Violence Begets Violence Begets Violence

A US hostage has been beheaded on video by Iraqi militants. From the Sunday Times:

"After reading a statement, the men were seen pulling the man to his side and putting a large knife to his neck. A scream sounded as the men cut his head off, shouting 'Allahu Akbar!' - 'God is great.' They then held the head out before the camera.

Mr Berg, 26, of Philadelphia suburb West Chester, owned a communications equipment company, and went to Iraq to find work rebuilding antennas, his mother, Suzanne Berg, said today. She said Mr Berg had been missing since April 9...

The men in the video said the killing was revenge against abuse and humiliation carried out by US guards at Abu Ghraib prison, just west of Baghdad.

"For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the US administration to exchange this hostage with some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused," one of the men read from a statement.

"So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins ... slaughtered in this way."

The video bore the title "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American." It was unclear whether al-Zarqawi - a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden - was shown in the video, or was claiming responsibility for ordering the execution. "

Violence begets violence, and I condemn violence on all sides. This horrible act, like the mutilation of US contractors in Falluja some weeks ago - highlights the stupidity of those involved. It will not help their cause in any way.

Meanwhile, in Israel, Palestinian militants have been parading body parts belonging to six dead Israeli soldiers. The Israelis were killed when their armoured vehicle was blown up in Gaza City, in an attacked claimed by the Hamas militant group. The BBC says "the loss of six soldiers is said to be the highest for the Israeli army in a single operation in nearly two years."

These horrific acts are a sign that the war in Iraq is doing nothing to make the world a safer place for anyone. They represent an escalation in violence that would seem to be a direct response to the photos of Iraqi prisoners being tortured. Will the USA and Israel now use these acts of violence to justify further violence on their own parts? Where will this all end?