Muslim extremists often claim to be fighting the infidel. Although a US soldier, Wassef Ali Hassoun is also a Muslim with family in both the US and Lebanon. I know that you can't lump all Muslims together or lump Arabs, Persians, and various ethnic groups within Islam together. But somehow, I didn't expect this kind of crime. I hope it's a lie, and that the soldier is still very much alive, both for his own sake and for that of his family.
ABCNEWS.com : Iraq Militants Claim Marine Beheading
I know the beheadings are meant to shock. Certainly they are successful in that regard; those of us not involved in the conflict, not immersed in the culture of terror, no doubt feel as if we've stepped back in time to a less civilised world. And while atrocities are always part of war, we have increasingly widened the audience through instant media access in recent years. In tact, this is so much so, that frankly no matter how awful, every news story has an expiration date. The first beheading may have been shocking. After awhile, though, like anything else, they become statistics. No matter how empathetic--and many people are short of empathy, or we wouldn't have these crazy conflicts at all, people not directly involved move on with their lives. That's kind of tragic, too. Every American, Iraqi, and other nationality who has died in this conflict has a name, a family, a smile, a passion. It's criminal to forget that, and yet, for some its the way to cope.
All I can say is that I pray that this madness will end soon, that Iraq can become a stable and free country, that the deaths will end, and that there will be no more statistics.
Unfortunately, I think we're seeing on the tip of the iceberg.
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