter, not even an inch. They think jihad is so honorable? They think death is so damned glorious? They can have it. : clears throat : “YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE – HAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWW ! ! !” 😉 As I understand it a major goal of terrorists is exactly the undermining of trust the people have in their government, not so much the bullying of the soulless & corrupt individuals that may make up that government. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/29 "2004-06-22T19:26:03Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Wasn’t over 80% against being in Iraq? There was never 80% opposition to the Iraq war. If anything, it’s the other way around. It’s fluctuated, of course, but support for the Iraq war was at about 70% a year ago, down to about 50% now. Here’s a number of polls: [http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm](http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm) ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/30 "2004-06-22T19:33:43Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > There was never 80% opposition to the Iraq war. If anything, it’s the other way around. It’s fluctuated, of course, but support for the Iraq war was at about 70% a year ago, down to about 50% now. Here’s a number of polls: > > [http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm](http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm) Are these for the US? I was referring to Spain. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/31 "2004-06-22T19:51:16Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Uh, yeah, **if Al Queda members worldwide all go to Afghanistan and Spain wipes them all out** then they have nothing to fear. The people that attacked them are more closely connected to people in Afghanistan then Iraq. You focus your resources where you’ll get results, something the US seems to know nothing about at the moment. > [@](#): > > That’s one miiiiiighty big “if all goes well”. A mighty big if for the US in Iraq too, what’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/32 "2004-06-22T19:59:03Z")
That this… “…keep in mind that Spain has recently sent additional troops to Afghanistan to deal with AQ. So the point here is, if all goes well, AQ won’t go after Spain the next time, because Spain already wiped their asses out.” is at best pie in the sky and at worst some country’s policy to deal with terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/33 "2004-06-22T20:03:12Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Wasn’t over 80% against being in Iraq? More like 90% as far as I remember. And the country seems to support Spain’s continuing operations against Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda actions have had no effect whatsoever in Spain’s efforts against them. Can we all write down and remember: _Iraq is nothing to do with the War on Terror_ . That’s you too Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/34 "2004-06-22T20:07:45Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I felt particualrly bad for this guy, as he made no pretense of putting on a brave face: the tape showed him screaming and begging and pleading for his life, obviously terrified out of his mind. We’d all like to think we’d be brave and stoic under those circumstances, but to see him shrieking like a frightened five-year-old really hit home. God bless you, Eve, for seeing this in its proper context. You are to this board as the Great Star of Africa is to the Sceptre with the Cross. Remove you, and there’s no there there. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/35 "2004-06-22T20:21:38Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > That this… > > “…keep in mind that Spain has recently sent additional troops to Afghanistan to deal with AQ. So the point here is, if all goes well, AQ won’t go after Spain the next time, because Spain already wiped their asses out.” > > is at best pie in the sky and at worst some country’s policy to deal with terrorists. So how about this? "Let’s go squander _shitloads_ of money, INTL goodwill, and military resources, to attack a country that had _nothing_ to do with the actual people who attacked us. Really it’s fucking simple, in fact, I’ll capitalize it for you. THE _METHOD_ IN WHICH WE’RE ATTEMPTING TO CURB TERRORISM, IS (GASP!) CREATING MORE TERRORISTS THEN WE’RE ELIMINATING. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/36 "2004-06-22T20:26:05Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > God bless you, Eve, for seeing this in its proper context. You are to this board as the Great Star of Africa is to the Sceptre with the Cross. Remove you, and there’s no there there. This man experienced the most extreme mental anguish – knowing his fate for days – > [@](#): > > …The tape shows hostage Kim Sun-il kneeling on the ground in front of three masked militants. He appears to be gulping air and sobbing. > > The part of the tape that was broadcast didn’t show him dead, but an announcer on Al-Jazeera said he had been beheaded. Linked is a frame from the video just before the beheading. [http://www.reuters.com/newsGalaxyPhotoPresentation.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5485177&index=0](http://www.reuters.com/newsGalaxyPhotoPresentation.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5485177&index=0) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/37 "2004-06-22T20:27:05Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Are these for the US? I was referring to Spain. Sorry, yeah, those are for the US. **Punditlisa** had said “Which side should the US listen to? We’re pretty evenly divided.”, and you gave the 80% figure, so I thought you were referring to the US. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/38 "2004-06-22T20:42:48Z")
I have no words for this poor guy, or the others. I agree with **Eve** that seeing him begging like that made it even worse. Berg didn’t see it coming, Johnson probably held out hope, but this guy, he knew it was over. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/39 "2004-06-22T20:45:34Z")
It’s rough that the Korean guy was murdered and it’s true that one never knows how one will react to impending death until it happens, but I really hope that if that were me that I wouldn’t die sniveling and crying. I’d much prefer to go like [Fabrizio Quattrocchi](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3628977.stm). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665/40 "2004-06-22T20:55:07Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Yeah, but which half of their people should “the United States” listen to? Last I checked we were pretty evenly divided in this country. Don’t worry, we’ll be out of there soon enough. Here’s Bush’s secret plan to end (our involvement in) the war. (Ssssh! Don’t tell anyone. ;)) 1. Hand over “sovereignty” on June 30. 2. Increasingly withdraw our troops from the cities to those “enduring bases”. 3. Wait for Iraq news to disappear from the evening news programs, and sink to page A-17 of your local newspaper. 4. Skedaddle, regardless of how things are going on the ground. Step 4 is 100% speculation, of course. Steps 1 and 2 of the plan are real enough, and at this point Step 3 is surely an integral part of GOP hopes for this November. And there’s a pretty decent chance of its happening. After all, how much news do we see about Afghanistan these days? And if it does, that certainly opens the door for step 4. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jazeera-reporting-the-beheading-of-the-south-korean-hostage/251665.md?page=3)