Jesus Christ! Why Start A Holy War In A Secular Nation?

“. . . the two soldiers were ‘slaughtered,’ suggesting they had been beheaded by Abu Hamza al-Muhajer. The Arabic word used in the statement, ‘nahr,’ is used for the slaughtering of sheep by cutting the throat and has been used in past statements to refer to beheadings.
. . .An Iraqi military official said the bodies showed signs of torture and were killed in a barbaric way.
The statement in the name of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, said: ‘We give the good news ... to the Islamic nation that we have carried God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders.’
‘With God Almighty's blessing, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer carried out the verdict of the Islamic court’ for the soldier's slaying, the statement said.”
"The news is going to be heartbreaking for my family," Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, told NBC's "Today" show. "Because the U.S. government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life," he said.
Sam Harris has something to say about this sort of thing in The End of Faith. I probably should have mentioned it earlier. Sacrifices like this may be inevitable. We should, however, elect leaders who select battles wisely and will not go on Crusades based on religion or because a secular leader wanted to kill his daddy years before. What's he going to do now-torture more prisoners?
“Thomas L. Tucker, 25—was one of the two U.S. soldiers kidnapped in Iraq last Friday, residents promptly tied yellow ribbons to trees and posted prayers along the one-way streets that cross through the town. Today, they learned that those prayers had not been answered. ...
U.S. officials have not yet formally confirmed the death . . . . Tucker's desire to serve his nation was made clear in a haunting telephone message that his parents released to the media on Monday: ‘Hey mama, um, I love you. I love you too dad,’ he said. ‘Just going to go on this little vacation ... Ill be back before I know it ... I'm going to be OK. Everything's going to be OK. I'm going to defend my country. Be proud of me... So I will call you as much as I can. You guys will never not know what I'm doing.’
Tucker was wrong about that. . . .
‘He was one of those quiet, polite, wonderful kids you enjoyed having around,’ said Stephen Hillis, Tucker's English teacher at Madras High School. ‘I never envisioned him being a military person. That wasn't his personality.’” From, “Devastated”A small Oregon town mourns the loss of a soldier By Winston Ross- Special to Newsweek