[VolandoVengoVolandoVoy]

(02-16-2015 02:21 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

(02-16-2015 01:57 PM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  

(02-16-2015 01:35 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

If I was captured by these black hood wearing Islamic extremists, I would assume I'm as good as dead, especially when they see that I'm an American and beheading an American or Israeli would be the ultimate prize for these guys.

Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well just fight back any way that I can. If I'm lucky, they may shoot me and end it right there. That's better than being put in a cage and set on fire. Not only is that the most awful way imaginable to die, I don't want people's last memory of me being a charred, smoking corpse captured in painstaking HD detail.

Being burned in the cage is no where close to the worst way to die. Sure, it was awful, but if you watch the video, he's suffering for a minute or so...actually my guess is that about 30 seconds after the flames reached him he was no longer aware of his surroundings or able to feel pain. There are many ways that someone could make it worse - maybe slowly burn you to death by poking you all over with a red hot iron and also work on you with a knife, taking hours.
And resistance, outside of the movies, is only going to earn you a beating and possibly severe torture.
Honestly, what I would do is perfectly obey to hopefully get them to relax their vigilance. Wait for a possible escape opportunity. And if none appeared, I would do what they said and hope for a quick execution instead of prolonged torture.
Besides which, reading some statement on your execution video means nothing. Anyone with half a brain cell knows those statements are garbage and forced.

10 years ago before all these televised beheadings, I'd have done like you would. Just complied.

Prior to 9/11, if someone hijacked a plane, everyone would sit quietly and do what the hijackers wanted. But now, if hijackers tried to take over a plane, everyone would fight back knowing what these guys are likely to do.

That's how I would feel about being captured by Islamists. Might as well go down fighting knowing what's going to happen to you. Especially since the US government's official policy is to not negotiate with terrorists.

I think it's very unrealistic to think you will have a chance to go down fighting when they capture you. Either you are a wounded soldier possibly unconscious or a surprised civilian, likely unarmed. You are likely to be suddenly knocked unconscious or surprised at gunpoint by a half dozen guys pointing AK 47s at you.
I know a war photographer who was kidnapped by Islamists. His fixer betrayed him and set him up. So, he is in a car a few miles outside a city, they come to a check point, and before he knows it, a bunch of men are pointing weapons at his head and yelling. He was restrained and beaten and held for almost 3 months. He eventually got released because he is not American, and his family is wealthy and paid a large ransom.
Also, I wasn't saying just comply. I was saying that once you are their prisoner, there is no sense in making your death any worse than it has to be. Sure, you can hope for an opportunity to escape, but your captors would have to be very stupid for that to be possible. Whatever dipshit that gets put in charge of watching over the western hostages surely faces death himself if anyone manages to escape.