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2. februar 2005
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Very funny: The diary of John "Cody" Adam, captured action figure with the Iraqi toy terrorists.
I have bribed a guard to fax this document. (The guard seems to be a hairy Mediterranean fellow with big buggy eyes and a passion for cookies. Strange.) I am sending this fax to the only person I can trust: Lucy Ramirez, somewhere in Texas. If this document appears elsewhere, you'll know that the lying irresponsible blogosphere is to blame.
And Evil Bert is behind this. We knew it!
More...
9:09:27 PM 
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Michele, one of the first to blog about the captive GI action figure, had this headline: "You'll find this on Snopes eventually."
In fact, Snopes already lists it. It is marked as "undetermined" not because there is any doubt this is no real soldier, but
because it isn't yet clear whether this was a genuine attempt by an Iraqi militant group to deceive an audience or something conceived (by Iraqi militants or someone else) merely as a joke or a hoax.
I blame Karl Rove.
10:59:11 AM
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Lost, not found
Winds of Change is definately one of the best group blogs out there. Today I hit a bad link there, and found a very amusing, if somewhat dated, 404 not found page.
PS: Here's another amusing 404 page.
8:12:21 AM
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Iraqis who died voting hailed as martyrs
Naim Rahim Yacoubi was one of around fifty Iraqis who lost their lives when exercising their right to vote. His family and friends mourn him as a martyr:
The victims of election day violence are being hailed by many Iraqis as the latest martyrs in a nearly two-year-long insurgency that has claimed the lives of thousands. They were policemen who tried to stop suicide bombers from entering polling centers, children who walked with elderly parents to cast votes, or - in the case of Mr. Yacoubi - a fishmonger who, after voting, took tea from his house to electoral workers at the school.
At polling centers hit by explosions, survivors refused to go home, steadfastly waiting to cast their votes as policemen swept away bits of flesh.
Shiite Arabs, oppressed under the rule of Saddam Hussein, turned out to vote in large numbers, and those who died in the attacks are being brought now to the sprawling cemetery in Najaf, this holiest of Shiite cities, for burials considered fitting of their sacrifices.
After voting, Yacoubi was so impressed with the dedication of the brave election workers that he went home to boil tea for them. When he was turning away to go home, a terrorist bomb killed him.
Shukur Jasim, his friend, says:
"It's not the man who exploded himself who's a martyr," Mr. Jasim said as the body washer wiped away dried blood. "He wasn't a true Muslim. This is the martyr. What religion asks people to blow themselves up? It's not written in the Koran."
Mr. Aziz, the neighbor, nodded.
"This is the courage of Iraqis," he said of Mr. Yacoubi's decision to vote, "and we will change the face of history. This is our message to the countries of the world, especially those that are still under a dictatorship and want to walk the same road as the Iraqis."
The Iraqi embrace of the election is not only a resounding answer to the naysayers on the left, it is a strong statement against certain anti-Islam agitators, mainly on the right, who say that Islam cannot coexist with democracy. These Iraqis, along with millions of Muslims in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Turkey, truly believe that democracy and Islam can be combined. Some centuries ago, Christianity wasn't exactly a beacon of human freedom, either.
Rest in peace, Naim Rahim Yacoubi. I hope your sacrifice, and that of all the others, will not be in vain.
6:21:19 AM
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More public prayer on the sports field
An interesting story about the increase in public display of religiousness by NFL players.
It's no secret that a growing number of players in the NFL have given new meaning to the terms Hail Mary pass and "on a wing and a prayer." As many as one-third of players are openly devout, say observers.
Post-game prayer huddles, end-zone devotions, and praising the Lord in interviews with broadcasters only hint at the depth of belief off the field.
I guess there is something to be said for public praying, but a guy devout Christians should be inclined to listen to actually said this:
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
The NFL player Bible study groups may have skipped Matthew chapter 6. It's not as if it's an important part of the gospels, anyway.
1:27:50 AM
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The CIA: Oops!
The CIA has formally acknowledged that the pre-war intelligence (to use the term broadly) about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction was bunk.
The report marks the first time the CIA has officially disavowed its prewar judgments and is one in a series of updated assessments the agency is producing as part of an effort to correct its record on Iraq's alleged weapons programs, officials said.
The CIA's decision to distribute the report — titled "Iraq: No Large-Scale Chemical Warfare Efforts Since Early 1990s" — in classified channels underscores the awkwardness the agency faces as it continues to reconcile its prewar reporting with postwar realities in Iraq. Before the war, the CIA asserted that Iraq had stockpiled biological weapons and was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program.
A new CIA report is expected next week: "Possible Japanese carrier group approaching Hawaii."
12:18:49 AM
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Jihadists kidnap action figure
 Terrorists in Iraq claims to have kidnapped a US soldier and threatens to behead him:
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 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.
However, the picture doesn't look very lifelike at all. In fact, the face looks like that of a doll, or, as we say when boys play with dolls, an action figure. US forces in Iraq don't miss any soldiers.
Liam Cusack, the marketing coordinator for Dragon Models USA, said the figure pictured on the Web site is believed to be "Special Ops Cody," a military action figure the company manufactured in late 2003.
"It pretty much looks exactly like the same person," he said.
Cusack said he was contacted Tuesday morning by one of his retailers, who informed him that the alleged hostage appeared to be one of the company's action figures.
"I thought it was a joke at first," he said.
Terrorists finally found a US soldier they were able to "defeat."
Hopefully the media will become a bit more skeptical towards the Islamist propaganda web sites now.
Update: This story indeed begs to be made fun of.
It's rather astonishing that the media professionals pushed that story without seeing something fishy about that picture (larger version). Also have a look at the rifle. It's an American M16 not the typical terrorist AK47, and it's held in a very weird way.
12:12:04 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.03.2005; 01:29:36.
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