It has happened again

[Guest MikeSC]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Terrorists in Saudi Arabia reportedly have carried out their threat and beheaded American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr. (search), the Arab satellite network Al-Arabiya said Friday.

 

Separately, Al Qaeda reported that it had killed Johnson on an Islamic Web site. The group Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) told Fox News that a video clip of Johnson's severed head had also been posted on an Islamic Web site.

 

No independent confirmation of the contractor's beheading was available. The White House declined to comment because the news had not yet been confirmed.

 

Thousands of Saudi police had searched Friday for Johnson, three days after the terrorists who captured him gave the government 72 hours to free Al Qaeda prisoners in exchange for his freedom.

 

Johnson's wife had appealed for his safe return on Arab television Friday.

 

"Please! I want him to come back to see me. He didn't do anything wrong," Thanom Johnson, said in interview on Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya (search). "I've never seen him having any problems with the people here. Never."

 

In Johnson's hometown of Eagleswood Township, N.J., relatives held a vigil Thursday night.

 

 

Johnson's kidnappers released a videotape of him on Tuesday night saying they would kill him unless the Saudi government released all militants in its prisons within 72 hours. The Saudis rejected the demand.

 

Police went through several Riyadh neighborhoods from Thursday night through Friday morning.

 

Johnson, a Lockheed Martin (search) employee, was kidnapped Saturday by a group calling itself Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The organization is believed to be headed by Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin (search), the top Al Qaeda figure in Saudi Arabia.

 

People living in the districts, which lie in western and southern Riyadh, suggested that the kidnappers enjoy popular support, partly because of U.S. policy in Iraq and its perceived backing for Israel.

 

"How can we inform on our brothers when we see all these pictures coming from Abu Ghraib and Rafah," Muklas Nawaf, a resident of Dhahar al-Budaih, said as he ate meat grilled on a spit at a restaurant called Jihad, Arabic for holy war. He was referring to the pictures of Iraqis abused by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison (search) in Baghdad and Israeli military incursions and killings in the Gaza refugee camp of Rafah.

 

"This is not a little skirmish. It is a war," Nawaf said.

 

A preacher of Riyadh's Imam Sultana Mosque implored the kidnappers to release Johnson in a column published in Al-Riyadh newspaper on Friday.

 

"O, youth of the nation who have trodden the wrong path, come back to the fold of the community of Islam. Avoid this sedition and be obedient to the ruler of the Muslims," Sheik Mohammed bin Saad al-Saeed wrote.

 

A senior Saudi official in the United States, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the probe, said there had been no communications from the kidnappers except for the video and statement on the Web site.

 

The FBI had sent a team of about 20 specialists in hostage rescue, hostage negotiations, profiling and other specialties who were working directly with Saudi officials, the official said.

 

More than 15,000 Saudi officers had been deployed in the search of Riyadh, going door-to-door in some neighborhoods. More than 1,200 Saudi homes had been searched as of Thursday night.

 

"We are even using the fire department, for instance, because they have knowledge of their neighborhoods, and districts," the official said.

 

In a letter posted late Wednesday on Web sites where Al Qaeda supporters and other militants leave messages, a man who identifies himself as Saad al-Mu'men — a pseudonym meaning "Saad The Believer," — urges militants to spare Johnson, saying killing him would violate Islamic law. "I will curse you in all my prayers" if he is harmed, it warned.

 

The writer said he had given Johnson his protection under Islam, and quoted the Prophet Muhammad as saying: "If they were granted (Muslim) protection, then killing or taking their money or harming them is forbidden."

 

The writer also said Johnson had expressed opposition to U.S. foreign policy and an interest in converting to Islam.

 

The letter was posted on Web sites known for Islamic extremist writings and was subsequently posted on the Web site of the Saudi-owned satellite television channel Al-Arabiya.

 

Other contributors to the Islamic Web sites ridiculed the message and called for Johnson's death.

 

Al-Arabiya told the AP that al-Mu'men had contacted the station but agreed to be identified only by the pseudonym. The station said it had confirmed the man it interviewed was the author of the letter, but it did not say how.

 

Al-Mu'men refused an interview with the AP in a message relayed through the station.

 

Friends and relatives of Johnson sang "Amazing Grace" and "God Bless America" as they held candles and small flags at a vigil late Thursday in Eagleswood, New Jersey, a town where the engineer grew up.

 

"Your love, your prayers and your support are appreciated," his niece Angel Roork said at the vigil.

 

Amid concern over Johnson's fate, the U.S. State Department updated a 2-month-old travel warning for Saudi Arabia, pointing out that attacks on Americans there have resulted in deaths and injuries and, in a reference to Johnson, a kidnapping.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,123030,00.html

 

They beheaded another person.

 

Just to keep the whole "abuse" thing in the proper perspective.

-=Mike

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

But did they put panties on him?...

[Guest MikeSC]

But did they put panties on him?...

Probably. Bastards.

-=Mike

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Hopefully his family won't go on a rampage blaming everyone from the soldiers in the prisoner abuse scandal to George W. Bush, but this is still very sad news and I can only pray the people responsible are brought to justice.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

They beheaded another person.

 

Just to keep the whole "abuse" thing in the proper perspective.

-=Mike

I notice that most people who seem to not mind about the "abuse" thing use moral relativism as the basis for how they feel. Ah well.

 

How are we supposed to stop these people from doing this is my question, since it's happened twice before and the odds of them doing it again are great based upon that.

[Guest MikeSC]

They beheaded another person.

 

Just to keep the whole "abuse" thing in the proper perspective.

        -=Mike

I notice that most people who seem to not mind about the "abuse" thing use moral relativism as the basis for how they feel. Ah well.

 

How are we supposed to stop these people from doing this is my question, since it's happened twice before and the odds of them doing it again are great based upon that.

Kill them.

 

It's the only way.

-=Mike

[Vyce 0]

How are we supposed to stop these people from doing this is my question, since it's happened twice before and the odds of them doing it again are great based upon that.

 

Short of killing them before they do it, nothing.

 

Read the article closely. These guys even no-sold a moderate Muslim cleric.

 

Personally, I'm sitting here wondering exactly how "aggressive" Saudi Arabia really was.

[Swift Terror 0]

Paul Johnson worked for Lockheed Martin. I mention this because I work for Lockheed as well, although in a far different business area within Lockheed than did Mr. Johnson. This is horrible and frustrating.

 

I'm waiting to hear from the likes of Michael Moore (who BTW has slandered the Colorado facility of Lockheed in "Bowling for Columbine", accusing them of manufacturing WMDs. Nope, they make rockets that are used to launch satellites).

 

Lockheed does make various weapons systems, however, at other locations. So, really, Mr. Johnson got what he deserved for being a part of making weapons (in this case, the Apache helicopter) used to kill muslims. Right, Mikey?

[Guest Anglesault]

"How can we inform on our brothers when we see all these pictures coming from Abu Ghraib and Rafah," Muklas Nawaf, a resident of Dhahar al-Budaih, said as he ate meat grilled on a spit at a restaurant called Jihad, Arabic for holy war. He was referring to the pictures of Iraqis abused by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison (search) in Baghdad and Israeli military incursions and killings in the Gaza refugee camp of Rafah.

 

"This is not a little skirmish. It is a war," Nawaf said.

Absolutely infuriating.

[Guest BDC]

Lockheed does make various weapons systems, however, at other locations. So, really, Mr. Johnson got what he deserved for being a part of making weapons (in this case, the Apache helicopter) used to kill muslims. Right, Mikey?

Which has GOT to be the most inane and STUPID line of reasoning I've ever heard of in my life. Take into account that it's an apologist argument for terrorists and Fat Mikey has got himself another Oscar there.

[Guest Trivia247]

Oh Goodie they are reporting they found the body already... In the Capital City in Saudi Arabia...

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Americans who aren't soldiers just need to stay the hell out of the Middle East right now. Its as simple as that.

[Guest Anglesault]

Oh Goodie they are reporting they found the body already... In the Capital City in Saudi Arabia...

That's both the first and last place I'd look, if that makes any sense.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Pics are on Drudge if anyone cares...

[Downhome 0]

Why is it again that some people tell us that we need to just "talk" to these people and negotiate?

 

We know what they are, we know what they'll do, and we need to end them once and for all. Period.

[JoeDirt 0]

Why is it again that some people tell us that we need to just "talk" to these people and negotiate?

 

We know what they are, we know what they'll do, and we need to end them once and for all. Period.

Yes, we need to hunt down and arrest or kill all the terrorists...

 

But not everyone over there is a terrorist, right?

[Downhome 0]

But not everyone over there is a terrorist, right?

Of course not.

 

I'm not one of the people that say "NUKE THEM ALL, EVEN THE BABIES" or anything like that. But with the people we know who are subhuman shits, the people that we know that take part in acts like this and the people who celebrate it, those types of people we should just eliminate, without second guessing or even thinking about talking to them.

[cbacon 0]

I agree. These guys should also suffer the same fate too no?

[Downhome 0]

Of course. The kidnapping, capture, and then beheading of innocent people is just wrong.

 

Wait, I see none of that in the pictures, sorry.

[1234-5678 0]

If you kill these guys, someone else will just start doing it. There is no way to win.

[Guest Olympic Slam]

This will be swept under the rug by the news outlets in a couple of days just like they did with Berg and the horrific slayings of the U.S contractors in Fallujah.

[2GOLD 0]

FINE!

 

You want to kill the abusers at the stupid prison, fine go ahead and kill them. I don't care anymore and I'm sick and tired of people falling BACK on them as a reason behind these beheadings.

 

These guys behead because that's what they do. And if we want to keep backing off and acting like a bunch of bitches, then they are going to constantly do it. It's time we quit screwing around. We know who they are, if they are in a church then blow it up.

[Styles 0]

Americans who aren't soldiers just need to stay the hell out of the Middle East right now. Its as simple as that.

Bingo. These people WERE warned to get out. Not that I'm in any way saying they deserved it, but really use some common sense, the whole region is a shit hole filled with insane murderers, use some common sense!

 

The part of the article that hurt me the worst was the part where the Muslim cleric was pleading with them to not kill him and to follow true Islamic law and all, and it having no effect. That would be the only way (besides killing them all) to make this situation better, if the moderate (aka sane) Muslim leaders gained leverage but its obvious this goes far beyond religion anymore and is just a murderous cult of hate akin to the Nazis. Only no one's just following orders.

[Guest Olympic Slam]

The part of the article that hurt me the worst was the part where the Muslim cleric was pleading with them to not kill him and to follow true Islamic law and all, and it having no effect. That would be the only way (besides killing them all) to make this situation better, if the moderate (aka sane) Muslim leaders gained leverage but its obvious this goes far beyond religion anymore and is just a murderous cult of hate akin to the Nazis. Only no one's just following orders.

if the moderate Muslim leaders gained leverage but its obvious this goes far beyond religion anymore and is just a murderous cult of hate akin to the Nazis. Only no one's just following orders.

 

They're worse than the Nazis in that they're not following the doctrine of one man in one nation (For Hitler, for Hitler's grand vision for Germany) but they're following the orders (in their eyes) of ancient religious scripture. Unfortunately, most people don't see it like we do and haven't even come close to the connection between Islam and Nazism. The swastika will never come back to alert us of a Nazi threat. If you're looking for blonde and blue eyed Germans eating strudel, then you're looking in the wrong places. If you think out of control inflation and a new rogue president in another country is the first of sign of a Nazi threat then, once again, you're looking in the wrong places.

 

I have a few theories as to why the Nazi/Islam connection is overlooked........

1. There's no easily indetifiable state or nation like Germany

2. Its not YET a global, organized threat

3. People don't really know what Nazism really is and thus are looking in all the wrong places for the return of it (Hint: It's not coming going to be from Germany or rural Arkansas)

4. Most people in some ways are racist and will not give the Arab world enough credit to be a Nazi level threat. They're seen as just "poor brown people from the dessert uncapable of threatening the world."

 

The Nazis wanted a pure world, the radical Muslims want a pure Islamic world.

[buffybeast 0]

Americans who aren't soldiers just need to stay the hell out of the Middle East right now. Its as simple as that.

Bingo. These people WERE warned to get out. Not that I'm in any way saying they deserved it, but really use some common sense, the whole region is a shit hole filled with insane murderers, use some common sense!

 

The crux of the Saudi economy is foreign workers. Many non-Saudi's who have opted to stay in the kingdom do so for economic reasons. Johnson, for example, would have had to quit his Lockheed Martin job and leave his home of 12 years if he decided to flee.

[BUTT 0]

For what it's worth, CNN just said that an Al Qaeda leader in Saudi Arabia has been killed.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I agree. These guys should also suffer the same fate too no?

Well, at least if we behead the second guy the soldiers can play a game of fetch with the head...

[1234-5678 0]

These guys behead because that's what they do. And if we want to keep backing off and acting like a bunch of bitches, then they are going to constantly do it. It's time we quit screwing around. We know who they are, if they are in a church then blow it up.

I completely agree.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Heard on the radio that the mastermind behind this beheading has been killed. Take that for what you will...

[Firestarter 0]

Frankly, I'm so fucking sick of all this I could puke.

 

I want to see some of those hostages and some of their families showing more guts. Instead of the standard "He didn't do anything wrong, he loves Arabs and he has a deep and abiding respect for Islam, please send him home and we'll let you fuck our mother in the ass" bullshit, let's see someone say "Fuck you, you Arab towel-heads. Fuck you ALL. Go ahead and kill my dad. We're going to turn your entire fucking country into radioactive glass and piss on the smoking ruins of Mecca. You want a fucking war? You fucking got one." I want the hostages to look into the camera and say, "Tell them to go to hell," like hostages do in every Highlander episode ever broadcast, every melodramatic direct-to-Lifetime TV movie ever filmed, and every Harlequin romance ever published.

 

And I want our fucking government to live up to those expectations. Our armed forces are the clenched right hand of God Almighty. NOW LET'S USE THEM. I want to rain fire and lead on those motherfuckers until there's nothing left but brittle ashes. I want Americans to stop hiding their passports. I want our countrymen to be able to stand up and say "Civis Americanus sum," confident that the most powerful military ever to dominate the world will utterly exterminate not only any terrorists who dare to touch a hair on their heads, but also the terrorists' friends, their families, and their entire countries. Fuck compassion and fuck justice. The rules just went out the window my friend, and you undid the latch. We didn't start this but by God we'll finish it.

 

This is war. These are terrorists. We're looking into the face of evil. Take your "root causes" and shove them up your goddamned ass. You want a war? You got a FUCKING war.