Civilian Victims in Iraq

The Associated Press has compiled a list of the more than 250 foreigners kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq.

The list names those TAKEN, those FREED or ESCAPED, those MISSING, and those KILLED.

The following are civilians killed by the Iraqi "freedom fighters" and some details of the victims' fates:

- Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., one of four men from the Chicago-based peace group Christian Peacemaker Teams. Found fatally shot in Baghdad on March 10. The men disappeared Nov. 26, 2005, and videotapes show them in captivity. The three others - two Canadians and a Briton - were rescued March 23.

- Ronald Schulz, 40, of Anchorage, Alaska, an industrial electrician. Shown captive in a video made public Dec. 6, 2005 that carried the logo of the Islamic Army in Iraq. A later tape claimed he had been killed and another video purportedly showed a man being shot in the head and Schulz's identity card. His family has said they believe he is dead.

-Ali Belaroussi, Algerian charge d'affaires, and Azzedine Belkadi, another Algerian diplomat. Kidnapped in Baghdad on July 21, 2005. Al-Qaida in Iraq later announced that they had been killed.

-Ihab al-Sherif, 51, an Egyptian envoy seized in Baghdad on July 2, 2005. Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a statement that it killed the diplomat because Egypt intended to install a full ambassador in Iraq.

-Akihito Saito, 44, a Japanese security manager employed by the British company Hart GMSSCO. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed in a video May 9, 2005, that they took Saito hostage after ambushing a convoy of foreigners and Iraqi troops in western Iraq. A later statement said Saito died of wounds suffered in clashes after the ambush.

-Margaret Hassan, 59, director of CARE international in Iraq and a citizen of Britain, Ireland and Iraq. Abducted Oct. 19, 2004, in Baghdad. Makes videotaped appeals for the withdrawal of British troops and the release of female Iraqi prisoners. On Nov. 15, 2004, her family in London and Al-Jazeera television say they believe she was the hostage whose shooting death was shown on a videotape.

-Shosei Koda, 24, of Japan. Found decapitated, his body wrapped in an American flag, in Baghdad on Oct. 30, 2004. A video had said he was kidnapped by followers of al-Zarqawi.

-Three Macedonian contractors, Dalibor Lazarevski, Zoran Nastovski and Dragan Markovic. Abducted Aug. 21, 2004; Macedonian government confirmed their deaths the following October.

-Ramazan Elbu, a Turkish driver. A video posted Oct. 14, 2004, on the Web site of the Ansar al-Sunnah Army showed his beheading.

-Maher Kemal, a Turkish contractor. Internet posting Oct. 11, 2004, showed his beheading. A statement said he was taken by the Ansar al-Sunnah Army.

-British engineer Kenneth Bigley, 62. Kidnapped Sept. 16, 2004, with two American co-workers for Gulf Services Co. A video issued in al-Zarqawi's name threatened their lives unless the U.S. freed all Iraqi women in custody. The Americans were beheaded first; Bigley's decapitation was confirmed Oct. 10, 2004.

-Jack Hensley, 48, a civil engineer from Marietta, Ga. Seized Sept. 16, 2004; an Internet message posted Sept. 21 reported his killing by al-Zarqawi's followers.

-Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Mich. Kidnapped Sept. 16, 2004; video made public Sept. 20 showed his beheading by al-Zarqawi's followers.

-Akar Besir, a Turkish driver. Body found Sept. 21, 2004.

-Durmus Kumdereli, Turkish truck driver. Beheaded in video made public Sept. 13, 004. Video posted on a Web site that carries statements from al-Zarqawi's group.

-Twelve Nepalese construction workers. One beheaded and 11 shot in the head in a video made public Aug. 31, 2004. Killings claimed by Ansar al-Sunnah Army.

-Enzo Baldoni, Italian journalist. Reported killed Aug. 26, 2004; Islamic Army in Iraq claimed March 23, 2006, that it killed him.

-Murat Yuce of Turkey. Shot dead in video made public Aug. 2, 2004, by followers of al-Zarqawi.

-Raja Azad, 49, engineer, and Sajad Naeem, 29, driver, both Pakistani. Slain July 28, 2004. The Islamic Army in Iraq said they were killed because Pakistan was considering sending troops to Iraq.

-Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivaylo Kepov, 32, Bulgarian truck drivers. Al-Zarqawi's followers suspected of decapitating both men.

-Kim Sun-il, 33, South Korea translator. Beheaded June 22, 2004, by al-Zarqawi's group.

-Hussein Ali Alyan, 26, Lebanese construction worker. Found shot to death June 12, 2004. Lebanon said his killers sought ransom.

-Fabrizio Quattrocchi, 35, Italian security guard. Killed April 14, 2004. An unknown group, the Green Battalion, claimed responsibility.

-Nicholas Berg, 26, businessman from West Chester, Pa. Kidnapped in April 2004 and beheaded by a man identified as al-Zarqawi.

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I'm familiar with some of the names of the dead, but not many.

I've seen only a few of their photos, yet I can't count how many times I've seen the Abu Ghraib images.

In March, the New York Times did a front page story on a man tortured at the infamous prison, including a shot of the victim holding a photo showing him being abused.
How many times have you seen that photo of the hooded man? It's instantly recognizable as a picture from Abu Ghraib.




Of course, later the Times had to print a retraction and admit that they had misidentified the guy; but the publication did not back away from the importance of the man's story of torture.

My question:

Why don't the lib outlets highlight the stories of the 250 foreigners taken hostage in Iraq?

With forty confirmed dead, the fates of at least twenty remain unknown.

Yes, the media have latched on to a few stories of hostages in Iraq, and given them high profile status. For the most part though, the kidnapped, tortured, and killed are forgotten.

They are so quick to pull out the stale, old Abu Ghraib photos, but they devote next to no attention to atrocities committed by the insurgents.

If the lib channels flashed up video of the beheadings of hostages in Iraq as often as they drag out those Abu Ghraib pictures, the public might be more likely to support the defeat of the enemy rather than calling for retreat.
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Some good news.

Two German engineers kidnapped in Iraq were released Tuesday after more than three months in captivity, the German foreign minister said.

Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke appeared unharmed and in good health despite their ordeal, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. They were expected to return to Germany on Wednesday.

The statement did not describe the circumstances of their release. Steinmeier, at a news conference in Santiago, Chile, thanked "the support of our partners in Europe and America" for helping secure their freedom, the Associated Press reported.

"I ask for your understanding that the government can give no further details about this case or about the circumstances of the release," Reinhard Silberberg, the Foreign Ministry's state secretary in charge of the hostage task force, said at a news conference, the Reuters news service reported.

The engineers, both from a company based in Leipzig, were driving to a government-owned detergent plant outside Baiji in northern Iraq on Jan. 24 when they disappeared.

Their captors, a group calling itself Ansar al-Tawhid wa-Sunna, released four videos depicting Braeunlich and Nitzschke. In the final video, released April 9, they threatened to kill the men unless all detainees held by U.S. and allied forces in Iraq were released.