Remains Of 2 U.S. Iraq Contractors Found

Men Were Among 6 Western Contractors Kidnapped Over A Year Ago

(AP)  Authorities have recovered the remains of two U.S. contractors who were kidnapped in Iraq more than a year ago, the FBI said Monday.

The men were among six Western contractors kidnapped in separate incidents. Their disappearance received new attention earlier this month when the severed fingers of several men were sent to the U.S. military in Iraq.

The FBI identified the contractors Monday as Ronald Withrow of Roaring Springs, Texas, and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Mo.

Withrow worked for JPI Worldwide when he was kidnapped in January 2007. Young worked for Crescent Security Group when he was kidnapped in November 2006.

The FBI said it had notified the families of the two men.

Withrow's mother, Barbara Alexander, said an FBI agent delivered news of her son's death Sunday night.

"You just can't really be prepared for any news like that, especially when you had hope that your son is alive," Alexander said by phone from her home in Afton, Texas. "I know he's safe from all harm now. We're bringing him home. That was what our main concern was. And that they're not going to hurt him anymore."

Alexander read from what she said was the final entry in a notebook in which she addressed her son directly.

"I know God has taken you home. I'm just someone that's taken care of you," Alexander said. "It's hard to believe that you're gone. But you're in a more peaceful place than here. I'll see you when I can. Wait for me at the gates of heaven."

Young's mother, Sharon DeBrabander, said Monday that she had heard the reports but then said her family had been told by the FBI not to comment. She said she may be able to respond in a day or two.

In a brief statement, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the kidnapping was under investigation. The statement offered no details about the other missing men.

The other men still missing are: Paul Reuben, of Minneapolis; Jonathon Cote, of Getzville, N.Y.; Joshua Munns, of Redding, Calif.; and Bert Nussbaumer, of Vienna, Austria. A finger from each was received by the military recently. Young was abducted with those men but none of his fingers was sent to the U.S. military.

Cote's father, Francis Cote, said he had spoken to the families of Withrow and Young.

"We feel very sad that this is how it turned out. We wish it turned out a better way," he said from his home in Getzville, near Buffalo, N.Y.

He said he was holding out hope that his son was still alive but the recent discovery had dampened those hopes.

"Let me say this, I'm not as optimistic as I was in the past," he said.

[libsrweak]

Your idea isn''''t as radical as mine.
I suggested we take our elected leaders, line them up against a wall and shoot them. Then elect a new group and inform them this is our new incentive plan.


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Posted by ranger1948 at 07:57 AM : Mar 25, 2008
+ report abuse


****

thats been done..castro got you beat..or was it saddam? wait hitler?? Il Kim? your plans sounds really familiar..

[libsrweak]

man!!! reading these posts from these so called peace-loving. rights-protecting LIBERALS makes me feel like a fly on the wall inside HITLER''s bunker.

its a stur-studded discussion from a hugo chavez groupie all the way to an osama bin laden liberal bit ches..

bunch of gimme gimme..its not me its not me..whine whine whine tough guys

[feelfree1]

ranger1948,

Re: "I like it when everyone remains rational, then maybe we can listen and learn from each other"

Agreed. Good night.

[ranger1948]

It is mifnight here so i am going to bed.

[ranger1948]

feelfree1
Glad you enjoyed it. I like it when everyone remains rational, then maybe we can listen and learn from each other

[feelfree1]

brianbwb, ranger1948, AJMarine1,

Interesting discussion.

Cheers.

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
Your idea isn''t as radical as mine.
I suggested we take our elected leaders, line them up against a wall and shoot them. Then elect a new group and inform them this is our new incentive plan.

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
I would gladly lead the tour to the cave.

[brianbwb-2009]

We need a president who supports a two-child family on a $700 per week salary, that does not want the job, but has the self esteem to do any job assigned to the best of their ability.

At the end of the term, a bonus would be paid, commensurate with performance...; )

[brianbwb-2009]

"My biggest thing now is i do not see a candidate that is worthy of being president. Same as four years ago. I liked Ron Paul but o one took him serious." Posted by ranger1948

I am of the opinion that only people who have serious ego issues would actually want to be president. The only reason they are not committed to an asylum is that they somehow find the money to run, and their mental problems are then not recognized as the delusions of grandeur that they really are. Most would-be presidents are nuts to begin with.

The office of the president should be returned to the status of civil servant, as it is supposed to be, not an ersatz monarchy, as it has become.

My only problem with Paul is that while his views on the gold standard were based on an accurate assessment of history, his solution would have plunged so many into poverty, as we don''t have enough gold to go back to it, and he doesn''t have an answer for the ensuing anarchy.

Also I am very allergic to some of his supporters. (not yourself, mind you)

Maybe the candidates should visit the cobra in the cave to divine the future of their economic policies.

[ranger1948]

I have found a village near the laos border where they have a medicine woman. Every year she goes to a cave where a huge king cobra lives. He stands taller than her and when he tries to strike she pushes him back with her hand. When he tires he drops lower to the ground, then she kisses him on the head. If she does not get bitten then it signifies they will have a good crop that year. Unfortunately this used to be her sisters job until she was bitten and died from the cobra. I am planning a trip there next month in hopes of seeing this ceremony.

[ranger1948]

I think we need a president that will pull us out of Iraq and address the problems we have at home. I didn''t trust obama from the start and now i think i was right not to trust him. I was leaning towards hillary then she offered a joint ticket with obama. I don''t want mccain because he will keep us in Iraq. I am not against obama because he is black or that he might be a Muslim. I am against him because he has aligned himself with a racist church. We cannot afford a racist of any color in the white house. That and his wife has proven to me that she is also a racist with her comments. obama comes off as unpatriotic when he will not put his hand on his heart during our national anthem. I don''t care if he doesn''t wear the american flag on a lapel pin, Most Americans don''t.

[brianbwb-2009]

"They qacted like house cats but in the jungle we would have been lunch." Posted by ranger1948

They are house cats, just big ones, having been as domesticated as any cat can be. I have taken that trip, and the guide explained that those cats are so used to being fed that they no longer hunt, they just hang out near the temples and beg for food. Typical of cats and monkeys.

I do laugh at the running feud between the cats and the monkeys, the cats chase the monkeys up to the high places, jealous of the monkeys greater reward for begging, the monkeys throw, er, well you know the rest. I have even seen the big cats tear into a durian, they like them as much as I do.

As for "kill ''em and cook ''em", I can''t bring myself to kill cobras, or watch them be killed, but I must admit the taste of grilled cobra is quite pleasant, just a little salt, with small bites of green chili, and hold the bumbu (peanut sauce)

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
You may be right again, i have always considered myself an optimist. I think it pulled me thru a lot of tight situations in the war and since. Like i said before i fought for the right to have an opinion for myself and for everyone in our country. Even if we don''t agree i can still respect a different opinion. My biggest thing now is i do not see a candidate that is worthy of being president. Same as four years ago. I liked Ron Paul but o one took him serious.

[brianbwb-2009]

brianbwb

"I fear we will see a lot more victims before we get out of this mess." Posted by ranger1948

See we do agree on much, I just have a somewhat less "grey area" view, many posters here seem to be of the "my country right or wrong, and if wrong, pretend it is right" type. I advocate "my country when right, but my duty to life is to not accept the wrong, but to always call and work for it to be set right."

I have the impression that your position leans more toward the latter than the former, only I am a bit more cynical.

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
My oldest son feels the same way, kill em and cook em. I think they are a beautiful animal. I got to hold a ren foot long king cobra at a village near the Laos border that worships the king. Budhists teach to live in harmony with all things. I went to a monastery 3 hours north of Bqangkok where they allow wild animals to enter the monastery. They can come and go as they please and the monks will give them food. The only rule is no violence in the monastery and the animals abide by it. The amazing part of the trip was they have bengal tigers. They let you sit on a rock with the tigers and get your picture taken. They qacted like house cats but in the jungle we would have been lunch.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by ranger1948

In fact, cobra blood, mixed with the bile (yuk) is a popular aphrodisiac. I don''t understand why they should need it, the women here are among the most beautiful in the world, but hey, whatever.

But because it is regarded so, Indonesians will not let one go free if it is spotted. While I also respect our snake brethren, I can say at least there is little wastage, the venom glands are dried, and also used in traditional medicine. Just about all of the animal is used, the bones are ground and added to the family wine stock.

These people are not afraid at all of them, they consider finding one good fortune. In fact, the case of "fear" is reversed, the snakes have "learned" to get out of dodge whenever they sense the footsteps of humans, even burrowing underground if they can not get away by another route, which is not a usual trait of these creatures.

[ranger1948]

ajmarine
It was good talking with you.

[ajmarine1]

ranger1948,

I have got to go, good luck to you and yours.

Live Long and Prosper.

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
I fear we will see a lot more victims before we get out of this mess.