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US Captive Held By Islamic State Writes Parents "I'm Afraid To Die"
Jerusalem Post ^ | 10-6-14 | NA

Posted on 10/06/2014 12:58:27 PM PDT by Colehill1999

The parents of a US aid worker held hostage by Islamic State militants on Sunday released photographs of their son and parts of a letter he wrote them from captivity in which he says he is scared to die but at peace with his belief.

Peter Kassig, 26, was taken captive a year ago while doing humanitarian work in Syria, his family has said. He was threatened in an Islamic State video issued on Friday that showed the beheading of a British aid worker.

Ed and Paula Kassig of Indianapolis, Indiana, appealed for his release on Saturday in a video message.

On Sunday, they called for people to use the name he has taken since converting to Islam, Abdul-Rahman Kassig.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Indiana
KEYWORDS: abdulrahmankassig; beheading; indianapolis; isis; kassig; peterkassig
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To: ansel12
So far everyone here is the ultimate internet hero, telling us how they would handle being the prisoners of the Islamic enemy, and that they would not be trying to live.

Easy to be a Christian soldier behind a keyboard.

81 posted on 10/06/2014 2:25:32 PM PDT by steelwheels
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To: Responsibility2nd
Would you also tell your captors to spare your life in exchange for giving them the OK to kill you spouse? How about your kids/family/parents/loved ones etc?

Ever hear the term "apples and oranges" bro? Sure you have.........

Yours is the most ignorant statement in terms of relativism to the topic being discussed that I have ever read........Sheesh!

With that being said, do you also condemn the Vietnam POW's who signed the letters printed up by the VC, condemning the U.S. involvement in Vietnam......?????

82 posted on 10/06/2014 2:29:52 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (Don't harsh my buzz homie......)
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To: txrefugee
For all we know, he might have been asked to take up arms against the Syrians, and the US, as a way of proving his loyalty and conversion. After refusing, they put him back in the orange jump suit.

So, who knows what his conversion was about. All we know is that ISIS still considers him an enemy.

Either way, getting captured by ISIS, or joining the jihad is an almost sure-fire way to ensure an early death.

83 posted on 10/06/2014 2:31:15 PM PDT by Repealthe17thAmendment
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To: Hot Tabasco

Read Matthew 10:37 and Luke 14:26

If you would sell out your soul and accept going to Hell by denying Jesus, you certainly would give up your own precious family to the beheaders if they spared you, right?

And if you wouldn’t?

Well, pal. You’re STILL going to Hell.


84 posted on 10/06/2014 2:38:17 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: LeoWindhorse

You got that from the movies as well about all Rangers being martials art experts.

Martial Arts and hand to hand are good things to know, but you don’t normally karate your way out of being a prisoner of a military force, I just don’t know what kind of wild movie visions are in your head.

If my memory is correct, Green Beret Nick Rowe may have used some hand to hand to escape as a POW, but that took five years of captivity before that situation arose, and Nick Rowe was a vastly more advanced soldier and individual than this ex soldier PFC who was running an aid organization.


85 posted on 10/06/2014 2:41:39 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: steelwheels

I have always been an adrenaline junky and always loved risk and life threatening experiences, but once I was to be killed by a gang in Mexico and there was nothing that I could do about it, six young killers were waiting outside to kill me with knives when I left, while two older professional killers were inside with me and the boss, as he and I discussed things.

It was entirely different from other types of danger, there was no adrenaline no excitement, it was just flat, hopeless, and helpless, the emotional drain is amazing, as in your head you explore every avenue (of which there is almost zero) and instantly run into dead ends, there is no rush to enjoy, no adventure in the making, and no exciting death to face, it is just emotionally flat, like a sadness.

What I went through only lasted for hours, but this guy is living it, although I have had a microscopic taste of what he is experiencing, I don’t stand a snowball’s chance of being able to know what he is enduring internally and how that is shaping and controlling his thoughts and emotions as the draining months roll on, nor does anyone else on this thread.

People should also realize that there is no reason to think that Christianity has any meaning for this guy, so all this talk about what they would do, or hope that they COULD do, night have zero relevance for this individual’s story.


86 posted on 10/06/2014 2:58:51 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: Colehill1999

You mean to tell me a former US Army Ranger can’t deal with these punks and get away from them some how?


87 posted on 10/06/2014 3:19:47 PM PDT by jmacusa (Liberalism defined: When mom and dad go away for the weekend and the kids are in charge.)
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To: ansel12

The replies from the Keyboard Kommando Korps on here are shameful. It takes a real hard-ass to go around singing about what they would do if they were in the same situation. As the mother of a PFC ( my boy just finished BCT at Benning) I thank you for setting them straight. I can’t imagine the hell this young man and his parents have gone through—and thank God all his “Christian” detractors can damn him to hell from the safety of their living room. It makes me wonder what kind of grave dancing these ghouls will display when this young man meets what is most likely to be his ultimate fate. Sickening.


88 posted on 10/06/2014 3:29:41 PM PDT by hcmama
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To: hcmama

Something interesting to read, about being captives of monsters that don’t care about you (any of us) as a person and our bravado is reading about the white military POWs of the Japanese.

It is incredibly depressing and humbling.


89 posted on 10/06/2014 3:48:26 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: TigersEye

Obviously, he didn’t convert enough, or they converted him to the wrong flavor! :-)


90 posted on 10/06/2014 4:01:09 PM PDT by SgtHooper (Anyone who remembers the 60's, wasn't there!)
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To: SgtHooper

Contracts with psychopaths are hard to count on or enforce.


91 posted on 10/06/2014 4:06:48 PM PDT by TigersEye (ISIS is the tip of the spear. The spear is Islam.)
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To: Responsibility2nd
Well, pal. You’re STILL going to Hell.

I'M GOING to HELL?

Oh really? How do you know this, you got God on your speed dial? You're nothing but another bible thumping moron who gives legitimate Christians a bad name..........

Go rassle with your snakes or heal the blind at your tent revival meetings..........and please, please, don't beg me for a love offering in return for a prayer towel.

92 posted on 10/06/2014 5:08:28 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (Don't harsh my buzz homie......)
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To: Colehill1999

I know this will sound like a stupid insurance commercial, but it needs to be said. If you’re traveling to a sh*thole where your *ss might get captured by the bad guys, buy ransom and kidnap insurance. It’s more commonly known as executive insurance. If you are nabbed, the insurance company will send a “crisis response team,” real bad*sses - former CIA, spec-ops, Marines Airborne, SEALS - to rescue your butt.

Because you know that our crappy government will do nothing to bring you home safe and alive. It’s your responsibility to be certain all bases are covered.


93 posted on 10/06/2014 5:12:01 PM PDT by sergeantdave
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To: Colehill1999

I saw his parents on news this morning, his Mom had her head covered with a scarf....first thought, show the enemy you love Islam and maybe they will spare their son’s life..like Bergdahl...


94 posted on 10/06/2014 6:32:03 PM PDT by Engedi
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To: ansel12
There are actually three ranks for private, just as there are two for Lieutenant, 2nd and 1st. For the enlisted at the bottom of that rank structure is the new recruit private E-1 and a slick or empty collar. The next one is the venerable "mosquito wings" private E-2 and the pfc or Private First Class is an E-3.

The usual time for advancement goes like this for the lower enlistment levels: Promotion to E-2: Army -- 6 months active duty & commander's recommendation.

Promotion to E-3: Army -- 12 months active duty, 4 months as an E-2, and commander's recommendation.

Promotion to E-4: Army -- 24 months active duty, 6 months as an E-3, and commander's recommendation

Source

95 posted on 10/06/2014 7:03:00 PM PDT by ExSoldier (Stand up and be counted... OR LINE UP AND BE NUMBERED...)
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To: ExSoldier

I came out of basic a PFC, are you telling me that guys today are spending almost 4 years in service and becoming Airborne Rangers and going to war, and never becoming more than a PFC?


96 posted on 10/06/2014 7:11:47 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: Hot Tabasco; ansel12; dennisw; TigersEye; Colehill1999
Folks, I cannot validate the prior information. The closest I can find is the quote from his parents:

“His friends say that Abdul-Rahman’s journey toward Islam began before he was taken captive. Along with his Muslim colleagues, he observed the month-long Ramadan fast in July-August 2013 prior to his capture, and spoke of the great impact this spiritual practice had on him. He had also worked and lived alongside Syrian Muslims before his capture and had come to admire and respect them greatly.”

http://www.wthr.com/story/26709673/2014/10/05/kassig-family-explains-sons-conversion-to-islam

I was wrong and I apologize for referencing a “years before” conversion. However, I stand by my comments about letting him suffer at the hands of his “brothers.” Anyone observant enough to follow 30 days straight of Islamic tradition (fasting all day to eat only through the night, prayer participation and Quran teaching) is, in fact, someone more than a little sympathetic to Islam.

97 posted on 10/06/2014 7:30:19 PM PDT by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: ConservativeMind; JudyinCanada; LeoWindhorse

A ping to read post #97, which I forgot to include you both on.


98 posted on 10/06/2014 7:32:52 PM PDT by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: ConservativeMind

I saw the Daily Mail article where one of the sub headlines said that he had become Muslim and then gone to the Middle East, but it appeared to be a mistake, and that version never showed up in the article.


99 posted on 10/06/2014 7:40:39 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: ConservativeMind

Look at this headline before it gets changed.

“How former U.S. Army Ranger threatened with beheading fought in Iraq and then converted to Islam and returned to Middle East to run Syrian aid group”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2780102/The-former-U-S-Iraq-war-veteran-feared-ISIS-victim-Peter-Kassig-threatened-beheading-Alan-Henning-video-seized-running-Syria-aid-group.html


100 posted on 10/06/2014 7:45:26 PM PDT by ansel12
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