Severed fingers of 5 hostages delivered to U.S. officials in Iraq

[Barrett808]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Severed fingers of 5 hostages delivered to U.S. officials in Iraq
By Hannah Allam

BAGHDAD — U.S. authorities in Baghdad have received five severed fingers belonging to four Americans and an Austrian who were taken hostage more than a year ago in Iraq, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The FBI is investigating the grisly development, and the families of the five kidnapped contractors have been notified, American officials said on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Authorities confirmed that the fingers belonged to hostages Jonathan Cote, of Gainesville, Fla.; Joshua Munns, of Redding, Calif.; Paul Johnson Reuben, of Buffalo, Minn.; Bert Nussbaumer of Vienna, Austria; and Ronald J. Withrow, an American who was kidnapped separately from the others.

No information was available on when or how the fingers were delivered to U.S. authorities. Some relatives of the missing men said that they'd heard weeks ago that the DNA of the hostages had been obtained, but they'd been given no details.

The first four men were security contractors with Kuwait-based Crescent Security and were captured in a brazen ambush of their 43-truck supply convoy in the southern Iraqi town of Safwan, near the Kuwaiti border, on Nov. 16, 2006.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/30163.html

[Bluzmann57]

1. That is barbaric

But it is also expected. The USA is torturing prisoners, so any American citizen who is captured in a battle zone should not expect any different treatment. Thanks bush and the Congress people who upheld the veto of the waterboarding ban. Thoughts and prayers out to the people who lost their lives in this madness.

[LiberalinNC]

2. Rachel Meadow just read this on air

[merwin]

7. You mean Maddow, right?

:)

[Poll_Blind]

3. My heart bleeds for these kill-for-the-highest-bidder mercenaries.

  Who would guess that mercenaries, who have been responsible for some of the worst atrocities against Iraqi civilians in Iraq, who are accountable to no-one (and who have been whisked away back to the States to prevent the Iraqi legal system from getting ahold of them) for their actions, and who make buckets of money for killing...well, whomever they please- who would guess that these types would wind up in such a shitty situation?

  They're just below baby fur seals on my "Must-save" list. About 48,000 places below.

PB

[BRLIB]

4. Bush just vetoed the anti-torture bill, so he is a

torturer, and they are just one-upping him.

[2Design]

5. sounds mild compared to abu grab and BFEE torture policies - more of this to come n/t

[MadMaddie]

6. You are right....* and the War Criminals in the WH have opened

up the use of torture to the world and the US now has no authority to demand other countries not use torture.

[saigon68]

10. Yes How can we forget Plastic Flashlights up the rectums of young boys

The old CIA Abu Ghraib follies

(see the Taguba Report)

[H8fascistcons]

8. What's the surprise?

This is what happens when you have a criminal Fascist running our government who bombs and tortures innocent people in the name of God and freedom... Why would you expect these people to do anything less when over one million of their people are dead and four million driven out of their country. I'm shocked the hostages are still alive, I would have expected the story read "severed heads mailed to US authorities in Bagdad"....

*Please do not forget that the Democrats are enabling the criminal Fascist republicans to continue to commit crimes and destroy our constitution. Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel, Steny Hoyer, Jay Rockefeller, Harry Reed are just as guilty, they do not get to pick and choose which crimes against the constitution to ignore....PLEASE, never forget until they are voted out of office.....

[SunDrop23]

9. They love us over there! (n/t)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. So it's ok when we torture

but it's not ok anywhere else. :grr:

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. USA's sanctioning of one iota of torture - just opened up terrorists justification of their own.

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May the forces that be pray that Soldiers are killed, not captured.

It will be an unholy hell that US captured forces would spend in captivity.

Bush guaranteed it.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. Not to mention any innocent citizen who is kidnapped...

And yet, if Dumbyass had hired a hooker for a night, he'd be out on his ass. :grr:

[ConcernedCanuk]

15. Sadly, we "know" killing is ok, we can watch it many ways on TV, but love-making? - heaven forbid!

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Should have posters of maimed soldiers and Iraqis and Afghans at the voting stations.

Might make some rethink supporting all this unnecessary war

Just maybe . . .

[xchrom]

12. somebody forgot to tell them we have a SURGE!!!11!!