2008 Woodie Awards
Resilience in the Face of Terrorism
Julia Haney-Montañez
Issue date: 9/29/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Two of the three hostages held by Iraqi militants have been beheaded this past week, leaving British engineer Kenneth Bigley as the last surviving member of last Thursday's kidnapping.
In response to the seemingly constant criticism regarding the Iraqi war and the death toll it is creating, President Bush made an address today stating, "I believe that if we wilt or leave, America's security will be much worse off."
Kenneth Bigley, 62, a British engineer, was kidnapped in Baghdad September 16 along with Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley. A video was posted on an Islamic website showing a masked man using a knife to cut off the head of Mr. Armstrong, a construction contractor.
The kidnappers said Mr. Bigley would face the same fate unless the British government met their demand to release all Muslim women from Iraqi prisons.
According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, The speaker in the nine minute video said Zarqawi's group, Tawhid and Jihad, was taking revenge for Iraqi women prisoners and called President George W Bush "a dog". Addressing Mr. Bush, he said, "Now you have people who love death just like you love life. Getting to your soldiers and allies are their happiest moments, and cutting the heads off the criminal infidels is implementing the orders of our lord."
Kenneth Bigley's son, Craig Bigley, told the BBC News, "I ask Tony Blair personally to consider the amount of bloodshed already suffered."
According to CNN, Bigley's brother criticized the U.S. government during an interview on BBC radio. He said the initial report that the prisoners would be released was "a shadow of light in a big, long, dark, damp, filthy, cold tunnel."
Kenneth Bigley's mother begged her son's captors to liberate her son; "His family needs him. I need him." Bigley's wife, who lives in Thailand, also begged the kidnappers to release her husband. "My husband, Ken, is an ordinary, hardworking family man who wanted to help the people of Iraq, amongst whom he has made many friends," Sombat Bigley said, according to a translation from The Associated Press. "As a loving wife, I beg you once more for mercy." (cnn.com)
In reply to the kidnappers request to liberate the Muslem women, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said during a visit to the United Nations, "We can't get into a situation of bargaining with terrorists because this would put many more people's lives at risk, not only in Iraq but around the world."
In response to the seemingly constant criticism regarding the Iraqi war and the death toll it is creating, President Bush made an address today stating, "I believe that if we wilt or leave, America's security will be much worse off."
Kenneth Bigley, 62, a British engineer, was kidnapped in Baghdad September 16 along with Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley. A video was posted on an Islamic website showing a masked man using a knife to cut off the head of Mr. Armstrong, a construction contractor.
The kidnappers said Mr. Bigley would face the same fate unless the British government met their demand to release all Muslim women from Iraqi prisons.
According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, The speaker in the nine minute video said Zarqawi's group, Tawhid and Jihad, was taking revenge for Iraqi women prisoners and called President George W Bush "a dog". Addressing Mr. Bush, he said, "Now you have people who love death just like you love life. Getting to your soldiers and allies are their happiest moments, and cutting the heads off the criminal infidels is implementing the orders of our lord."
Kenneth Bigley's son, Craig Bigley, told the BBC News, "I ask Tony Blair personally to consider the amount of bloodshed already suffered."
According to CNN, Bigley's brother criticized the U.S. government during an interview on BBC radio. He said the initial report that the prisoners would be released was "a shadow of light in a big, long, dark, damp, filthy, cold tunnel."
Kenneth Bigley's mother begged her son's captors to liberate her son; "His family needs him. I need him." Bigley's wife, who lives in Thailand, also begged the kidnappers to release her husband. "My husband, Ken, is an ordinary, hardworking family man who wanted to help the people of Iraq, amongst whom he has made many friends," Sombat Bigley said, according to a translation from The Associated Press. "As a loving wife, I beg you once more for mercy." (cnn.com)
In reply to the kidnappers request to liberate the Muslem women, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said during a visit to the United Nations, "We can't get into a situation of bargaining with terrorists because this would put many more people's lives at risk, not only in Iraq but around the world."