This is your fault, if your're American. Fuckers.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...n1391684.shtml
Slain American Hostage Shot, Tortured
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2006
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(CBS/AP) An aid worker from Virginia taken hostage with three other peace activists was found dead near a railroad line in Baghdad with gunshots to his head and chest and signs of torture on his body, Iraqi police said.
Tom Fox, a 54-year-old member of Christian Peacemaker Teams from Clear Brook, Va., was the fifth American hostage killed in Iraq. There was no immediate word on his fellow captives, a Briton and two Canadians who were last seen without Fox in a video dated Feb. 28 and broadcast Tuesday on Al-Jazeera television.
The U.S. command in Baghdad confirmed that Fox's body was picked up by U.S. forces on Thursday, although it provided no information on the condition.
Interior Ministry Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said Fox was found with his hands tied and gunshot wounds to his head and chest. There were cuts on his body and bruises on his head, indicating torture, he said. The corpse was dressed in Iraqi-made clothing.
Fox's body was found near a railroad line running through Dawoudi, a mixed Sunni-Shiite area that has been largely shielded from the killing that has raged in other Baghdad neighborhoods. Shocked local residents condemned his abduction and killing Saturday.
"These acts are terrorist ones and will hinder the political process and distort the reputation of Iraq," said Dhamir al-Samaraie, who had come to have a look at the spot where Fox was found.
The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for kidnapping the four Christian Peacemaker Teams members--Fox, Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. They disappeared Nov. 26.
Fox's Chicago-based group said: "We mourn the loss of Tom Fox, who combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone."
"In response to Tom's passing, we ask that everyone set aside inclinations to vilify or demonize others, no matter what they have done," Christian Peacemaker co-directors Doug Pritchard and Carol Rose said in a statement.
Fox had visited detained Iraqis, escorted shipments of medicine to clinics and hospitals, and worked to form an Islamic Peacemaker Team, said Paul Slattery, a member of the Langley Hill Friends Meeting that Fox, a Quaker, also attended in McLean, Virginia.
"He actually believed in his heart that he would better them by his conviction and his beliefs and his skills, and I think largely succeeded," Slattery said. "What he leaves behind is a tremendous challenge for the rest of us and a guiding force."
In other developments:
President Bush Saturday denounced any moves by Iran or Syria to interfere in Iraq's effort to build a democracy. He also said that while Iraq's security forces need more training, they performed well after last month's bombing of a revered Shiite mosque, which pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
"If the Iranians are trying to influence the outcome of the political process, or the outcome of the security situation there, we're letting them know our displeasure," Bush said. "Our call is for those in the neighborhood to allow Iraq to develop a democracy, and that includes our call to Iran as well as to Syria."
Playing down predictions that Iraq is headed toward civil war, President Bush also said Saturday that he's optimistic a new government will unify the nation. He denounced any moves by Iran or Syria to interfere in Iraq's effort to build a democracy.
"I'm optimistic that the leadership recognizes that sectarian violence will undermine the capacity for them to self-govern," Bush said. "I believe we'll have a unity government in place that will help move the process forward."
The president's hopeful words came a day after Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called the new parliament into session March 19 for the first time since it was elected nearly three months ago. Talabani said he feared "catastrophe" and "civil war" if politicians could not put aside their differences.
As details emerged about Fox's death, the violence continued elsewhere. At least six more people, including an Iraqi TV journalist, a human rights activist and an Iraqi commando officer, were killed in drive-by shootings Saturday. And two bombs targeted U.S. convoys in Baghdad and north of the capital, wounding one soldier.
U.S. and Iraqi forces also conducted a series of raids, arresting 20 suspected insurgents and seizing a large weapons cache, including artillery shells, mortar rounds, anti-tank missiles and homemade bombs.
U.S. State Department spokesman Noel Clay announced Fox's death late Friday in Washington, saying the FBI verified that the body was his and his family was notified.
Clay said additional forensics will be done in the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is investigating, he said.
It is not uncommon for the FBI to get involved in cases involving Americans abducted overseas, but an FBI spokesperson says the bureau has no additional information about this case, CBS Radio reported.
"The State Department continues to call for the unconditional release of all other hostages" in Iraq, Clay said.
The U.S. command in Baghdad confirmed that Fox's body was picked up by American forces on Thursday evening, although it provided no information on the condition.
An Iraqi police patrol also was at the scene, said Falah al-Mohammedawi, an official with the Interior Ministry. He said Fox was found with his hands tied, gunshot wounds to his head and chest, and cuts and bruises on his body.
At least 250 foreigners have been kidnapped in the nearly three years since U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq, and at least 40 have been killed. The dead include Ronald Schulz, 40, an industrial electrician from Anchorage, Alaska; Jack Hensley, 48, a civil engineer from Marietta, Georgia; Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Michigan; and Nicholas Berg, 26, a businessman from West Chester, Pennsylvania.
In one of the most high-profile cases, Jill Carroll, a freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Baghdad. She has appeared in three videotapes delivered by her kidnappers to Arab satellite television stations.
Carroll's kidnappers initially threatened to kill her unless all female detainees in Iraq are released. They later amended their demands, which have not been made public. The Monitor launched a campaign on Iraqi television stations Wednesday asking Iraqis to: "Please help with the release of journalist Jill Carroll."
The unrelenting violence has complicated already tortuous negotiations for Iraq's first permanent, post-invasion government. U.S. officials want a strong and inclusive central government in place quickly to enable Washington to begin removing some of its 132,000 troops this summer.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.