Seems like a good place for a famous Rip-n-paste:
Beheading of American shocks world
(CNN) -- Video posted on an al Qaeda-linked Web site of the beheading of a U.S. civilian in Iraq has prompted outrage -- but some support -- around the world.
The film showed Nick Berg, a freelance communications worker from Pennsylvania, speaking briefly before being beheaded by his masked captors.
The Web site said the killing was carried out by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a top ally of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Images from the tape showing Berg and his captors dominated TV broadcasts and newspapers around the world on Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting condemnation from most world leaders.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair described the killing as "a truly barbaric act" while White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the United States would vigorously pursue those who carried out the killing.
McClellan said the videotape showed "the true nature of the enemies of freedom. They have no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children." (U.S. reaction)
One Kuwaiti newspaper used a picture of one of the killers holding the severed head and some Greek TV stations showed the execution, Reuters reported. Much of the world's media only showed images of Berg before his execution.
Arab media reacted cautiously to the killing, with some newspapers playing it down. But one Baghdad citizen, Adel Karim, told CNN: "If they are Muslims, the messenger of Allah, Mohammed, says, 'Don't kill, even sick dogs.'"
Another man from Baghdad, Atef Jassem, added: "Musab is a terrorist and all of the resistance is coming from outside Iraq, like Syria and other parts of the world."
But some in Afghanistan defended the murder, blaming the United States for starting a cycle of violence following the coalition invasion of Iraq.
Jabar Khan, a Kabul shopkeeper, said: "This beheading is a good act because the Iraqis have been oppressed and whoever is oppressed should defend themselves. As a Muslim I support this act."
There was also some measured sympathy in the most populous Muslim nation in the world, Indonesia.
In Jakarta, one resident, Budi, said: "Even hostages, under the teachings of Islam, must be treated humanely. If others did otherwise, it doesn't mean we should do the same.
"But then under the current conditions ... such chaos in Iraq ... we cannot blame the Iraqis whose lives have been totally destroyed."
In Japan -- as well as other parts of non-Muslim Asia -- Berg's murder was widely condemned.
In Tokyo, Norio Kato expressed sympathy for the United States' predicament in Iraq.
"I think the situation will become more of a quagmire, but if you think about world peace it's necessary for us to be there. I mean the Iraqis had that horrible president, didn't they?"
In Britain, some leading politicians said the execution highlighted the threat to coalition soldiers in the wake of allegations of abuse made against U.S. and British troops.
One of the masked men in the video read a statement saying the beheading was revenge for the "Satanic degradation" of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers.
Menzies Campbell, foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats, said on Wednesday: "This is an act of undiluted barbarism which will fill every civilized person with horror.
"It only serves to emphasize just how dangerous Iraq has become for coalition forces, including the British."
Iranian radio accused western media of using the images for propaganda purposes. "As a result the issue of Iraqi prisoners' torture has been totally ignored by these media," the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran said, according to Reuters. (typical Iranian BS
)
The British Red Cross said it was shocked and appalled by the killing and would pursue those responsible and bring them to justice.
Spokesman Leigh Daynes told the UK Press Association: "The rules of war, of which the Red Cross is the guardian, apply to all belligerents in times of armed conflict, and we would expect the rules of war to be observed at all times.
"This extends to the protection of innocent civilians caught up in conflict."
Iraqi Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin said Iraq would do everything within its power to bring Berg's killers to justice.
"Those psychopaths who committed this immoral crime should be brought before justice very rapidly and get their deserved punishment," Amin said.
Edward Rendell, governor of Berg's home state Pennsylvania, said he was appalled at "the horrific and inhumane way" the 26-year-old had been killed.
"The captors of Nick Berg who perpetrated this atrocity misread the American people," he said.
"If they think that acts like this will cause the American people to decide that the time to cut and run has come, they will find that the American people will have their resolve strengthened by atrocities like this."
