Enthauptungen mit pseudo-religiösem Touch

--- "Allah u akbar" (Gott ist groß) schreihen die islamistischen Terroristen regelmäßig dumpf und dunkel nach dem gemächlichen Absäbeln der Köpfe ihrer Opfer. Alles erinnert zusammen mit dem Vortrag von Forderungen und Erklärungspredigten vor der blutigen Tat in Arabisch sehr an religiöse Rituale. Doch dieser sakrale Bezug ist reiner Kitsch und ein Pseudo-Arrangement im Kampf um die Aufmerksamkeit der Zuschauer im Osten und Westen, schreibt der Christian Science Monitor und beruft sich auf Islam-Kenner: They're meant to be shocking, and they are. The decapitation murders of hostages in Iraq and Saudi Arabia represent an escalation of tactics by Al Qaeda-linked groups in their campaign to sow fear and helplessness among their opponents. But it may be important to remember that the motivation for these brutal acts is modern. There is nothing Islamic, or traditionally Middle Eastern, about beheadings, say experts. Instead, they represent another adaptation by a cruelly imaginative terrorist movement, the next new thing from people who pioneered the use of hijacked airliners as weapons. "There's nothing particularly religious about this," says Asma Afsaruddin, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Notre Dame. "It's absolutely morally reprehensible." ... While Al Qaeda and its allies may claim religious justification for their actions, there is nothing in the Koran justifying beheadings. Indeed, there is nothing in the literature of mainstream Islam that justifies the killing of innocents in any form, say experts. Die Geheimdienste schauen dem Treiben derweil eher fassungslos zu: Referring in particular to the killing of Mr. Johnson in Saudi Arabia, a country where security forces were actively seeking his kidnappers, former CIA official Stanley Bedlington says the group involved has demonstrated its capabilities. "It takes some organization, knowledge, and skill to pull this off," he says. "They have no defectors among their ranks, no leaks, no forms of communication that are intercepted."