thedrifter
09-14-07, 07:41 PM
Insurgents release video of slain F-16 pilot
By Katarina Kratovac - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Sep 14, 2007 15:18:10 EDT
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2007/09/ap_gilbert_alqaida_070914/AF091407Gilbert_800_287.jpg
CAIRO, Egypt — An al-Qaida-linked insurgent group released a video Thursday showing the body of an Air Force pilot killed in Iraq last year, a photograph of his identification card and footage of his aircraft’s wreckage site, U.S. monitors said.
The video, more than 11 minutes long with English subtitles, was first obtained by the IntelCenter monitoring group in suburban Washington. The footage bears the insignia of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, and its al-Furqan media production wing, the monitors said.
Titled “The Missing,” the video shows the ID card photograph of Maj. Troy L. Gilbert, whose F-16CG crashed Nov. 27, 2006, some 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.
It also shows the pilot’s body laid out on a plastic sheet in an Air Force uniform, although his face is not shown, said Ben Venzke, head of IntelCenter. It was not immediately clear if the body was filmed at the crash site or elsewhere, Venzke said.
The U.S. military initially listed Gilbert as missing but later confirmed his death.
U.S. forces who investigated the crash have said insurgents reached the site before American forces could. At the time, video footage obtained by AP Television News showed what appeared to be the wreckage of his plane in a field and a tangled parachute nearby.
Venzke said there was no doubt the body and aircraft in the militant video obtained Thursday belonged to the U.S. pilot.
“They went to an extra effort to make the video accessible to Americans and the English-speaking world,” Venzke said, referring to the video’s English subtitles. “It’s essentially a propaganda piece and criticism of U.S. involvement in Iraq.”
The video contains a message to the American people and two clips, one from Osama bin Laden and a video of Abu Yahia al-Libi, the al-Qaida commander who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan, Venzke said.
Both of these clips are believed to be old, but IntelCenter had not confirmed that. The video also includes an audio clip of Omar al-Baghdadi, who heads the Islamic State in Iraq, Venzke said.
When Gilbert’s death was announced, the Air Force declined to say whether his body had been recovered, saying only that some remains had been found. Those remains likely enabled Gilbert’s subsequent identification.
Gilbert was assigned to the 309th Fighter Squadron. He is survived by his wife and five children, who live outside Phoenix.
Ellie
By Katarina Kratovac - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Sep 14, 2007 15:18:10 EDT
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2007/09/ap_gilbert_alqaida_070914/AF091407Gilbert_800_287.jpg
CAIRO, Egypt — An al-Qaida-linked insurgent group released a video Thursday showing the body of an Air Force pilot killed in Iraq last year, a photograph of his identification card and footage of his aircraft’s wreckage site, U.S. monitors said.
The video, more than 11 minutes long with English subtitles, was first obtained by the IntelCenter monitoring group in suburban Washington. The footage bears the insignia of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, and its al-Furqan media production wing, the monitors said.
Titled “The Missing,” the video shows the ID card photograph of Maj. Troy L. Gilbert, whose F-16CG crashed Nov. 27, 2006, some 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.
It also shows the pilot’s body laid out on a plastic sheet in an Air Force uniform, although his face is not shown, said Ben Venzke, head of IntelCenter. It was not immediately clear if the body was filmed at the crash site or elsewhere, Venzke said.
The U.S. military initially listed Gilbert as missing but later confirmed his death.
U.S. forces who investigated the crash have said insurgents reached the site before American forces could. At the time, video footage obtained by AP Television News showed what appeared to be the wreckage of his plane in a field and a tangled parachute nearby.
Venzke said there was no doubt the body and aircraft in the militant video obtained Thursday belonged to the U.S. pilot.
“They went to an extra effort to make the video accessible to Americans and the English-speaking world,” Venzke said, referring to the video’s English subtitles. “It’s essentially a propaganda piece and criticism of U.S. involvement in Iraq.”
The video contains a message to the American people and two clips, one from Osama bin Laden and a video of Abu Yahia al-Libi, the al-Qaida commander who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan, Venzke said.
Both of these clips are believed to be old, but IntelCenter had not confirmed that. The video also includes an audio clip of Omar al-Baghdadi, who heads the Islamic State in Iraq, Venzke said.
When Gilbert’s death was announced, the Air Force declined to say whether his body had been recovered, saying only that some remains had been found. Those remains likely enabled Gilbert’s subsequent identification.
Gilbert was assigned to the 309th Fighter Squadron. He is survived by his wife and five children, who live outside Phoenix.
Ellie