More on the claim of connection

Several times I've mentioned a possible connection between the rape and killings in Mahmoudiyah and the capture, killing, and torture of Pfc's Tucker and Menchaca. (1, 2, 3) This morning that claim has gone mainstream after a video, purportedly from Al Qaeda, was posted on the web. (Warning: graphic descriptions, AP, Reuters)

I do still believe that there is probably a connection, but I do not believe that this group was involved. Their video footage apparently shows the horrifically tortured bodies where they were dumped in the street and not the soldiers when they were captured or alive, (I'm not going to watch the video to check this out.) so it appears to me that this is just a propaganda piece made by a group who came across the bodies.

AP presents the group claiming credit for the killings, while Reuters buries this well down in the article.

The militant statement specifically described the release of the video, rather than the soldiers' killing, as the "revenge."

The NYTimes reports this video as a claim of the killings as well. The WaPo is more circumspect about a connection.