Understanding John Martinkus

Here's Australian journalist John Martinkus, recently kidnapped and released in Iraq, talking about his captors:

Mr Martinkus said his captors had threatened to kill him, but treated him with respect once they established he was independent.

"These guys ... (are) not stupid," he told reporters.

"They're fighting a war but they're not savages.

"They're not actually just killing people willy-nilly.

"They talk to you, they think about things.

"(From their perspective) there was a reason to kill (British hostage Ken) Bigley, there was a reason to kill the Americans; there was not a reason to kill me (and) luckily I managed to convince them of that."

It's respectful, it's thoughtful, it's not savage or willy-nilly - it's based on reasons. Then you hack off someone's head, making sure to catch this on film. The ways of 'understanding'. (Hat tip: SM.)