It's all over the news today - Al Qaeda has released a video it says shows the corpses of U.S. Soldiers murdered last month. I was waiting for this one, and unfortunately, it's here.

There's also, typically, a sadly predictable twist - they're now saying that these Soldiers were murdered in retaliation for the alleged rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman by a U.S. Soldier.

And the media frenzy has begun:

Terrorists: Soldiers Murdered as Revenge (Fox News)
"Barbaric" video (Reuters)
Group: Soldiers killed over rape-slaying (AP)

The U.S. military response has been succinct to this point:

Title: TERRORIST VIDEO RELEASED
Release Date: 7/11/2006
Release Number: 06-07-01P
Description:
BAGHDAD — Terrorists released a mutilation video Monday, presumably showing two Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers who were taken captive June 16 and killed sometime later near Yusufiyah.

MND-B condemns the release of the video in the strongest of terms; it demonstrates the barbaric and brutal nature of the terrorists and their complete disregard for human life.

Coalition Forces remain resolute in our in commitment to catch the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to justice.

And the Moonbat Anti-war crowd is sure to start the chorus of "they got what they deserved..." So did they?

The murdered Heroes have not been directly linked, in any way, with the alleged crime - other than happening to be in the same unit.

This is what Al Qaeda says our Heroes deserved: One body had been decapitated. Both were bloodied and with flesh missing from several parts of their bodies. Several shots showed the bodies being trodden on by unidentified men.

This is the justification: "We present this production, of the remains of the bodies of the two American soldiers kidnapped near Yusufiya, as revenge for our sister whose honor was violated by a soldier from the same regiment," (Mujahideen Shura Council)

Really? So how, exactly, do you justify what YOU do to innocent Iraqis?

The alleged attack occurred in March. Supposedly, the locals knew. And yet, Al Qaeda waits until June to seek revenge - for the sake of people they kill every day?

Apparently, in Iraq, there has still been "limited public mention of her killing." No one was yelling to the rafters. Even Al Qaeda didn't say initially that it was a revenge killing...they didn't use that excuse until, of course, AFTER the news of the investigation was released in the media - after a US SOLDIER reported the incident. Pretty convenient for Al Qaeda, isn't it? You murder US Soldiers, tick off the Americans, who start hunting you down with renewed vigor, and then the news hits that there's an investigation.

It's a gift, really - now you have a 'reason.' No one's going to condone the murder of an Iraqi girl and her family, no one's going to condone rape. And if you say 'revenge,' it sure does obscure the issue, doesn't it? Even if the Soldiers you brutally murdered are, by all accounts, absent of any link to the girl's death, you can get a whole lot of mileage out of this one, especially in the US media, which as a rule already hates the military.

Hmmmm....so is this a revenge killing? Or an attack on targets of opportunity, Al Qaeda's knowledge of the anti-war crowd's efforts to sabotage the efforts of our Heroes, and their love of video, combined?

I, for one, don't believe for one second that Al Qaeda gives a rat's patootie about this girl. And anyone who believes anything they have to say about anything has some serious issues.

The Soldiers allegedly involved in the girl's death are being tried. That's how the American military justice system works.

But the murder of US Soldiers, the torture and murder of US Soldiers, especially Soldiers COMPLETELY unrelated to the alleged attack, is not justice. It's yet another barbaric crime, perpetrated by the same scum that do the same worldwide.

The only way to stop Al Qaeda is to turn a deaf ear to their lies and distortions, and to remove them from society - permanently.