Kidnapped Soldiers Found

It appears the two missing soldiers who were kidnapped by terrorists recently have been found dead. All signs points to the fact that they were tortured prior to being executed:

The bodies of two U.S. soldiers reported captured last week have been found and the men appear to have been "killed in a barbaric way," a senior Iraqi general said Tuesday. A statement posted on a militant Islamic Web site said the two men were killed by the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.

U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the remains, found late Monday by American troops, were believed to be those of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.

Caldwell said the cause of death was "undeterminable at this point," and that DNA tests would be conducted to confirm the identities.

Al-Qaeda is claiming that their new head killed the two personally by beheading them:

Meanwhile, the umbrella group for Iraq insurgents said the man who succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed the two soldiers.

"We give the good news … to the Islamic nation that we have carried God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders," said a statement in the name of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, the umbrella group for five insurgent organizations, including al-Qaida in Iraq.

The statement, which could not be authenticated, said the two soldiers were "slaughtered," suggesting they had been beheaded. The Arabic word used in the statement, "nahr," is used for the slaughtering of sheep by cutting the throat and has been used in past statements to refer to beheadings.

The ABC report has a quote from a family member who seems to be blaming the US instead of the terrorists:

"The news is going to be heartbreaking for my family," Menchaca's uncle, Ken MacKenzie, told NBC's "Today" show.

He said the United States should have paid a ransom for the two soldiers from money seized from Saddam Hussein.

"I think the U.S. was too slow to react to this," MacKenzie said. "Because the U.S. did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid with his life."

Does he really believe Al-Qaeda wanted money?  I know he is grieving but come on, give me a break.  They don't want money, they get plenty of that from all the umbrella organizations such as ANSWER and CODE PINK along with other rogue nations.  No, they wanted to make news…to show they are still around.

Another Cindy Sheehan in the making?

Another interesting facet of this whole thing is the fact that the same group who claimed responsability in taking our soldiers also took 4 Russians recently:

On Monday, the Mujahedeen Shura Council said it was holding two U.S. privates captive and taunted the U.S.

[…]The council also said it was responsible for the June 3 kidnapping of four Russian Embassy workers. The two separate postings could not be authenticated, but they appeared on a Web site known for publishing messages from insurgent groups in Iraq. 

Why were they taken?

The Russian diplomats were abducted on June 3, when unidentified gunmen attacked their vehicle in the upscale Baghdad neighbourhood of Mansour. One Russian diplomat was killed in the attack and the other four were abducted.

The Mujahedeen Shura (consultative) Council, which groups eight armed factions led by Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility on Monday for the kidnapping, in statements posted on the Internet. The group said if Moscow's troops did not leave Chechnya, a mostly Muslim breakaway republic in the Russian Caucasus, it would have to "suffer the consequences".

So even a Country friendly to Iran, friendly to our enemies, gets their citizens kidnapped by Cindy's "freedom fighters".

No one, no country, is safe from terrorism.  This is a world war and until these countries understand this they will continue to become victims.

Interesting that the traitor Murtha is not screaming about "murder" now huh?  He was all over the news shows, getting as much publicity as he could while he walked over the Marines.  But now that two of our soldiers were tortured and killed, not a sound.

Pathetic.

A Soldiers Perspective has some excellent thoughts:

Our soldiers will be missed and their stories must be told, but we cannot give up. This should give us more resolve. The gloves must come off. If the terrorists want to play dirty, let's play dirty. For every American tortured or beheaded, extend Gitmo sentences another 5 years. Put up curfews in EVERY town in Iraq. Shoot anyone violating it. Raid every home and confiscate EVERY weapon with fully automatic capabilities.

Amen.

UPDATE

Little Green Footballs found this post from the KOSkiddies which tells us much:

The bodies of the two captured U.S. soldiers were found in Iraq – bearing signs of "barbaric torture."

How quaint.

I hope Alberto Gonzales and John Yoo will sleep well tonight, with visions of those boys' bodies and the horrible barbarities inflicted upon them dancing in their heads. Perhaps Gonzales, and Yoo, and Rumsfeld and Bush will be able to envision the same inhumanities being visited upon their family members and loved ones as they drift off to peaceful slumber.

This cannot stand. We cannot allow this administration and its incomprehensible defense of and support for torture in violation of the "quaint" Geneva Conventions to remain.

The chickens have come home to roost. As ye sew, so shall ye reap.

I weep for my country, and for the families and loved ones of those in Iraq and Afghanistan, those yet living and those already dead.

Peace.

So typical.  Using the deaths of our soldiers to justify their hatred for this country.  To them this is nothing, REAL torture is when female panties are placed on the heads of terrorists…then were really talking some barbaric crimes.

When we kill the terrorists we get "war crimes" and "they killed innocent people"

When the terrorists kill us we get "our fault for sending troops in the first place" 

Sigh. 

UPDATE II

Michelle Malkin has this up on her page:

Thanks to John Little for linking to PFC Tucker's last recorded phone message to his family:

Be proud of me Mom, I'm defending my country. Tell sis and my nephews hello for me, I'm OK, I'm on my way.

Listen to a snippet of the phone call at Hot Air.

This is one person who is proud of you PFC Tucker…. 

UPDATE III

Paul from Wizbang has some thoughts on the relative who wanted us to pay ransom:

With all respect due a grieving family member, it's a good thing this guy's "plan" never existed. At 100 million bucks per kidnapping, every Iraqi in the country would be kidnapping U.S. soldiers.  

I feel for the guy but we NEVER deal with terrorists.  

UPDATE IV

Mark Levin offers some thoughts:

For the past few years, we've watched the Senate debate, the Congress adopt, and then the president sign legislation that would confer constitutional rights on unlawful enemy combatants captured on the battlefield and detained at Guantanamo Bay, while we watch as our Marines are accused of war crimes at Haditha without the benefit of any due-process rights. (And notice, not a word from John McCain, Lindsey Graham, or Chuck Hagel.) We've watched as self-labeled human-rights groups have demanded that the Geneva Conventions be applied to terrorists, even though they're applicable only to those who honor the rules of war. We've watched as the ACLU and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's offspring have brought lawsuits before activist courts challenging the conditions of the detained terrorists. We've watched as virtually every intelligence gathering technique is attacked as a civil-liberties and constitutional violation, from the Patriot Act and the NSA intercept program to data-mining and interrogating the enemy. We've watched as the Supreme Court and now lower federal courts have intervened in the president's constitutional commander-in-chief duties, substituting their policy preferences for his despite their lack of information, experience, or competence. We've watched as the media have used every opportunity to undermine our war effort with flat-out false reporting (the phony story about flushing of a Koran down a toilet at Gitmo), the exploitation of Abu Ghraib (with overkill coverage), the promotion of irresponsible antiwar voices (such as Cindy Sheehan and Michael Berg), and the support of antiwar politicians like John Murtha (who went from a relative unknown to an overnight media sensation because of his shrill and irresponsible antiwar allegations). And we've watched as the media have splashed some of our nation's most important war secrets across their front pages, and then give themselves awards for aiding and abetting the enemy.

[…]Meanwhile, two kidnapped U.S. soldiers were apparently brutally tortured and murdered today. And the question I pose to those who rightly honor the Greatest Generation is this: What would our country have done 60 years ago in response to this war crime? How would our political and military leadership have acted? By all accounts, they would have demanded severe retaliation and retribution. And by that I don't mean "bringing the perpetrators to justice," as if we're talking about some law-enforcement response to a white-collar crime. No, I'm talking about a military response of such devastation that the enemy fears the consequences of future kidnappings and executions of our men and women in uniform.

There needs to be retribution for this….

UPDATE V

Captain's Quarters has posted some just released information that we may have killed the new leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq:

CENTCOM announced minutes ago that one of the men expected to take the place of the now-room temperature Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has also reached thermal equilibrium near Baghdad. 

What does this have to do with the deaths of Tucker and Menchaca?  He was killed trying to flee the same area where the two were kidnapped.  Recall the AQ release that implied the new leader personally killed the two….he may have had some retribution rained down on his head. 

The BBC is reporting this:

Gen Caldwell said on Tuesday US forces had killed Zarqawi's "right-hand man" in a raid in Yusifiya on Friday, near where the US troops were abducted.

The general said Iraqi Mansur Suleiman al-Mashhadani was "a key leader in al-Qaeda" and could have succeeded Zarqawi.

Gotcha! 

UPDATE VI

It appears the bodies had been so mutilated that positive identification has to be done through DNA, plus the bodies and the road leading to the bodies were booby trapped: 

The bodies of two U.S. soldiers found in Iraq Monday night were mutilated and booby-trapped, military sources said Tuesday.

[…]The sources said the two men had suffered severe trauma.

The bodies also had been desecrated, and a visual identification was impossible — part of the reason DNA testing was being conducted to verify their identities, the sources said.

[…]Not only were the bodies booby-trapped, but homemade bombs also lined the road leading to the victims, an apparent effort to complicate recovery efforts and target recovery teams, the sources said.

It took troops 12 hours to clear the area of roadside bombs. One of the bombs exploded, but there were no injuries.

More comments from the families:

Menchaca's uncle, Mario Vasquez, said family members were distraught, and were waiting to receive the body before making any arrangements. Earlier, some family members heard of the possible discovery through the media, before being notified by the military, Vasquez said.

"I wish they'd punish the people that do these kinds of things right away, instead of taking forever and spending millions of dollars," Vasquez said. "I think, you capture them, make them pay for what they did. Don't think that it's just two more soldiers. Don't negotiate anything. They [the killers] didn't. They didn't negotiate it with my nephew. They didn't negotiate it with Tucker." 

Menchaca' other Uncle had spoke badly about the US while saying nothing bad about those who murdered him.  This Uncle doesn't agree with him I gather. 

UPDATE VII

Take a look at the mindset of a leftist.  A commentor left these thoughts:

Hey, the way I feel, the "insurgents" in Iraq should have repaid in kind every bit of the torture visited upon THEIR people at the hands of US troops and the hands of the American goverment!

They should have "waterboarded" them for weeks on end, sicced rabid dogs on them endlessly, forced them to stand for days in uncomfortable….even excruciating positions…..forced them to stay awake for days on end….Forced them to undergo the same sexual humiliation as Iraqi prisoners suffered in that prison ! I don't know, maybe they should have been forced to hump each other ? It's to bad that these soldiers didn't have readily available pregnant wives to hold hostage to force more American soldiers to "turn themselves in " as the US military did in Bagdad ! And who knows….maybe one day they will have the opportunity to shoot AMERICAN babies and elderly people in the back of the head as was done to the folk in Hadifia by bezerk US Marines ! These guys were LUCKY that they only suffered a swift & speedy beating and then a quick death by beheading !

What goes around, COMES AROUND! Maybe NEXT time, the US government will take seriously the conventions it signed in Geneva!

Scary isn't it?  This is how they really believe, that those two soldiers deserved to be decapitated because some Iraqi's had panties put on their heads.  Doesn't matter that those soldiers who put those panties on these peoples heads are in jail right now, no….American soldiers should still be decapitated.  Doesn't matter that the conventions we signed we're designed for an enemy that distinguished themselves from the populace, that obeyed the laws of war….none of it matters.

Unbelievable. 

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No one, no country, is safe from terrorism. This is a world war and until these countries understand this they will continue to become victims.

Interesting that the traitor Murtha is not screaming about “murder” now huh? He was all over the news shows, getting as much publicity as he could while he walked over the Marines. But now that two of our soldiers were tortured and killed, not a sound.

Curt

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