I abhor the illegal abuses that occurred in Abu Ghraib prison by a few American servicepeople. Their arrest and courts-martial please me no end, and anyone who participated in such un-American and inhumane treatment should get the punishment they richly deserve.

But before anyone starts drawing equivalencies between those actions in Abu Ghraib and the terrorists we fight, try this on for size first:

A video posted Tuesday on an Islamic militant Web site appeared to show a group affiliated with al-Qaida beheading an American in Iraq, saying the death was revenge for the prisoner-abuse scandal.

The video showed five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks, standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit who identified himself as an American from Philadelphia.

After reading a statement, the men were seen pulling the man to his side and cutting off his head with a large knife. They then held the head out before the camera.

My sympathy limit has been reached.

UPDATE: More from the BBC:

The victim identified himself as Nick Berg, a US contractor whose body was found near a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday.

One of the masked men read out a statement, saying they had offered to exchange the man for inmates of Abu Ghraib prison but the coalition authorities refused.

They then pulled the man to the side and put a knife to his neck.

The man screamed as he was executed.

His killers shouted "Allah is great" before holding what appeared to be a head up to the camera.

Bastards.

UPDATE: Jon at QandO has some stills from the video. Be warned: they are very, very graphic. And Power Line's Big Trunk notes the curious media silence on Nicholas Berg's Jewish heritage -- an odd omission, under the circumstances.

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Terrorists have beheaded an American contractor in Iraq, supposedly as revenge for what occurred at Abu Ghraib...  and how does Kos respond?  He calls it an "eye for an eye" in a post that puts more blame on Senator Inhofe... [Read More]

Tracked on May 11, 2004 2:17 PM