I was surfing MNF's youtube site this morning and found the video below. Of course Allahpundit had beat me to it yesterday. Still, if you watch it and don't cry, you are a heartless bastage!

More here from Mary Katharine Ham at Townhall.

Kidnapping and murder of hostages by both Shia and Sunni terrorists in Iraq is a major problem. These tit-for-tat revenge kidnapping and killings only serve no purpose other than to create more hardship for all Iraqi's.

While we are on the subject of hostage rescues, I've added a couple recent press releases from centcom detailing efforts to find and reunite hostages with their families. See below the fold...

Via Centcom: BAGHDAD - Coalition forces rescued two male Iraqi citizens who were kidnapped at a checkpoint March 31. The two men were traveling on a motor scooter when they were stopped by two men dressed as Iraqi Army soldiers, who detained them and made a cell phone call.

A short time later, eight men, suspected of being militia members, showed up at the checkpoint. They beat the two men while the alleged Iraqi Army troops watched. The two victims where then shoved into vehicles and taken to a house where the beatings continued.

A phone tip to a hotline run by 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, spurred a series of events that eventually led to the rescue of the two men. The tip led coalition troops to the vicinity of the house where an immediate house-to-house search began.

The two kidnapped men were found in what appeared to be a torture house, still bound and badly beaten. The victims were taken by coalition forces to a nearby base and given immediate medical treatment.

The kidnapped victims are attempting to identify the men dressed in Iraqi Army uniforms.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three Iraqi men, battered and beaten after many days of being held hostage by terrorists near the town of Fallujah, entered the Company A, 115th Brigade Support Battalion's headquarters on Camp Taji, Iraq.

The men, who all smiled when greeted by the U.S. Soldiers, had been kept on the camp for medical treatment and were waiting just a few short hours before being driven to Baghdad and from there to Fallujah to be reunited with their families.

This was the scene as Soldiers from the 1st Ironhorse Brigade Combat Team participated in a joint effort with Iraqi Police in Fallujah and Marines from the 6th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) to get the men back home March 25.

The liberated hostages had been rescued by coalition troops March 22 near the town of Karmah, Iraq, just hours before insurgents could fulfill their plans to execute the men.

On the first leg of their journey, they were escorted by Soldiers from the 115th Brigade Support Battalion from Camp Taji, Iraq on a convoy to Baghdad where they were then linked up with other Ironhorse Brigade troopers from Company E, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment on Camp Liberty, Iraq.

The Co. E troops then drove the men to a link up point near Fallujah, where Marines from the 6th RCT took them to the Fallujah Iraqi Police station. From Fallujah, the IPs then reunited the men with their awaiting families.

Pfc. January Schectman, a combat medic for Medical Company C, 115th Brigade Support Battalion and a native of Whitefish, Mont., offered the men some crackers and other foods prior to their departure, but said it was hard to fathom what the men had been through over the past few days, "They're a little traumatized so it's been hard for them to eat," she said as she gave food to two of the men, while the other man laying on his side smiled at her but turned down the food, due to pain from his injuries. "It's sad that the insurgents would do such things to them."

Schectman felt it was important to show the men compassion, something, she said, the insurgents who kidnapped the men were lacking.

For Richmond, Texas native, Capt. Jay Wisham, commander, Co. E, 2nd Bn., 5th Cav. Regt., the mission, he said, was an honor, "I'm all about doing this, and our willingness to transport these hostages, who we freed from the insurgents, more than 100 kilometers back to their homes shows that we're here to support the Iraqi people." "It really illustrates the exact differences between us and the insurgents who torture, kill and kidnap people with no regard for the families involved," added Wisham. "We are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to reunite them."

Wisham and his troops often perform missions near Baghdad. Over the course of their missions they have captured a lot of insurgents and routed out terrorist cells, all the while being involved in humanitarian efforts to help the people in the villages in which Co. E patrols. So Wisham said helping the freed men was something his Soldiers were more than glad to participate in.

"This has been a great opportunity to show the Iraqis that we care for them," said Sgt. Justin Harris, a combat engineer who is a team leader for Co. E and hails from Roseville, Calif. "You can see the Iraqis really want our help and seeing and experiencing their attitudes toward us, it's a good feeling and it's pretty awesome."

"We're not just here to shoot bad guys and get rid of insurgents, we're here to help the country and its people," he said.

As Harris reflected on the day's mission, he also drew comparisons between Americans and Iraqis in their wanting to be free and live free of violence.

"The Iraqi people are just like us, they just want to work, support their families and then come home without having to be worried about being abducted from their homes," said Harris. "Sometimes there are a few bad apples who are insurgents and the civilians are not equipped to take care of that, but we're more than happy to continue assisting (the Iraqi security forces) in getting rid of the bad guys."

Soldiers from Company E, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment and Marines from the 6th Regimental Combat Team assist three liberated hostages March 25 near Fallujah, Iraq. The Co. E Soldiers took the three men, who were rescued from insurgents, from Camp Liberty, Iraq to a point where they were picked up by the 6th RTC Marines who in turn drove them to the Fallujah Iraqi Police station. The IPs then reunited the men with their families.

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