Here, Get a load of this :D


So-called U.S. hostage appears to be toy
Tuesday, February 1, 2005 Posted: 5:37 PM EST (2237 GMT)


This image was posted on an Islamist Web site.
(CNN) -- A photograph posted on an Islamist Web site appears to be that of an action figure and not a U.S. soldier being held hostage.

Liam Cusack, the marketing coordinator for Dragon Models USA, said the figure pictured on the Web site is believed to be "Special Ops Cody," a military action figure the company manufactured in late 2003.

"It pretty much looks exactly like the same person," he said.

Cusack said he was contacted Tuesday morning by one of his retailers, who informed him that the alleged hostage appeared to be one of the company's action figures.

"I thought it was a joke at first," he said.

But after reading a report on a news Web site about a U.S. soldier allegedly being captured, "I looked at it and said, 'It does look like one of our action figures.'"

"Cody" is an action figure the company made for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which supplies U.S. military bases worldwide with various items. The doll was meant to look like a U.S. soldier who might be serving in Iraq, Cusack said.

On the Islamist Web site, a group calling itself the Al Mujahedeen Brigade, posted a photograph of a man it claimed was a captured U.S. soldier named John Adam, and it threatened to behead him if Iraqi prisoners are not released by U.S. forces.

Staff Sgt. Nick Minecci of the U.S. military's press office in Baghdad told The Associated Press that "no units have reported anyone missing."

The photograph showed the figure against a black flag with white lettering reading, "God is great, there is no god but Allah." A U.S. military assault rifle was pointed at its head. It appears that "rifle" was part of the plastic weaponry that came with the action figure.

The photograph immediately raised questions.

CNN military analyst James Marks, a retired Army general, questioned its authenticity.

He told CNN in a phone interview that the flak jacket in the picture had a kind of trim along the edges that he'd never seen before, and that the open-legged pants, as opposed to gathered hems, struck him as odd.

He also questioned what appeared to be camouflage paint on the face.

"We have not used camo paint with conventional forces serving in Iraq," Marks said. <end>

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/meast/02/01/iraq.hostage/story.hostage.ap.jpg


Here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/01/iraq.hostage/index.html

i coulda told u thtas a toy...prolly woulda saved a lot of time and money too.

Originally posted by Evil Homer
i coulda told u thtas a toy...prolly woulda saved a lot of time and money too. with all due respect, thats a G.I..... buddy............joe, that is.....lmao

WTF! LMAO - what'll they think of next? Barbie and Ken? Barbie all wrapped up in an abaya. I just can't believe this! It's something from Comedy Central or Dave Chappell.

yeah, that guy's head is awfully small

those insurgents are getting desperate now.

laugh all you want but some kid somewhere has lost his best friend{toy} this is very sad. You probably wouldn't laugh if it was a stuffed teddy bear or rabbit, real funny when its a military dude. Atleast he had the guts to throw his {doll} life on the line for all of his toy buddys. HE IS A TRUE HERO

A question has arisen that the Iraqis may not even be responsible for this :eek:



Valley of the hoax dolls may be right here in America

February 3, 2005

BY RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement


The real question about the G.I. Joke hoax isn't whether the "kidnapped U.S. soldier" is really a plastic action figure. That much is obvious. The image posted "on an Iraqi militant Web site," as the AP called it, is obviously a toy figure -- not a G.I. Joe, but a Dragon Models USA action character named "Special Ops Cody."


So we know it's a fake -- but as of this writing, we don't know if it's a fake of Iraqi making, or the work of some creative prankster who's probably 23 and working out of a garage in Anytown, USA.

As of this writing, no one has come forward to claim responsibility for the posting that appeared on the militant Web site where other terrorist threats have been posted, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that the prank was hatched here.

"The infidel will meet the same fate as hundreds of his comrades in the occupation armies," reads the group's statement, which is in Arabic but includes many spelling errors and much repetition.

In the words of the immortal Sgt. Hulka, "OK, hotshot."

Some experts say the message written behind the toy soldier and the quality of the handwriting itself are crude and generic, indicating only a basic understanding of the language. It's sorta like footage of anti-American protesters in foreign lands, holding up wannabe-insulting signs with fractured phrases like, "THE WOLVERINE BUSH CANNOT DANCE THE MAMBO!" and, "AMERICKA U SUKS!"

Beyond that, what would be the explanation for an Islamist terrorist group staging a phony kidnapping with a dopey doll? Stupidity?

Or is there now a Baghdad version of "Punk'd"?

But you gotta love the way the AP played it straight when casting doubts on the story, just in case Special Ops Cody turned out to be an actual person:

"The photo in the posting showed a figure dressed in desert fatigues, wearing a vest and kneepads, and with a gun pointed to its head. All the items are identical to ones that come in a box with the action figure, named 'Cody' ... the figure appeared stiff and expressionless."

Well yes. That's because he's, you know, a doll. <end>



Heres the link: http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeper/cst-nws-roep03.html

I needed a good laugh today
this is the kind of laugh that is makes the ribs hurt from laughing to much.

He/She/It looks like an extra from Star Wars...