I missed the big story today about the videotape of al Qaeda beheading American Nick Berg. For some reason, I thought this was old tape of the Daniel Pearl murder that was just now surfacing and didn’t pay it much attention.
Morton Kondracke got it right on Fox News tonight when he argued that this should galvanize American support for the war on terrorism because this exemplifies the nature of the enemy. The Corner’s Andrew McCarthy also gets it right, though, in urging that the Right not play the idiotic moral equivalency game we criticize the Left for by arguing this proves Abu Ghraib wasn’t all that bad. (Are you listening, Fred Barnes?)
Hat tips: Spoons and Laurence Simon
Update: Reuters is reporting new details.
Al Qaeda̢۪s leader in Iraq beheaded an American civilian and vowed more killings in revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, an Islamist Web site said Tuesday.
A poor quality videotape on the site showed a man dressed in orange overalls sitting bound on a white plastic chair in a bare room, then on the floor with five masked men behind him.
“My name is Nick Berg, my father’s name is Michael… I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah,†said the bound man, adding he was from Philadelphia.
After one of the masked men read out a statement, they pushed Berg to the floor and shouted “God is greatest†above his screams as one of them sawed his head off with a large knife then held it aloft for the camera.
The Web site said Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a top ally of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was the man who cut off Berg̢۪s head. The statement read out before the killing was signed off with Zarqawi̢۪s name and dated May 11.
Jordanian-born Zarqawi, 37, has raised his profile and status as al Qaeda̢۪s most active operational leader with a series of suicide bombs and attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.
Nikita Demosthenes has substantially more at Command Post including several still photographs of the atrocity.
Update: Kevin Aylward has the gruesome video. Stephen Green also has the video available for download.
