Reply #190: The Italians routinely pay ransom, and they make no bones [View All]

[MADem]

...about it. They don't trumpet it, but they don't apologize for it either. We don't pay ransom, the Israelis don't pay ransom, and the Brits do not admit to paying ransom, but other countries do not hold to our custom. And that is their SOVEREIGN right.

Hostage taking and ransoms have a long history in the Islamic world. It was a method that warlords used (and still use) to prevent things from escalating too quickly, too absurdly, and to require negotiation and cease fire. If I have your favorite uncle, or your first born son, you aren't going to come after me with guns blazing. It is custom, if you want to negotiate your way out of the situation alive, to take very good care of hostages. In history they were often kept in what were essentially gilded cages, with all of the luxuries of home, and amusements, too.

There is something VERY WRONG with the accounts of this tale. And although I am not going to rush to blame young enlisted boots on the ground, the average young soldier, unless they produce one who says "I just fucked up and lost it, and gave the order to my team to light that fucker up" by the same token I am not going to disparage, denigrate or accuse this reporter of being a liar either. She was the one getting shot at, and I think anyone who has ever been shot at can relate to how she feels--I sure as shit can.

The poster, above, who commented that this might be a specops game is probably not too far off the mark. All I can hope is that this was not the result of massive communications failure, because if it was, we have SIGNIFICANT, DANGEROUS, WORRISOME, potentially ruinous COMMAND AND CONTROL issues over there.

And if it was something else, like a deep ops game, we as a nation have completely lost our fucking way. Can democracy survive here, while our fearless leaders try to create it over there????? It is a fearful circumstance we find ourselves in....