September 21, 2004 | Broadcast
The Abrams Report
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ABRAMS: President Bush talking about the slaughter of American hostage Eugene Armstrong in Iraq. Today a second American contractor, Jack Hensley, reportedly beheaded one day before his 49th birthday by the same terrorist kidnappers who murdered Armstrong.
I’ve seen the tape of Monday’s atrocity on the Internet. I want to tell you what I witnessed. A terrorist, believed to be Zarqawi reads a statement as Armstrong rocks back and forth, probably knew his fate. And then blood curdling screams I’ll never forget as a terrorist takes a knife to his neck. Why am I being so descriptive?
Because as we know, not one of the barbarians involved in this and the other savagery has been caught. I want to make sure we do not forget. But first, a report from NBC’S Ned Colt in Baghdad.
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NED COLT, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The report tonight on an Islamic Web site, claiming Jack Hensley, a contractor from Georgia, has been executed. The second American hostage killed in as many days. Tonight, a family friend spoke about their loss.
JAKE HALEY, FRIEND OF FAMILY: Jack is the friend that everybody wants to have. The world has lost a great human being.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
COLT: Last night, it was Eugene Armstrong who was killed. The video posted on another Web site. The Michigan native’s body was later found sprawled under a Baghdad overpass. The two Americans and a British colleague, Kenneth Bigley, all three contractors for a Gulf-based construction firm, were kidnapped from their home last Thursday in Baghdad.
CIA sources tell NBC News that an analysis of the execution video indicates that Armstrong’s killer is Jordanian-born insurgent Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Iraq’s most wanted insurgent is demanding the release of women held in American-run prisons here. The U.S. says there are only two, scientists in Saddam Hussein’s weapons program.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) 150 foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq almost all this year. At least 28 have been killed. Beheading hostages has proven a shocking tactic.
WALID PHARES, TERRORISM ANALYST: There’s a big difference between shooting a soldier and beheading a civilian. Terrorists know very well that in democratic societies, of course, beheading a civilian will have a greater impact.
COLT (on camera): The American and British governments say they won’t negotiate. Tonight, those holding Kenneth Bigley say he will be killed, too, unless their demands are met.
Ned Colt, NBC News, Baghdad.