Bodies of Pvt. Kristian Menchaca and Pvt. Thomas Tucker Reportedly Found
by John Little on 20/06/2006There’s some sad breaking news on CNN:
An Iraq Defense Ministry spokesman says two U.S. soldiers missing since Friday have been found dead, Reuters reports.U.S. military authorities in Baghdad told CNN they could not confirm the report.
I hope that the military briefed the families before the Iraqis and media released this information.
The BBC reports the location:
Spokesman Gen Abdul Aziz Mohammed said the bodies were found in the Yusifiya area. The US military has not yet confirmed the statement.
Pvt. Tucker’s family released a recording of his last phone call home. You can listen to it here.
“Be proud of me Mom, I’m defending my country. Tell sis and my nephews hello for me, I’m OK, I’m on my way.”
Damn.
ABC is reporting military confirmation while CNN is reporting that the military has confirmed the recovery of two yet to be identified bodies. Either way it doesn’t look good.
More details on the location from ABC News:
Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said the bodies were found on a street near a power plant in the town of Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad. U.S. Maj. Doug Powell said he could not confirm the report.
On Outside the Beltway we learn that the news, via The Washington Post, gets worse:
Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Muhammed-Jassim, head of operations at Iraqi Ministry of Defense said the soldiers had been “barbarically” killed and that there were traces of torture on their bodies. He offered no further details.
I suspect that the enemy would have liked to drag this out longer but there was too much pressure placed on them by the rescue effort. It’s hard to believe but this could have lasted much longer and been worse for our troops.
The U.S. military has scheduled a press conference for 4 p.m. Baghdad time (8 a.m. ET).
Do you think the world will be outraged by the way insurgents treat their prisoners? Don’t hold your breath waiting for outrage. In fact, don’t expect any reaction at all.
Michelle Malkin points to a critical relative:
An uncle of one of the soldiers is criticizing the government. Newsbusters has more.
The uncle’s comments:
MacKenzie said the government should have offered a $100 million reward and offered to exchange mujahideen detainees for the soldiers’ lives. It seized enough money from Saddam Hussein to afford it, he said.
I can understand his desperation. I’d probably have the same thoughts running through my head if this had happened to someone in my family. That said it’s also a bad idea, as Lee notes, that would put our troops at even greater risk.
Michelle also has a warning:
The murders of these brave soldiers by desperate terrorists will be used to bolster the flailing cut-and-run brigade’s agenda.
Cindy Sheehan incoming….
Richard at Hyscience has a nice big STFU for the Left:
To all of you Leftist bastards out there, don’t EVER say another damned word about Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, or any U.S. treatment of terrorist prisoners.
Sadly, the critics will ignore decades (centuries really) of radical Islamic savagery and say we brought this on ourselves.
John Hinderaker takes on Menchaca’s uncle:
In a sick coda, Menchaca’s uncle, Ken MacKenzie, appeared on the Today show and recited weirdly inapplicable Democratic Party talking points in relation to his own nephew’s death.…No Shame.
While the Hotline calls him out for going overboard:
Some, though, can go overboard. An otherwise good day was made melancholy by news this a.m. that two kidnapped soldiers in Iraq had been found dead, and, according to preliminary reports, their bodies had been treated in horrible ways. One of the soldiers’ family members mentioned to CNN that he thought the U.S. should pay the kidnap ransom with money taken from Saddam Hussein’s treasury. One blogger decided that today was the day to call that family member out for having “no shame.” We might suggest that person look in the mirror.
Almost everyone in the ‘sphere has gone overboard at one point or another. We wish someone would have the guts to say they were wrong and apologize. Today might be a good day to start.
As I said before I don’t agree with Pvt. Menchaca’s uncle but I’m not really worried about calling him on it today. His initial frustration is understandable. He isn’t in Sheehan territory yet. At least not with me.
Jeff Goldstein fires two sarcastic barrels at the Left’s tired assertion that “we asked for it”:
But make no mistake: had U.S. military guards not flushed Korans down Gitmo toilets (I know, I know. But let’s pretend they did), these two soldiers would have been treated in accordance to the Geneva Convention. For instance, Nick Berg’s head was only asked its name, rank, and serial number once it was sawed from its body by a now-dead terror leader who was practically invented by the US; and Daniel Pearl’s head is still being fed three meals a day and allowed to play ping pong and go for nice long walks around the terror compound in the wilds of Pakistan, if you can believe the glowing reports from Human Rights Watch. So don’t you go believing any of this garbage, which is likely just empty bravado—and doesn’t express how al Qaeda really treats its captives. To whom they provide dates and sesame candies, and women with sinfully painted toenails who dance for them like Salome.
Curt at Flopping Aces on Murtha:
Interesting that the traitor Murtha is not screaming about “murder” now huh? He was all over the news shows, getting as much publicity as he could while he walked over the Marines. But now that two of our soldiers were tortured and killed, not a sound.
Pathetic.
I couldn’t agree more.
The next bit is disturbing. Some of you may wish to skip it.
al-Zarqawi’s replacement reportedly murdered the two soldiers using the same barbaric technique we’ve seen before:
The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq killed two U.S. soldiers whom the group abducted last week, an insurgent umbrella group said in a Web statement posted Tuesday.The statement, which could not be authenticated, said the two soldiers were “slaughtered,” suggesting they had been beheaded by Abu Hamza al- Muhajer. The Arabic word used in the statement, “nahr,” is used for the slaughtering of sheep by cutting the throat and has been used in past statements to refer to beheadings.
No word on video yet. I hope we don’t see one but unfortunately that’s probably one of the primary reasons they were captured and killed in this manner.
Menchaca’s family comments and confirms that the soldiers were beheaded:
Mario Vasquez, Menchaca’s uncle, said Army officials had told the family early this morning that the bodies of two uniformed soldiers had been found, both of them beheaded. He said the Army would be conducting DNA tests, but the family believes the men were Menchaca and Tucker.“They’re not sure it’s him, but we don’t know of any other (missing) soldiers they have,” said Vasquez.
“This is bad news,” said the soldier’s aunt Mariaelena Garcia.
And blogger Dan Riehl has a few choice words for Andrew Sullivan. Well, one choice word to be exact.
Hot Air leads us to more sickening news:
The sources said the two men had suffered severe trauma.The bodies also had been desecrated and a visual identification was impossible — part of the reason DNA testing was being conducted to verify their identities, the sources said.
A tip from Iraqi civilians led officials to the bodies, military sources told CNN. The discovery was made about 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Not only were the bodies booby-trapped, but homemade bombs also lined the road leading to the victims, an apparent effort to complicate recovery efforts and target recovery teams, the sources said.
And if you needed more proof that Markos Moulitsas Zuniga’s (Daily Kos) moral compass is broken he dished it up today:
There’s a reason the Geneva Conventions exist. We’ve lost the moral high ground. What a fucking waste of a war.
I’ve just posted video of Thomas Tucker’s family speaking about their son and an address where you can send condolences.
Related:
DoD Names Missing Soldiers: Pvt. Kristian Menchaca and Pvt. Thomas Tucker
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