Friday, January 27, 2006
Need some dough? Kidnap a German.
The jihadis of the world have learned that if they need more money to buy weapons and explosives, there is one country that will them a ransom every time: Germany. Recently, it seems to have ransomed Susanne Osthoff. The Osthoff payment was part of a pattern that included paying al Qaeda (or one of its affiliates) ransom to recover some Germans and other Europeans kidnapped while vacationing in Algeria. That case was moral hazard in three dimensions: it encouraged more kidnapping, it armed our enemy with money to buy weapons that would kill Americans (and, we now know, the citizens of other countries) and, finally, it indemnified a bunch of Europeans for their idiotic decision to holiday in jihadiland.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Germans appear to have become the Western hostage of choice in Iraq. The enemy kidnapped two more this week, and al Jazeera is helpfully broadcasting their victory dance. More tellingly, the kidnappers aren't even bothering to denounce imperialism, call for Germany to withdraw its support for Iraq (such as it is), or demand the release of hostages. Their sole request:
My translation: "Let's cut to the chase. We're running out of weapons and IED supplies. How much can we get for these engineers?"
Germany, for its part, is more than willing to deal:
I'm sure the crisis unit has al Jazz on its speed dial, eager to hear where they should send the bags of money.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Germans appear to have become the Western hostage of choice in Iraq. The enemy kidnapped two more this week, and al Jazeera is helpfully broadcasting their victory dance. More tellingly, the kidnappers aren't even bothering to denounce imperialism, call for Germany to withdraw its support for Iraq (such as it is), or demand the release of hostages. Their sole request:
The German hostages were seen speaking but Al-Jazeera did not broadcast any audio and the station did not report any demands beyond the hostages calling for German government intervention to secure their release.
My translation: "Let's cut to the chase. We're running out of weapons and IED supplies. How much can we get for these engineers?"
Germany, for its part, is more than willing to deal:
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described the video images as "distressing" and that his ministry's crisis unit was evaluating the recording.
Steinmeier said the German government would do everything it can to secure their release, telling reporters: "We will proceed with care. I promise that on behalf of the government."
I'm sure the crisis unit has al Jazz on its speed dial, eager to hear where they should send the bags of money.
1 Comments:
By 
, at
Fri Jan 27, 02:43:00 PM:
Besides money, the group who is holding these Germans has a name which is the same as the so called “al-Tawhid trail” in Duesseldorf.
So do not be too surprised if like in the most recent hostage release drama when Germany freed the murderer of a US service member that there is also the release of fellow terrorists held in Germany.
