as I see it, the killings can remotely be blamed on religion. Yes the insurgents did use Allah and Islam to justify their actions but the political component of those actions cannot be ignored and even worse, cannot be substituted by Islamic verses. The insurgents had been negotiating with countries and third parties and many hostages were being released. It just happened that they kidnapped those innocent Nepalis. They realized how little nepal's importance was and how there was little they could gain from their release. Dramatic execution would scare parties who would then be more serious about ransom for more "important" hostages. yeah, they sure used Islam to justify their actions but it is ignorant to ignore the political component and hate The Quran and/or all the Muslims around the world. If what they did was a relgious action (as they would see it, at least) then we should be seeing executions like these all the time. the context and the timing is important. And, if such brutality is unique to the Muslims, how do you explain the Crusades? the ethnic cleansing happening in Africa, lets say... but oh right, we won't talk about that because Bush never talks about it and CNN never seems to mention them. It's easier to quite the Quran out of context, ignore how EVERY religion uses harsh language for non-believers and hate all the Muslims.