Thursday April 5, 2007

I've Been Thinking:

The British sailors are free and we are all grateful.
But ... Was it worth the price? Iran claims that they received a written apology from England. An Iranian diplomat in Iraq was released. The Iranians are getting access to prisoners in Iraq.

And ... Look at what else is happening: On Thursday the Taliban in Afghanistan claimed to have kidnapped 2 French nationals. Several weeks ago the Italians exchanged Taliban prisoners for a kidnapped journalist. The British Consul General in Jerusalem met with Haniyeh, the Hamas Prime Minister, in order to secure the release of a kidnapped BBC journalist - action which until now has been antithetical to British foreign policy.

Therefore ... We must ask ourselves some serious questions:
*** Should terrorists and countries that kidnap "be rewarded" for their actions?
*** Does capitulating to terrorists and kidnappers open the flood gates to abductions throughout the world?
*** Are we empowering terrorists and countries that kidnap by showing them that they really do have a powerful political tool at their disposal, a tool that we in the West will never use?
*** Is there any adequate defense against these kidnappings?
*** What can be done to protect the Western world from these heinous unconscionable acts?