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October 16, 2005
Where is Ron Arad?
Ron Arad was born on May 5, 1958 in Israel. He is the son of Batya and the late Dov Arad, and is the oldest of their three sons. Arad, an air-force navigator in an F-4 Phantom jet, had just completed his first year of chemical engineering at The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa when he was called up for reserve duty.
On October 16, 1986, while on a mission over southern Lebanon, Lieutenant Colonel Ron Arad and his pilot were forced to parachute out of their Phantom jet due to a technical problem. While the pilot was rescued in a daring helicopter raid, Arad fell captive to terrorists belonging to the Amal organization.
About a year after his capture, Israel received photographs and letters from Arad’s captors.
Mustafa Dirani, the Amal security chief who allegedly captured Ron Arad when his plane crashed in Lebanon, reportedly broke away from the terrorist group in 1987, taking Arad with him. It is believed that Dirani then "sold" Arad to either Hizbullah or Iranian elements.
According to Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, as recently as 2003, three former Iranian diplomats and intelligence officials living in Europe claimed that Ron Arad is alive and being held in a prison near Tehran.
These reports cannot be verified.
One of them claimed that Arad was being held in a secret, heavily-guard prison near Tehran in the late 1990's. He claimed that he had access to Arad's files, saw Arad several times, and even exchanged words with him.
According to this Iranian, Arad tried to escape from his captivity while in Lebanon and was shot and wounded by his guards. He claims that in mid 1994, Arad was transferred via Syria to Iran. He claims that before being transferred, Arad underwent an operation to paralyze his legs in order to prevent him from escaping, and that as a result, Arad is confined to a wheelchair. He also claimed that Arad was hospitalized twice for heart problems.
Twenty years later, we know nothing about the fate of Ron Arad.
Or do we?
Nick Berg's body was found decapitated on May 8, 2004 on a Baghdad overpass by a U.S. military patrol. Berg's family was informed of his death on May 10. Military sources stated publicly at that time that Berg's body showed "signs of trauma", but did not disclose that he had been decapitated.
On May 11, 2004, the website of the militant Islamist group Muntada al-Ansar [6] allegedly broadcast a video with the opening title of "Abu Musa'b al-Zarqawi slaughters an American", which supposedly shows Berg being decapitated.
Is Nick Berg dead? Yes, and likely beheaded afterwards, but is the man seen in the beheading video Nick Berg?
Journalist Jamie Francis of the St. Petersburg Times ran into Nick at a gym in Baghdad's old Jewish quarter less than a month before this video was released. Nick was a regular at the gym and well known by its owner. Francis described Nick's ivory skin and thin red beard, adding that Nick looked the part of a construction worker, and spoke of Nick's muscular build.
The victim in the video does not have ivory skin or a red beard, he is not muscular at all, is much smaller than Nick Berg and he looks nothing like Nick Berg. However, he does look a lot like Ron Arad.
Question: How do you know an islamist is lying?Answer: His lips are moving.
The victim in the video did not stand up or even move his legs through anything that was happening. He sat on the floor, legs bent at the knees. When they flipped him over sideways, his legs did not move, the body just fell onto the floor. This lead some to believe that the victim was heavily sedated, however, this is consistent with reports that Arad had been disabled to prevent escape.
The quality of the movie is not consistent with today's technology, and voice-overs cannot be confirmed. The sound could easily have beed dubbed over. Despite the lies perpetuated by CNN, the voice over on the video has been confirmed as Zarqawi.
Coincidentally, Arad was in news at the time of the release of the beheading video. His remains were being used as a negotiation tool by Hezbullah, who were seeking an exchange of live terrorists for his remains. Israeli intelligence and defense officials have said that another purpose of the recent spate of media reports on Arad is to try to remove Iran from the picture. Hezbullah of course is Iran's hit squad.
The same day the execution video was posted on the internet, Hezbullah announced they had located Ron Arad's grave in Lebanon. A short time later, they handed over a piece of bone supposedly that of Ron Arad's. The bone was proved to be fake a few days later.
I don't believe in coincidence. Remember, these are the same people who released photos of a toy marine, claiming to have captured another member of the U.S. Military.
I believe Nick Berg is dead, I believe that Ron Arad is dead. What I do not believe is that Nick Berg was the man in the video, I believe that man was Ron Arad. I believe the video was made years ago, and withheld to be released at an opportune time. I believe that eventually, it was decided that a "Ron Arad" beheading was less valuable than a "Nick Berg" beheading and that the timing of the release of the video was a "crime of opportunity." As Moshe Dyan once said, "The Arabs will never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
I am not alone in my beliefs. You may look at the pictures, look at the video and draw your conclusion.
We may never know the truth behind the video.
When I think about Nick Berg and Ron Arad, I cannot help but think of Johnny "Mike" Spann who was attacked by a mob of Islamist prisoners and beaten to death, his body full of bites as though animals had been tearing at his flesh.
Know thy enemy.
Posted by LindaSoG at October 16, 2005 06:03 AM
Comments
Very interesting points, Linda. I have always felt that there is something unusual about that video--more so than other videos in which people have their heads sawed-off, of course. Upon the emergence of that video, I recall leftists across the intarweb being certain that it was staged by the CIA since it's inconceivable that there exist Islamic scumbags capable of such acts of evil.
Oh, I forgot; there is no such thing as evil. And al-Zarqawi is CIA fiction as well. And the Jews did 9/11. *sigh*
I was completely unaware of Ron Arad or his situation. Thank you for bringing him to our attention.
Posted by: D.J. M.B. at October 17, 2005 05:01 PM
Very interesting. it has sertenly changed my view on the story. i'll have to say, that the picture is kind of convinsing. And now I belive, that the man in the video, is Ron Arad, and that a voice over has been used.
Posted by: N.W.I at April 26, 2006 08:34 PM
Mike Span had bite marks? dang.
Posted by: jane at May 9, 2006 04:59 PM
Yes Jane, he did. Horrible, isn't it?
Posted by: LindaSoG at May 9, 2006 05:05 PM
You bring up alot of valid points. The bad guys have no reason to tell us the truth unless it will cause fear. Please keep me posted.
Posted by: Greta (Hooah Wife) at May 9, 2006 05:17 PM
Holy crap, Linda. I had never heard of the Berg/Arad theory, not even from you.
I remember when he was kidnapped, and for all these years I've wondered what's become of him. I hope you're wrong. Of course, the thought of him suffering at the hands of these animals for all these years is just as horrifying.
Posted by: Beth at July 29, 2007 01:37 AM