BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – Iraqi militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken an American soldier hostage and threatened to behead him in 72 hours unless the Americans release Iraqi prisoners.
The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried militants’ statements, included a photo of what appeared to be an American soldier in desert fatigues seated with his hands tied behind his back.
A gun barrel was pointed at his head, and he is seated in front of a black banner emblazoned with the Islamic profession of faith, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet.”
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Marine Sgt. Salju K. Thomas, said he had no information on the claim but “we are currently looking into it.”
A statement posted with the picture suggested the group was holding other soldiers.“Our mujahadeen heroes of Iraq’s Jihadi Battalion were able to capture American military man John Adam after killing a number of his comrades and capturing the rest,” said the statement, signed by the “Mujahedeen Brigades.”
“God willing, we will behead him if our female and male prisoners are not released from U.S. prisons within the maximum period of 72 hours from the time this statement has been released,” the statement said.
The terrorists know that the US will not be complying with their demands.
Update: If you think that there’s something odd about the picture you’re not alone. My bullshit meter went off immediately. The size of the head looks all wrong, like the picture was created in Photoshop. In this case I hope I’m NOT wrong.
There was a John Adam Keeney who served in Baghdad, but he presumably is not in Iraq any more..
Update 2: At Fark.com, user Nth Degree wonders if the GI Joe: Air Force Special Ops doll is what is shown in the picture. Here’s a eBay auction for the action figure with close-up shots, and this picture from Nth Degree:
The gun sure looks similar, and notice that the action figure comes with knee pads (lower right of the box) and the picture shows a soldier wearing knee pads…
I think that the AP might have got hoodwinked…
Update 3: As Michele notes in the comments, and other via e-mail, AP was p0wned – Militaryphotos.net has tracked down each piece of clothing…
End note – It appears to be a Cody Special Ops figure rather than a GI Joe model…
Well I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who thought that picture looked weird. I’m guessing this is going to turn out to be BS propaganda.
Kevin,
Check out the gun. I’ve seen a lot of hostage videos. In EVERY single one the mujahad-terrorists ALWAYS pack an AK-47.
I’m thinkin’, I know the gear is bulky, but this guy would’ve been drummed out for havin’ a shrunken head. This can’t be a real pic…
That’s a GI Joe doll.
http://www.monkeydepot.com/Merchant/bd0450.JPG
Look at the vest.
http://www.conservativefriends.com/viewtopic.php?p=5331#5331
If you look at the magnified version, you can clearly see manipulation around the mouth region.
that is a gijoe action figure…
weird…they are quite stupid eh?
They’re not the only stupid ones. What about the 500 news sites going with this story?
Brilliant, Michelle! Explains why there isn’t a terrorist in the picture, like there usually is.
The pants and boots match, as does the face and the vest. Don’t see the kneepads in the package, but they could be the things on the bottom right.
that goes without saying michele…maybe it is a blogger trying to show the MSM to cool it’s horses and don’t be a rather (as in dan) lol 🙂
Go here to see the figure
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37049
I almost made my own version (My Goodness, they got Barbie Too!), but I don’t want to make light of the whole hostage thing.
Besides…my Princess doesn’t have any Barbie guns. Only hairbrushes and shoes. Lots of shoes.
If they DO behead him, at least it will be easy to re-attach it.
But now we know who the muslims are really working for…….COBRA!!!!!
First chance I got to see this image, and I’ve got to concur that something looks fishy. The proportions aren’t quite right, and although there might be some lens distortion in effect, the flesh tones on the face also look off.
It certainly does look like a photoshopped head. The weapon and vest are also toy like. But the uniform looks as if it drapes correctly, and the boots look fairly real.
I hope to hell this is a fake.
AP and Reuters to edit headline: “Gigantic Terrorists Threaten to Behead…”
Where the fuck is a neutron bomb when you need one? Kill each and every one of those jihaddicksuckers–twice!
I understand that the terrorists have caputured Col. URKO from the Planet of the Apes and will post his photo shortly.
Clinton blew it when he passed up that chance to capture Destro..
More telling for me (and what got me thinking about it) is that the M-16 is (a) flat against the wall, (b) not being held by its trigger/grip and (c) looks like it is held up to the wall by scotch tape.
I would kill them for just holding the doll hostage.
Apparently, Al-Zarqawi’s gang has found a way to defend against the once-unstoppable Kung Fu Grip.
‘Thomas said he had no information on the claim but “we are currently looking into it.”‘
That can only mean one thing: Snake Eyes is on the case.
Doesn’t seem like MSM has figured this out yet, it’s still being pushed out.
On the other hand, what if it was real terrorists who captured the GI Joe doll?
The horror.
Great now I have this song running thru my head:
“All your Barbie are belong to us.”
P
mesablue: The real fun will be to see how they sidestep admitting they got owned. Will we see weeks of denials, followed by snide comments that “the photos were never proven to be fakes”, and finally a hand-waving investigation that assigns no blame?
“The photos may be fake, but they’re accurate!”
The gun looks a great deal like one of my son’s ‘airsoft’ plastic bb rifles. Note the black clip inserted into what appears to be clear plastic.
Forget the doll, the scale of the plaster and cracks in the wall are all wrong. Nice try Dumbass’s! God forbid they get hold of Barbie or Skipper!
Tom:
Too funny, that is exactly what I was thinking. But what to call it? JoeGate is too tame.
Simon – you owe me a new FP2001 monitor dude!
Hey, isn’t Optimus Prime in the army these days? He’ll know what to do.
The AP just got an atomic wedgie from the terrorists. I can only imagine the terrorists are laughing their asses off right now at how stupid journalists are.
Steve L.: I doubt this was done by terrorists, or by “Chimp Bush and the RepubliKKKans” as was alledged on Fark. Some teenage weenie just posted this on a pro-terrorist website as a lark for he and his friends, probably never expecting it would get serious inspection. Such websites are probably rife with posturing punks that are in no way seriously involved in anything, just like any ‘hacker’ website or loony left ‘revolutionary’ site.
In response, we have another offer for the terrorists. Here is a picture of an insurgent leader we captured in Iraq. If Abu Musab al-Zarqawi does not surrender to American troops within 72 hours, we will behead her. The clock is ticking. God willing, we will spill her blood if we do not get what we want.
Click Here to read more.
No need to panic: Scott McClellan reports Barbie has been moved to a secure location.
Oh, c’mon! The captured “soldier” has what appears to be six smoke grenades (just like the doll) on his load-bearing vest. What captor in his right mind would take a hostage’s rifle and knife, but leave him with grenades?
You gotta be kidding me! The terrorists are a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them.
The only question in my mid is whether this occurred as a result of MSM bias or just good old-fashioned stupidity?
You have got to be fucking kidding me. Seriously, I’ve been on the Web 10 minutes today, with like 1 hour of sleep, and I didn’t fall for that. I’m not even getting paid for this shit. What, do we need to prop Charlie McCarthy in front of a camera with a squirt gun pointed at his head? Holy shit! THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO LIVE THIS DOWN.
Ha!!! Personally my favorite has been this picture of Rumsfeld’s response at ludicrosity. hehehehe 🙂 🙂
OMG a sucide bomber in a Iraqi supermarket (warning graphic picture )
I think we can chock this up to biased stupidity. Now isn’t that the lowest of the low?
Hahahaha. And some people were off ranting about how the US would strike back before they realized that it’s a goddamn toy. Hahaha. yall got punked.
Bullshit meter!!!
Love it!!! Great Line.
Cindy
“They don’t make terrorists like they used to… COBR-*cough*hack*wheeze*…”
Funny how Kevin’s “bullshit” detector didn’t go off until after he posted the initial story.
from the looks of the initial post, it seems he was more then ready to believe it too or else he woould have said something.
Nice job Kevin, but, uh … what’s “p0wned?” It’s “pwned.”
Rick, at least Wizbang covered it before dinnertime.
I have some breaking news on this story…
http://lawnrangers.blogspot.com/2005/02/breaking-news-on-kidnapped-soldier.html
one more point about that “m-16” It has a support stock… US military doesn’t use that gun design because it promotes “spray and pray” that is why you have one hand on triger and one hand on barrel guard. so it makes u aim when you shoot…
Here is a link showing what Selutha means. The ammo clip in the current issue M-16 is further back. This lets you put the non trigger hand on the barrel guard for aiming.
i need assistance to know GOD in a way that is good in my life
sry guys special operations does use a variation of your M-16/ the CARbine, shorter barrel and colapsable stock, which does allow for a extra features to be mouted on it including a flashlight, infared laser sight (PAC19), scope, and yes that handle….used mostly for CQB. adds to manuverablity of the weapon in your hands