# Arab militia decapitate American with knife **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 11, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663 "2004-05-11T18:23:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/1 "2004-05-11T18:23:59Z")
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle\_east/3705409.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3705409.stm) :mad: No doubt the Arab world will recoil in “shock”. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/2 "2004-05-11T18:30:24Z")
Why in the name of God would anyone be shocked? Certainly I’m not the only one here watching in horror as this whole fucking thing snowballs into mass destruction. You’re crazy if you don’t think this will just fuel more abuses and murders which will fuel more abuses and murders and where the fuck does it end? What is it worth, Mr. President??? Good lord. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/3 "2004-05-11T18:37:35Z")
I am absolutely sickened by the behavior of the Iraqi’s. I don’t condone it but I can understand their hatred being fueled by our own fucking soldiers actions toward the detainees. My husband is in the military and is currently serving in Afghanistan. It infuriates me to know that more American soldiers will die because of the repulsive behavior of a few. :mad: ☹ :mad: ☹ :mad: ☹ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/4 "2004-05-11T18:38:16Z")
Wait a minute, so you mean when we go to war people die? Violently and painfully? You’re right, that \*is \* a shock. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/5 "2004-05-11T18:40:44Z")
Ah, war! Whatever happened to the good old days when genocide and/or complete subjugation of the opposition was the goal? Sure, this execution would probably have happened anyway, but nobody would feel the need to repress the desire to bathe in the blood of the enemy in his own fountain! er…I mean…uh…shit. What is that saying? Kill 'em all & let God sort 'em out! wrong, I know, but I refuse to be held accountable for rational thought in The Pit. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/6 "2004-05-11T19:16:13Z")
Yeah, war really sucks, doesn’t it? Always a good idea, therefore, to think carefully before starting one.\* \*Above statement in no way intended to excuse the barbarous cruelty of the schmucks who killed that poor guy ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/7 "2004-05-11T21:34:42Z")
Yeah, this is horrible! We know psychotic maniacs certainly weren’t slaughtering innocents willy-nilly _before_ the US went in there, right? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/8 "2004-05-11T22:05:52Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > Yeah, this is horrible! We know psychotic maniacs certainly weren’t slaughtering innocents willy-nilly _before_ the US went in there, right? **SPOOFE** is right. As long as someone was doing something bad before, any bad things that happen as a result of our trying to change that situation are OK, even if they kill way more people and don’t make the situation any better. This is why police officers routinely use machine guns to stop shoplifters. It’s worth killing five or ten other shoppers, as long as you also shoot the guy who was taking Doritos and not paying for them. People who disagree with these methods obviously don’t realize how bad shoplifting is. It’s a crime, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/9 "2004-05-11T23:22:26Z")
Don’t anyone buy their bullshit about this being because of our recent torture scandal. This is Al Qaeda: they have been decapitating and murdering people since before the war even began. There most certainly will be a double standard in the Arab media, you can bet on that. But in the end, this is just AQ’s attempt to exploit whatever they can. Let’s hope the Iraqis, even if they hate us, learn to see through AQ’s attempt to exploit their anger at us to acheive its ends. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/10 "2004-05-11T23:44:00Z")
The horrific irony in all of this is that he was arrested at an Iraqi checkpoint for not having papers in order in March; presumably the same “crime” of so many of the individuals abused in Abu Gharib prison. Because of this coalition supported detention, he missed his March 30th flight from the country back home. His family is squarely blaming the coalition. From the BBC: > [@](#): > > The 26-year-old Mr Berg, who owned a communications equipment company, was involved in rebuilding antennas in Iraq before he disappeared on 9 April. > > But he went missing prior to that, and was later found to have been arrested at an Iraqi checkpoint in Mosul and held in an Iraqi jail with Iraqi prisoners for 13 days, his father told American TV on Tuesday morning, before the video was released. > > Michael Berg said the US authorities were indirectly responsible for his death, by failing to secure his release and thereby causing him to miss his flight home on 30 March. > > “He would have missed the escalation if they had let him go,” he said. God damn, humanity makes me sick. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/11 "2004-05-11T23:45:21Z")
**No doubt the Arab world will recoil in “shock”.** Shit. Are you kidding? For some of those monsters over there this is their latest snuff flim! They’re probably whacking off as we speak … Fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/12 "2004-05-11T23:50:05Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > There most certainly will be a double standard in the Arab media, you can bet on that. But in the end, this is just AQ’s attempt to exploit whatever they can. To be fair to the Arab media, Al Qaeda weren’t the ones going around saying that they were waging war to spread peace and democracy and love to the poor oppressed Iraqis. Or are you saying the Arab media shouldn’t hold us to our claims? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/13 "2004-05-12T00:08:55Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > To be fair to the Arab media, Al Qaeda weren’t the ones going around saying that they were waging war to spread peace and democracy and love to the poor oppressed Iraqis. Or are you saying the Arab media shouldn’t hold us to our claims? No, I’m saying that if doing horrible things to human bodies is news, its news. And Al Qaeda’s claim that this was in retaliation for our abuses certainly would make it news even in the context of the story you cite. Not that double standards don’t abound everywhere anyway. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/14 "2004-05-12T01:06:50Z")
High risk tourism reaches it’s logical conclusion. A buddy of mine did the entrepenuer/tourist stint in the nineties, to such lovely tourist industry destinations as the Balkans in the late nineties, Syria, Eritrea, and other enticing destinations. Luckily, he skipped out on Iraq. He was busy knocking up a Malasian colonel’s wife. He seems to have settled down a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/15 "2004-05-12T01:28:40Z")
> [@+MDI](#): > > :mad: No doubt the Arab world will recoil in “shock”. I’m beginning to wonder why we should be so concerned about liberating people who don’t give a rats ass about our welfare. Where’s the shock and outrage from the arab world? Where are the widespread denounciations of this type of behavior? I’m just not seeing it. All I see is a bunch of America hating. We try to help them, and all they do is shit on us every chance they get. Polls in Iraq show that the people would rather that we leave immediately and throw Iraq into chaos than have us stay here even one more day. What the hell are we fighting for? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/16 "2004-05-12T01:51:05Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > I’m beginning to wonder why we should be so concerned about liberating people who don’t give a rats ass about our welfare. Who’s being “liberated”? ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/17 "2004-05-12T02:14:26Z")
If one were a true cynic, they’d think this news was put out there to stamp down the pictures of American soldiers abusing Iraq prisoners. It’s hard to imagine a parallel between taunting naked/bound prisoners and cutting someone’s head off with a knife, but if you squink REAL hard… No matter. This war could go on forever, and I’ll bet it will. I had a sticker that read “free the POW’S” on my lunchbox when I was a child, and my kids will have the same. Different world, same old shit. ---
**Author:** ![robgruver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@robgruver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robgruver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/18 "2004-05-12T02:27:21Z")
I have a feeling that this will not be the last atrocity that will come from Iraq. In fact I’ll give an over/under of 4 days for the next one. I am sickened and disgusted by both sides. ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/19 "2004-05-12T02:32:34Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > I am absolutely sickened by the behavior of the Iraqi’s. Mark my words, if Iraq invaded the USA and shot up a shitload of US citizens, we would be cheering every act of retaliation by US citizens - no matter how barbarous or token the gesture. It’s purely a question of which side of the fence one naturally gravitates towards. > [@Ruby](#): > > I don’t condone it but I can understand their hatred being fueled by our own fucking soldiers actions toward the detainees. Ummmm no… the last 14 months have been one long, endless tirade of guerilla attacks and killings. The steady drip, drip, drip of American fatalities rose in April granted, but it’s been steady nonetheless. The prison photos are merely the nail in the coffin in terms of trying to paint a noble face on the campaign. Effectively, the USA chose to do the equivalent of sticking one’s naked, unclothed dick into a raging angry nest of fire ants. You do the math. > [@Ruby](#): > > My husband is in the military and is currently serving in Afghanistan. It infuriates me to know that more American soldiers will die because of the repulsive behavior of a few. See above… more American soldiers will die NOT because of the prison photos. They will die because they are there, and they’re convenient. The USA has been sowing the seeds of such institutionalised hatred for decades. And it has been doing so both knowingly, and unwittingly. Go and do some research on the CIA’s meddling in Iraq and Iran during the 1950’s to get an historical primer. Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of history within the Whitehouse should have known that invading Iraq was just totally, utter folly. In short, Iraq is poor and 60% of people under 25 years of age in that country are unemployed. THAT is what has to change. Right here… Right now. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663/20 "2004-05-12T02:55:24Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Don’t anyone buy their bullshit about this being because of our recent torture scandal. This is Al Qaeda: they have been decapitating and murdering people since before the war even began. > > There most certainly will be a double standard in the Arab media, you can bet on that. But in the end, this is just AQ’s attempt to exploit whatever they can. Agree 100%. Al Qaeda is very opportunistic, and pretty good at it, I might add. I do wonder what the average Jafar on the street thinks about the video/beheading. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-militia-decapitate-american-with-knife/244663.md?page=2)