Talk:Iraqi group claim deaths of U.S. soldiers avenge rape, murder of Iraqi girl

title and more
the stated motives of newsmakers are usually not suitable material for the title. they almost always express a POV and length restrictions mean that other POVs can't be accomodated in it. much better to have the title describe the event and the lead paragraph describe the stated motive. exceptions are concievable, for instance when the stated motive is itself unusual or marks a big changed from previous stance. similarly, if the statement itself is the news event (press conference or the next bin-laden video-release). as far as i know, insurgents (in iraq or elsewhere) have always been claiming that their actions avenge wrongdoing by the establishment. so i dont think this article qualifies in the above tests. suggest headline which reports the event - terrorists release video of purported dead US soldiers.

incidentally, is there anything to lead us to think that these are in fact, US soldiers? are there missing or abducted servicemen who may concievably be the ones shown? the military's acknowledgement (or otherwise) of the identity of the dead needs to be explicitly and prominently mentioned, (let's keep in mind that if there are missing personnel, then there are people awaiting news of them. and any official word on events like this will be of great importance). Doldrums 05:15, 12 July 2006 (UTC)


 * All very good points, Doldrums. Some might say the killers are attempting to excuse acts committed for entirely different, political reasons. On this view they don't care about the crime more than anyone else, they just want to make political capital for their cause out of the rape and murders. If the military have yet to annouce missing/dead it might be they have dressed up dead civilians in stolen/imitation US soldier uniform. Ealturner 12:52, 12 July 2006 (UTC)


 * "Iraqi group claim deaths of U.S. soldiers avenge rape, murder of Iraqi girl" I've changed the title. This should not be a controversial decision so please discuss this title before reverting or changing it again. Ealturner 13:01, 12 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Added the word "claim" and the "Iraqi group" instead of the name to make title shorter. Ealturner 13:02, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

"Iraqi group claim U.S. soldiers killed avenge rape, murder of Iraqi girl" This title would be clearer still. Agree? Ealturner 13:05, 12 July 2006 (UTC)


 * There was a big story last month which we didn't carry about 2 US sioldiers kidnapped and killed. These are the ones they are talking about I think?

Neutralizer 13:30, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * i think those two appear to be the only possibilities. they are identified by name in the stars and stripes article. buti would be careful in attributing any claims of identification back to the sources, and *ensure* that the sources *did* say what we say there're saying. (for instance, i did not find the "identification" stars alluded to, during a cursory glance thro' the SITE publication). Doldrums 14:03, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * here's the official response, which suggests, but does not confirm that the video shows captured soldiers. Doldrums 14:10, 12 July 2006 (UTC)