Not that they cared, but the barbaric Muslims, who wave the religious banner of Islam with each murderous act, took more than the life of Paul M. Johnson Jr.
They brutally kidnapped, tortured and ultimately coldly – and no doubt with militant Islamic pride – slaughtered an innocent man.
They don’t care.
Vice President Dick Cheney said we’ll hunt the killers “one by one, and destroy them.”
Wrong. “One by one” won’t do it, because it’ll turn into a case of Islamic Terrorist Whack-A-Mole and death is their ticket to paradise.
An al-Qaida website provided photographic proof: the bloodied body of a man in an orange jump suit with his severed head propped on his back. They thoughtfully provided a close-up of the face, that of Paul Johnson. U.S. intelligence confirms the murder.
For terrorists, brutality is business as usual. Beheading is part and parcel of their way of life. For them, for that part of the world, for that civilization (buried as it is in the 7th century), decapitation is not unusual. It’s part of Saudi Arabia’s justice system today.
They don’t care.
They’ve done it to us before. Remember Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl? And, more recently, Nicholas Berg? Videos showed their suffering, humiliation and deaths, with the confirmation of seeing their heads separate from their bodies. American Robert Jacobs was shot early this month and the video showed (apparently) his head being cut off, but that wasn’t confirmed.
And now, Paul Johnson. With the bloody handiwork seen on video screens, it’s clear the list will grow. Johnson’s death was a “lesson” for the West, for Israel and most importantly, for the United States.
The terrorists claim they were balancing the books. They “promised … to kill the hostage” and that “the infidel got his fair treatment.”
They said that because Johnson worked for Lockheed Martin on Apache helicopter systems, his death was retribution for “what Muslims tasted who were long reached by Apache helicopter fire …”
The fact that Johnson lived in Saudi Arabia for 10-years, got along with Muslims and was not military, meant nothing.
They don’t care
These hostage takings, cruel treatment and grisly murders have nothing to do with the victim’s humanity.
They don’t care.
The hostages are “infidels” and have no value. To terrorists, they’re of greater value dead, for the killing brings them closer to the Muhammad’s teachings. They believe they’re doing the will of Allah.
That’s why Paul Johnson suffered an excruciating death.
They don’t care.
That Johnson’s wife pleaded on Al Arabiya TV for her husband’s life meant nothing. That she suffered a total loss of hope and faces a lifetime of grief means nothing.
They don’t care.
For friends and neighbors in the States who begged for his safety and held prayer vigils – there’s just grief and anger.
The terrorists? They don’t care.
Paul Johnson’s son, who cried on camera begging for his father’s life, now must face the reality of his murder.
They don’t care.
That Paul Johnson never met his new grandson and was planning a trip home soon to meet him meant nothing.
They don’t care.
That the reality of their loss hits the Johnson family on Father’s Day weekend makes it all the more hurtful.
But terrorists don’t care.
Terrorism experts say there’s one purpose in such tactics: embarrass the government and force it to cave to demands. Having the upper hand, especially if the hostage is killed, builds prestige among followers and frightens Westerners.
The al-Qaida leader who threatened Johnson’s death on video was Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, considered ruthless by Saudi officials. A raid on a house in Riyadh hours after Johnson’s death ended with al-Moqrin and three others dead. Two more escaped.
They don’t care that al-Moqrin is dead. They got their glory: a dead infidel, grisly photographs and Westerners leaving Saudi Arabia in droves.
President Bush said “America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs.”
Wrong! They’re not extremist thugs. They’re militant Islamist terrorists who need to be wiped out.
He also said: “It should remind us that we must pursue these people and bring them to justice before they hurt other Americans.”
Wrong! “Bringing them to justice” would take an eternity – trying the mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombings didn’t deter terrorism against us.
As for “hurting” other Americans? Sorry, that’s the least of our concerns. It’s keeping Americans alive that’s at stake. Pull out all the stops and wipe out these vermin – or it’ll never end.
The next time they threaten a hostage, execute 10 Muslim prisoners for every day of the threat. Or do as the Soviets did when faced with a similar situation – send the terrorists a prisoner’s body part and a note to return the hostage immediately.
They understand that and they will care.
