The al-Qa'ida-affiliated "Islamic State of Iraq" apparently released a video claiming that it had executed two US soldiers missing since a May 12 ambush operation in Iraq's Babil province.
The video bears the hallmarks of earlier Islamic State of Iraq communications, and was apparently produced by its "al-Furqan Institute."
In the video, the narrator says that the "Islamic State of Iraq" executed an attack and captured three American soldiers, and chose "for a specific reason" not to kill them.
Following the capture, the video continues, the "Bush administration" sent over 4,000 troops to look for the missing soldiers" in order to feign pity and concern over its troops."
The searches were accompanied by acts of violence and arbitrary arrests by the US troops against the civilians in the area of the search, the video says.
The narrator says that the Islamic State warned the US to stop the search and the arrests, but that did not happen.
As a result, the Islamic State decided to execute the soldiers "in order to end the issue" and to "spare" the Iraqi civilians the brunt of the American search operation.
The statement is clearly trying to send a message to the US public, and invokes domestic US politics. The statement opens and closes with reference to the "Bush administration." Unlike past al-Qa'ida videos, the narration uses an "anti-Bush" rather than plain "anti-American" language. In several instances, the narrator refers to "atrocities" and "stupidities" as being committed by the "Bush administration" rather than "America".
Moreover, after his statement and announcement of the execution of the captured soldiers, the narrator speaks directly to the "mothers and wives" of the US soldiers and tells them that "had it not been for Bush," the men would be alive, and not thrown into a futile war.
The bodies of the US soldiers that the group claims to have executed will not be returned, the narrator says: "As you refuse to give us back our bodies, we shall not give you yours."
The video then shows what is presented as a clip of the briefing before the ambush operation near Mahmudiya on May 12. The footage is labeled "One of the field commanders explains the plan of battle." It should be noted that the masked speaker's presentation is more of an exhortation than a detailed battle plan, does give a description of the target, and says that they have chosen an under-protected patrol to attack, in order to take prisoners. It is at least a possibility that this segment is a reenactment of the event, not a recording of the actual meeting.
The video then turns to what appears to be shaky footage of the actual attack, filmed in the dark, then cutting to clips from media channels reporting on the attack after it occurred.
Possessions apparently taken from the Americans, including US and Iraqi currency, jewelry, and credit cards appear.
At the end, what appear to be the identification cards of two US soldiers, Pvt. Byron Wayne Fouty and Spc. Alex Ramon Jimenez, are shown, with the words "Bush is to blame for the loss of your prisoners" written in Arabic above.
At no point in the video are any of the three captured soldiers shown.
The third missing US soldier was earlier found dead in the area. His body was retrieved from the Euphrates River in Babil Province late last month.
The ambush on a US patrol near Mahmudiya on May 12 left five dead, four US soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter. A massive search operation was launched in the area for three other soldiers missing since the attack. The "Islamic State of Iraq" apparently issued a statement warning the US to call off the search, after claiming credit for the kidnapping and ambush.
