Report: Group beheads American in Iraq

[enigmatic]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5629119/

"DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A group linked to al-Qaida ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has beheaded an American hostage in Iraq and posted a video of the killing on a Web site on Saturday."

[MirrorAshes]

1. oh no :(

[Piperay]

2. Yikes

another one, that's a shame, very sad news. :-(

[Maddy McCall]

3. edit

[tkmorris]

4. No, it doesn't but

It does say that the man said he was from San Francisco.

[Maddy McCall]

5. Thank you! I just read it. Sigh of relief.

I appreciate your help.

[VolcanoJen]

6. Horrific.

Hadn't heard that another American had been taken hostage...

Just another day, trapped in the never-ending Horrow Show.

:-(

[allemand]

7. He knew he was going to die

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3544032.stm

"I am from San Francisco, California," said the young man dressed in a plain beige T-shirt as he sat on a chair.

"We need to leave this country right now. If we don't, everyone is gonna be killed in this way," he said.


Words fail.

[lockdown]

8. BBC tv says two different people in video

Some BBC reporter in Baghdad was just saying the video is badly edited and the consensus is that it's two different people, he also said whoever's having their throat cut is already dead (which is a small mercy I suppose).

The first person identified himself as Benjamin Vanderford from San Fransisco, google shows a Benjamin Vanderford running for some Board of Supervisors seat in San Fransisco. Same person?

http://www.sfexaminer.com/article/index.cfm/i/052104n_supesrace

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. "US man 'executed' in video admits to staging fake beheading. More Soon"

on BBC ticker just now. This story? Can't tell yet.

[54anickel]

10. Something fishy here

From another post that

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x734428

snip>
There was no way to immediately determine the authenticity of the tape and the U.S. military in Iraq and the U.S. Embassy said they were unaware of the video and had no immediate comment. There was no record of a man by that name traveling to Iraq.

The tape showed a hand with a knife cutting at the motionless man's neck, but did not show his head actually removed from the body.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4396362,00.html

[54anickel]

11. Nevermind - hoax. Yet the press was so quick to report again -

fear-mongering. Give them credit for getting the hoax part out fairly quickly though, I guess. This type of 'journalism' really pisses me off.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x734440

[Tuttle]

12. al-Zarqawi is such an evil mastermind!

they have already begun affecting local elections!

</sarcasm>

Tut-tut

EDIT: spelling

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Should we lock this, now we know it's a hoax

and we have the hoax story as a separate headline?

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. No, please don't

this is one of the few remaining sources, for the original news report. The MSNBC and the wires are pulling this originial report off the net faster than a speeding bullet.

IMHO, this thread is a very important documentation of the media getting caught with their pants down.