‘Revenge’ as Al-Qaeda Beheads American
The U.S. government has started to use this video as part of a ‘counter attack’ too divert attention away from the Iraqi torture scandal. On the other hand, it was discovered that most of the pictures in the hands of U.S. officials are " images of sexual encounters among the soldiers themselves."
The video, broadcast on a website named Muntada Al Ansar, shows the images of a man said to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of Osama bin Laden’s right hand men, cutting off the head of an ‘American contractor’. In the video, an American dressed in an orange prison style jump suit appears, with five masked men standing behind him. The video shows the American reading from a paper in his hands. He says that his name is Nick Berg and that he lives in the city of Philadelphia. The American then reads the names of his family members one by one. He is then laid down and beheaded. Shouts of "Allahu Akbar!" (God is the greatest) can be heard as the organization members decapitate Berg. Berg’s head is then shown to the camera and the members shake it. The organization members then threaten that these kinds of actions would continue in the name of seeking revenge for the tortures Iraqi prisoners were subjected to. American contractor Nick Berg’s decapitated body was later found in the capital of Iraq, Bagdat (Baghdad).
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said: "This event shows the true nature of the enemies of freedom. They have no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children. We will pursue those who are responsible and bring them to justice.."
Dimension of ‘sexual encounter’ in the scandal
Meanwhile, the dimension of the ‘sexual encounter images’ in Iraqi torture scandal is becoming clearer. The Commission of Military Forces of the Congress discussed a 53-page report prepared by Major General Antonio Taguba related to the American soldiers’ abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Their discussion unveiled another disturbing reality.
It was discovered that most of the photos the Pentagon has not released yet are pictures of American soldiers having sexual relations with each other. According to news posted on American websites, the Pentagon has three CDs containing photos of what went on in Abu Ghraib Prison. One of the CDs contains photos of various tortures and abuses inflicted upon Iraqi prisoners, whereas the other two CDs mainly contain images of American soldiers having sexual relations with each other. It is said that the Pentagon insists on not publishing these images.
On the other hand, Maj. Gen. Taguba, testifying during the discussion of his report, said the incidents were the result of failures in the chain of command. Taguba also indicated that lack of training and supervision was another reason for the incidents. Taguba insisted that ‘these incomprehensible events were the actions of a couple of military and civil officers." He said that they could not find any evidence of direct orders given to those people. He believes that those people were working in cooperation with some interrogators of lower rank in the military intelligence.
