AP — Report: Iraqi Militants Kill U.S. Soldier
NYT — Tape Shows What Militants Say Is Execution of U.S. Army Soldier
Iraqi militants killed an American soldier they have held hostage for nearly three months, saying the killing was because the U.S. government did not change its policy in Iraq, Al-Jazeera television said Tuesday.
The report of the killing of Spc. Keith M. Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, came hours after the United States returned sovereignty in Iraq to an interim government. The report did not say when Maupin was killed. The U.S. military said it could not immediately confirm whether a man shown being shot in a murky videotape was indeed Maupin, who was taken hostage after an April 9 attack outside Baghdad.
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Al-Jazeera aired a video showing a blindfolded man sitting on the ground, identified as Maupin by a statement issued with the footage. Al-Jazeera said that in the next scene, gunmen shoot the man in the back of the head, in front of a hole dug in the ground. The station did not broadcast the killing.
Maj. Willie Harris, spokesman for the Army’s 88th Regional Readiness Command, said the man in the footage could not be clearly identified but that the videotape is being analyzed by the Department of Defense. “There is no confirmation at this time, that the tape contains footage of Matt Maupin or any other Army soldier,” he said, adding that the Maupin family was briefed “as to the existence of a videotape.”
Courtesy San Francisco Gate
Outrageous.
I tire of the use of the word “militant” to describe these animals. Jesse Jackson is a militant. Malcolm X was a militant. These thugs are simply serial killers.
Quite a bit of reaction around the blogosphere, although not as much as the recent beheadings. Probably the late evening breaking of the story combined with the lack of anticipation caused by a deadline.
- Donnie Hall briefly hoped it wasn’t true.
- M.H. King has a reaction that will be shared by many: “It’s time to battle the uncivilized world with means that they appear to understand.”
- Robb Allen is trying to fight that reaction.
- Chris Short compares this to the Nazi concentration camps.
- StarBanker notes that there are so many of these that it’s hard to keep the story straight.
- Dean Esmay initially confuses this with yet another missing soldier. In any case, he wonders if Abu Ghraib will be mentioned.
- Blogs of War shares my disdain for the word “militant” here.
- Jeff Quinton has a roundup as well.
