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R.I.P. Hostage Kayla Mueller

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Tue Feb 10, 2015 at 10:21:11 AM EST
Tags: ISIS, Syria, Iraq (all tags)
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Kayla Mueller's parents and the White House have confirmed that the ISIS hostage and aid worker is dead. ISIS claimed a few days ago she died in a Jordanian air strike.

ISIS privately sent the confirmation to her parents, but the details have not been disclosed as yet.

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    R.I.P. Hostage Kayla Mueller | 21 comments (21 topical)

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    Sad News (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by Jim in St Louis on Tue Feb 10, 2015 at 01:26:20 PM EST
    It's very sad for her family, she was held captive for over a year, and there were some hopeful messages at various points of her captivity.
     No way to tell if the IS story of her dying in a Jordanian attack is true.  It is telling that IS would promote that version, I think the King of Jordan flying combat missions has been very favorably seen in the ME, and IS is trying to counter that.   Of course even if her death is a direct result of a Jordanian bomb,  the responsibility for her death is with IS.  


    A young lady who wanted to do good (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Feb 10, 2015 at 01:47:35 PM EST
    Killed by those who do evil.

    A sad story on top of too many sad stories.

    Does anybody else (5.00 / 4) (#7)
    by sj on Wed Feb 11, 2015 at 12:01:14 PM EST
    Get a chill up their spine at this:
    ISIS privately sent the confirmation to her parents...
    I'm not sure I want to know what that confirmation consisted of.

    Kayla Mueller's kind and gentle nature (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by Politalkix on Wed Feb 11, 2015 at 10:13:31 PM EST
    made her go to the Middle East to help children there. She is the best that human kind can offer. May her soul rest in peace. link

    Where's the body??? (none / 0) (#3)
    by Uncle Chip on Tue Feb 10, 2015 at 02:52:43 PM EST
    ISIS claimed a few days ago she died in a Jordanian air strike.

    If she had died in that Jordanian air strike as alleged then this criminal syndicate would have wasted no time delivering her body immediately and publicly to the Red Crescent or Doctors Without Borders for immediate autopsy to verify the forensic evidence of death by Jordanian ordinance.

    But it's been 5 days now and the proof of death that intelligence community relies upon is an email and photograph???

    What am I missing??? Where's the body???

     

    Why do you need to see the body? (5.00 / 2) (#9)
    by Zorba on Wed Feb 11, 2015 at 04:07:07 PM EST
    If the parents have received enough proof of her death to hold a funeral for her, what business is it of yours to see the proof yourself?
    Most parents hold out hope until they receive some pretty substantive proof that their child is dead.
    Who are you to demand proof?  
    Are you unable to respect their wishes, and their mourning?
    If not, I feel sorry for you.

    Parent
    Right!!! (2.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Uncle Chip on Wed Feb 11, 2015 at 11:11:24 PM EST
    There's a reason why courts, insurance companies, governments, militaries, etc all require the physical examination of the bodily remains before pronouncing someone dead.

    Emails and photographs, especially those sent by the kidnappers themselves, are no substitute for physical examination of the remains.

    But by all means don't let a little thing like the absence of physical proof that she is dead keep you from attending her funeral.

    Parent

    So, you're a court? (none / 0) (#12)
    by Zorba on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 05:39:50 AM EST
    An insurance company?  A government?  The military?
    Are her parents any of these?
    Do they need to have the approval of any of these entities, or of you, in order to have her funeral?


    Parent
    funeral (none / 0) (#14)
    by Uncle Chip on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 08:59:29 AM EST
    Do they need to have the approval of any of these entities, or of you, in order to have her funeral?

    Hold all the funerals you want -- but a funeral is not proof of death and it is not a substitute for a death certificate signed by a medical expert who examined the dead body.

    Deaths are certified by medical professionals and coroners -- not by parents or family members or  terrorists they are in contact with half a world away.

    Faking one's own death or someone else's has become a modern day cottage industry -- just ask your local police or an insurance agent or a targeted ISIS terrorist. And that's not out of the realm of possibility here.

    I wonder if there is or was an insurance policy on her and if they think the insurance company will pay out based on an email from her captors????

    Let's see if anyone is willing to sign the death certificate based on no evidence of her death.

    Parent

    No one needs offer (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by sj on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 01:31:12 PM EST
    proof of death to satisfy you.

    It. Is. None. Of. Your. Business.

    As is any communication between her family and any other entity.

    Get over yourself.

    Parent

    public business (1.00 / 2) (#18)
    by Uncle Chip on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 02:45:59 PM EST
    When the family held that press conference they invited public scrutiny -- which means that it became public business.

    And I am part of the public.

    So go stuff it --

    Parent

    Get back to us (5.00 / 3) (#19)
    by Zorba on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 03:15:28 PM EST
    when you suffer the loss of a child.
    And you are being extremely rude and unfeeling, and apparently lacking in the normal human emotions.

    Parent
    They doubtless had a press (5.00 / 1) (#20)
    by sj on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 03:16:19 PM EST
    conference so they had a measure of control over what is public and what is private.

    That what was made public did not satisfy your online paparazzi-ness and frenzy is not their problem.

    Parent

    In case you missed it (none / 0) (#21)
    by jbindc on Fri Feb 13, 2015 at 09:14:22 AM EST
    Uncle Chip us kind of a conspiracy theorist, as evidenced by his Ferguson comments and now this.

    Parent
    Someone trained and impartial... (none / 0) (#13)
    by unitron on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 06:39:03 AM EST
    ...needs to see the body before we can believe a word of what ISIS says about whether she died and if so how.

    Parent
    You can question the (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by Zorba on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 09:28:56 AM EST
    White House and the intelligence community all you want.
    But Uncle Chip was also showing extreme disrespect to the family, and that, to me, is simply unacceptable.

    Parent
    Who is this "we" that needs to believe? (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by sj on Thu Feb 12, 2015 at 01:44:07 PM EST
    Are you a close relative? I submit that it is no more your business than it is Chip's

    Parent
    Her letter to her family is linked (none / 0) (#4)
    by Green26 on Tue Feb 10, 2015 at 07:10:02 PM EST
    in the linked NY Times article in Jeralyn's initial post. Pdf in her handwriting and a transcription. Must have been brought out by other hostages. Worth reading. She must have been a strong person.

    So then (none / 0) (#5)
    by Uncle Chip on Tue Feb 10, 2015 at 11:47:02 PM EST
    this afternoon I turn on the Mueller press conference and lo and behold it morphs into a funeral with friends, family, pastors coming forward to eulogize Kayla with speeches that are generally reserved for funeral services.

    I thought -- am I in the Twilight Zone????

    Most people wait until they get the body back before holding a funeral but these people are in such a hurry to eulogize her that they can't wait.

    Or is there not going to be a body returned to the family??? and if that's the case then just what evidence is there of her death???

    Most people who have lost loved ones to kidnappings, plane crashes, wars, murders will hold onto the hope of their loved ones still being alive against all odds until they see the body of their loved one right in front of them.

    That's why the families of the MH370 disaster almost a year later still refuse to believe that their loved ones are dead -- because they haven't seen the bodies of their family members they still hold out hope that they are still alive.

    And yet Kayla's family and the White House are so fast to give up hope that Kayla is still  alive -- without a body and only on the word and the photographic skills of a bunch of prefabricators.

    Why have they given up hope so readily and why are they so ready to believe this gang of thugs???

    One would assume (5.00 / 4) (#6)
    by Slado on Wed Feb 11, 2015 at 04:06:58 AM EST
    That they have more intelligence than they are releasing that shows she is dead.

    Possible that the family does not wish all of this information to be made public because it might be pretty gruesome what happened to her in captivity and so on.

    I don't believe that she was killed in an airstrike.

    She was most likely killed by ISIS recently or even possibly sometime ago and the current actions by Jordan gave them an excuse to publicize her death and push some blame on someone else.  

    Parent

    That's very sad, (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Zorba on Wed Feb 11, 2015 at 03:44:50 PM EST
    But it's very likely true, Slado.
    And I do not blame the family one little bit if they have this information and do not want to release it to the news media, just to satisfy the curiosity of the "curious" or the "skeptical." Or the "news ghouls."
    Let them have their privacy, to mourn in peace.
    And may Kayla Rest in Peace.

    Parent
    R.I.P. Hostage Kayla Mueller | 21 comments (21 topical)

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