In answer to what we promised ... to kill the hostage Paul Marshall (Johnson) after the period is over ... the infidel got his fair treatment ...Let him taste something of what Muslims have long tasted from Apache helicopter fire and missiles...
Those were the last words spoken before Paul Johnson was executed by beheading by Al Qaida militants somewhere in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia. Johnson, who worked as an Apache helicopter systems engineer for Lockheed Martin, was kidnapped last weekend. His captors threatened to kill him on Friday if Saudi Arabia did not release its Al Qaida prisoners. The news report I read by Salah Nasrawi stated plainly: "The Saudi government rejected the demands."
But really, I am a bit confused on why Al Qaida thought the Saudi government would even care about an American hostage. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure the Saudi governent was concerned about the life of the hostage. But to release militant, anti-kingdom prisoners in exchange for the life of just one American, it seems more than absurd. I'm sure they laughed themselves silly at the request. One would think that in order to be taken seriously by the Saudi government, Al Qaida would have been smart enough to kidnap a government official or member of the royal family.
Nasrawi's report also explained that photos of the beheading are being displayed on a website. But since the website is not named; and since the website was taken down for maintenance purposes soon after the statement of Johnson's beheading occurred, I was unable to get a validate what said occurred occurred, or have a resolution. Nasrawi explained the photos in this manner:
One of the three photographs posted on the Web site showed a man's head, face toward the camera, being held by a hand. The other two showed a beheaded body lying prone on a bed, with the severed head placed in the small of his back, the clothes underneath bloodied. The face looked like Johnson's.
On another note, Nasrawi makes it a point to state that Al Qaida hates the royal family and the Saudi government--
...Saudi and U.S. officials say aims to drive foreign workers from the kingdom and undermine the ruling royal family, hated by al-Qaida.
On the eve of the release of Farenheit 9/11, which takes a serious look at the relationship of the Bush family and Saudi's royal family, Nasrawi's verbiage seems to paint the picture that Saudi Arabia is a victim of terrorism. With the knowledge that 14 of the 19 pilots on 9/11 were Saudi Arabians, that Saudi nationals were flown out of the country the days immediately following 9/11 under the guidance of our government, that the president removed 28 pages of the 9/11 investigation report that discussed relations with Saudi Arabia, and that members of the royal family financed terrorist groups, I'm sorry but I just don't believe it. Saudi Arabia has more ties to terrorism that Iraq ever did.
I'd like to believe otherwise. I really would.......but right now, I can't.
