South Korean Beheaded

the beeb's got the whole sordid story right here.

S Korean hostage beheaded in Iraq


An earlier tape showed Mr Kim pleading for his life
A South Korean hostage threatened with execution in Iraq has been killed, officials in Seoul confirmed.
The beheaded body of translator Kim Sun-il, 33, was later recovered west of Baghdad, US and South Korean officials said.

Mr Kim was working for a security company supplying the US military when he was abducted last week near Falluja.

South Korea rejected demands that it end its military role in Iraq in return for Mr Kim's life.

i hope this galvanizes support against the insurgents... probably won't but....

the economist has an article this week (subscriber only) that is fascinating...it shows that sadr and the militants are slowly losing ground as public support has dried up for the insurgency because....the iraqis are seen as the leaders now...allawi is making demands, and generally (all staged, i'm sure) being a pain in the US' ass.

i hope they have a public falling out (wink, wink) so that iraq will at least give the appearance of being sovereign. real sovereignty will come later, but at least they can put the violence to bed for a bit...

this will also divide the foreign fighters from the homegrown type. the foreigners will no longer be fighting the US, but seen to be fighting the iraqis, and i'm betting the iraqis will be kicking their guests out soon. time, and unbiased reporting, will tell.