Sick …and revealing of their desparation:
A photograph posted on an Islamist Web site appears to be that of an action figure and not a U.S. soldier being held hostage.
Liam Cusack, the marketing coordinator for Dragon Models USA, said the figure pictured on the Web site is believed to be “Special Ops Cody,” a military action figure the company manufactured in late 2003.
“It pretty much looks exactly like the same person,” he said.
Cusack said he was contacted Tuesday morning by one of his retailers, who informed him that the alleged hostage appeared to be one of the company’s action figures.
“I thought it was a joke at first,” he said.
But after reading a report on a news Web site about a U.S. soldier allegedly being captured, “I looked at it and said, ‘It does look like one of our action figures.’”
“Cody” is an action figure the company made for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which supplies U.S. military bases worldwide with various items. The doll was meant to look like a U.S. soldier who might be serving in Iraq, Cusack said.
On the Islamist Web site, a group calling itself the Al Mujahedeen Brigade, posted a photograph of a man it claimed was a captured U.S. soldier named John Adam, and it threatened to behead him if Iraqi prisoners are not released by U.S. forces.
Staff Sgt. Nick Minecci of the U.S. military’s press office in Baghdad told The Associated Press that “no units have reported anyone missing.”
The photograph showed the figure against a black flag with white lettering reading, “God is great, there is no god but Allah.” A U.S. military assault rifle was pointed at its head. It appears that “rifle” was part of the plastic weaponry that came with the action figure. […]
But the really funny part is that an Associated Press story appears to show that they fell right into the terrorists hands and bought the story. Here’s a snippet of their story:
Iraqi militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken an American soldier hostage and threatened to behead him in 72 hours unless the Americans release Iraqi prisoners. The U.S. military said it was investigating, but the claim’s authenticity could not be immediately confirmed.
The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried militants’ statements, included a photo of what that statement said was an American soldier, wearing desert fatigues and seated on a concrete floor with his hands tied behind his back. The figure in the photo appeared stiff and expressionless, and the photo’s authenticity could not be confirmed.
A gun barrel was pointed at his head, and behind him on the wall is a black banner emblazoned with the Islamic profession of faith, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet.”
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Marine Sgt. Salju K. Thomas, said he had no information on the claim but “we are currently looking into it.”
A statement posted with the picture suggested the group was holding other soldiers. […]
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