Al-Jazeera Shows Russian Hostages in Iraq

[Aunt Anti-bush]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120076,00.html

The Arab news network Al-Jazeera broadcast footage Sunday of two Russian hostages held in Iraq and read a statement from a group demanding that foreign troops withdraw from the country.

(snip)

[wubbathompson]

1. No negotiating with terrorists

I feel bad for these guys who are doing a noble job of trying to fix the infrastructure. F-Off Al Qaeda or whomever you sad sons-of-bitches are.

[rooboy]

2. Don't waste your breath.

Until the US gets serious and hauls in members of the bin Laden family the house of Saud, and Al Qaeda's sponsors in the Pakistani ISI, this crap will happen over and over.

And as far as your "no negotiating with terrorists" bravado is concerned, screw you. If it was your 10 year old kid in there you'd be begging to negotiate a release. Don't condemn people to death just because you don't know them.

[DoNotRefill]

8. Ummm....a few years back...

the PLO kidnapped some Soviet embassy staff in Lebanon. After some "negotiations", which involved the KGB taking counter-hostages and being very, very mean to them, the russians were released unharmed.

Putin's got a pretty wide "hard-liner" streak in him. He's not known for negotiating, he's known for sending in troops, to hell with the casualties. I wouldn't want to be the hostage-taker's families right about now...

[rooboy]

9. To be more specific he sent Spetsnaz troops in...

and cut off the head of the terrorist group's deputy, and then warned that more would follow if their guys weren't released. They weren't citizens, they were diplomatic employees, and the Russians weren't occupying Lebanon.

Tactically speaking, the important difference there was that they knew the organizational hierarchy, which enabled them to communicate in a direct manner with the hostage takers.

That kind of tactic is not one I would rely on. As the Moscow siege showed, not every innocent gets out alive.

[Alpharetta]

3. "No negotiating with terrorists"

That's what Ollie North and Ronald Reagan said until they got busted trading arms for hostages.

Macho men. Stiff upper lip. Stay the course. and all that.

[lanparty]

6. True

Republicans have an uncanny knack for saying one thing and doing another. As I remember, they were negotiating with terrorists before they were even elected ;-)

But in general I agree that bartering hostages leads to more hostage taking. If you notice, the Palestinians stopped doing it because it was costing them money and got them very little in return.

Contrast this to South America where hostage taking has become a self-sustaining industry. Terrorists take even more hostages because it pays well.

[lumpy]

4. You should be feeling sad for your country

for allowing Bush to invade another country who was not a threat to the United States. You should be feeling sad for the thousands of innocent Iraqis killed and maimed because of US bloodlust.

[Just Me]

5. Uh,..hmmm,...oh neverthehellmind. UGH!!! n/t

[keithyboy]

7. Some things I noticed in this photo and the story in the paper

No yellow wall, no orange prison suits, no white chairs. These men were alleged to have been working on communication or transmission equipment.

[dArKeR]

10. Al-Jazeera shows footage of Russian hostages in Iraq - TGM

Cairo, Egypt — The Arab news network Al-Jazeera broadcast footage Sunday of two Russian hostages held in Iraq and read a statement from a group that demanded foreign troops withdraw from the country.

The brief footage showed the two men, seemingly in good health, sitting against a wall. One of the men was drinking out of a metallic cup, while the other was sitting nearby.

The men seemed to be talking with other people in the room, who were not shown.

http://theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040516.whosta0516/BNStory/Front/