Google saves kidnapped journalist in Iraq

a_unique_person

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a_unique_person
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http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/19/1097951689039.html

An Australian journalist kidnapped by Iraqi militants today said his captors were not savages and would not kill indiscriminately.

John Martinkus, a freelancer who has covered conflicts from East Timor to Iraq, was released on Sunday, a day after he was taken hostage by four Sunni militants and ex-Iraqi army officers.

......

He was released about 20 hours later after convincing his captors he was not working for the US-led coalition.
.....

Mr Martinkus said his captors had threatened to kill him, but treated him with respect once they established he was independent.

"These guys ... (are) not stupid," he told reporters.

"They're fighting a war but they're not savages.

"They're not actually just killing people willy-nilly.

"They talk to you, they think about things.

....

Asked if he thought Iraq was on the road to recovery, Mr Martinkus said, "No, it's on the road to ◊◊◊◊."

.....

Earlier today, SBS executive producer Mike Carey said Mr Martinkus' captors had investigated his background on the internet and saw he was harmless.

"They Googled him, they checked him out on a popular search engine and got onto his own website or his publisher's website and saw he was a writer and journalist," Mr Carey told AAP.

"They had thought he was working for the Americans as an informer."

In this case, modern technology probably saved the journalist's life, Mr Carey said.
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An Australian journalist kidnapped by Iraqi militants today said his captors were not savages and would not kill indiscriminately.
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He was released about 20 hours later after convincing his captors he was not working for the US-led coalition.
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"They're fighting a war but they're not savages.

"They're not actually just killing people willy-nilly.
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That's quite correct. They'll kill you only if you don't have your theology straight or if you're an American civilian. As opposed to walking down the streets of Baghdad and shooting up people at random. Quite principled, you have to admit.
Earlier today, SBS executive producer Mike Carey said Mr Martinkus' captors had investigated his background on the internet and saw he was harmless.
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As opposed to Nicholas Berg, the first American guy they beheaded, who was doing reconstruction work in Iraq and therefore deserved to die.
 
- I'm one of Bush's harshest critics. However, I have zero doubt that I'd be able to "convince" terrorists to spare me as an American and an atheist, despite my sympathies towards Iraqi civillians and my criticism of the invasion.
 
And I'm sure the captive's kind comments had nothing to do with the fact he was next in line to have his head sawn off without even a novocain injection.
 
BPSCG said:
As opposed to Nicholas Berg, the first American guy they beheaded, who was doing reconstruction work in Iraq and therefore deserved to die.
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And Daniel Pearl, who was also a journalist. I guess it all depends on which paper you work for.
 
No, he's an SBS reporter. SBS is Australia's partially-government-funded 'World Channel'. For years it's looked at issues from 'the other side', ie not necessarily from a Western prespective.

You can learn a lot more about what's going on overseas from watching SBS than you can from any other channel in Australia and, I hazard, the US.
 
Funny how different that guy's experience seems to be from this one's. I guess everyone out there isn't just misunderstood and cuddly.

And I warn you, the end of that article contains one of the worst descriptions of human suffering I have read.
 
Another point a lot of people seem to have missed...

There are a lot of terrorist groups in Iraq. Just because one terrorist group are 'not savages', does not mean that all terrorist groups can be characterised the same way. If his terrorist group contained former Iraqi military personnel, then they were likely a little more disciplined than other groups.
 
Luke T. said:
And Daniel Pearl, who was also a journalist. I guess it all depends on which paper you work for.
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Keep in mind also that both Berg and Pearl were Jewish, and these are Islamic terrorists we're talking about.
 
Benguin said:
Funny how different that guy's experience seems to be from this one's. I guess everyone out there isn't just misunderstood and cuddly.

And I warn you, the end of that article contains one of the worst descriptions of human suffering I have read.
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Bodies and blood, the typical fruits of the religion of peace.
 
Isn't it odd how these types of groups tend to say things like "if you only knew the suffering we have to endure because of your government, you would understand our actions", then kill the very people most likely to make us understand the suffering they endure? Anyone who kills journalists probably has something to hide.
 
And I bet the kidnapers here aren't "savages", either.

Head of CARE In Iraq Abducted

The abduction of Margaret Hassan, CARE International's head of operations in Iraq, was confirmed by the organization. But CARE offered little information beyond the facts widely known about Hassan: She was born in Dublin and has been in Iraq for 30 years, the past 13 of them working to bring clean water and health care to the country's poorest citizens.

(...snip...)

Hassan, a naturalized Iraqi citizen who also holds British citizenship, has long been a bulwark of Iraq's beleaguered humanitarian community, widely respected for her generosity and renowned for her stubborn devotion to the country's poor.

In two wars, Hassan, who is about 60, remained in Baghdad when the bombs fell. She vocally opposed the international sanctions imposed on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and she traveled widely before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 to warn of the harm it would cause the country.

Hassan declined to leave her station a year ago when car bomb attacks began to strike humanitarian organizations, leading nearly every other international aid group to abandon Baghdad. And when kidnapping became widespread in and around the city, she continued to rise early each morning to go to the west Baghdad office of CARE, where her abductors found her at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
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Okay, lefties, what's the justification this time? Treat us once more to your increasingly stupid catechism that if we only understood the terrorists' grievances, if we could only address the "root causes" of their anger, if we only stopped exploiting the poor Muslims, if we only reformed our ways, we could all live in peace and harmony, Kumbaya, inshallah...
 
WHOOPS - ACCIDENTALLY SENT TWICE... ADMIN, PLEASE DELETE ONE OR THE OTHER - THANKS.

- BPSCG

And I bet the kidnapers here aren't "savages", either.

Head of CARE In Iraq Abducted

The abduction of Margaret Hassan, CARE International's head of operations in Iraq, was confirmed by the organization. But CARE offered little information beyond the facts widely known about Hassan: She was born in Dublin and has been in Iraq for 30 years, the past 13 of them working to bring clean water and health care to the country's poorest citizens.

(...snip...)

Hassan, a naturalized Iraqi citizen who also holds British citizenship, has long been a bulwark of Iraq's beleaguered humanitarian community, widely respected for her generosity and renowned for her stubborn devotion to the country's poor.

In two wars, Hassan, who is about 60, remained in Baghdad when the bombs fell. She vocally opposed the international sanctions imposed on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and she traveled widely before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 to warn of the harm it would cause the country.

Hassan declined to leave her station a year ago when car bomb attacks began to strike humanitarian organizations, leading nearly every other international aid group to abandon Baghdad. And when kidnapping became widespread in and around the city, she continued to rise early each morning to go to the west Baghdad office of CARE, where her abductors found her at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
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Okay, lefties, what's the justification this time? Treat us once more to your increasingly stupid catechism that if we only understood the terrorists' grievances, if we could only address the "root causes" of their anger, if we only stopped exploiting the poor Muslims, if we only reformed our ways, we could all live in peace and harmony, Kumbaya, inshallah...
 
BPSCG said:
WHOOPS - ACCIDENTALLY SENT TWICE... ADMIN, PLEASE DELETE ONE OR THE OTHER - THANKS.

- BPSCG

And I bet the kidnapers here aren't "savages", either.

Head of CARE In Iraq Abducted


Okay, lefties, what's the justification this time? Treat us once more to your increasingly stupid catechism that if we only understood the terrorists' grievances, if we could only address the "root causes" of their anger, if we only stopped exploiting the poor Muslims, if we only reformed our ways, we could all live in peace and harmony, Kumbaya, inshallah...
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As someone has already pointed out, there are many groups at work performing a lot of kidnappings. Some have let other hostages go, too. A lot of kidnappings appear to be nothing more than ransom attempts, some are nothing more than sheer terrorism.

I am not saying that this justifies anything. Nor do I recall anyone else claiming it did.
 
a_unique_person said:
As someone has already pointed out, there are many groups at work performing a lot of kidnappings. Some have let other hostages go, too. A lot of kidnappings appear to be nothing more than ransom attempts, some are nothing more than sheer terrorism.

I am not saying that this justifies anything. Nor do I recall anyone else claiming it did.
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Presumably the fact al jazeera already has videos of her in a distressed state would suggest she's being held for political objectives. Not much point in doing that (with associated risks) if you are just after a few bucks.

A few groups have released prisoners on the grounds they are nice people, but actually (IMHO) to make a political statement about their position and supposed humanity.

Let's hope for her sake she's being held by one of them and not the bunch that murdered Bigley.
 
Benguin said:
Let's hope for her sake she's being held by one of them and not the bunch that murdered Bigley.
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Yes, let us all hope and pray that she's being held by the nice terrorists...
 
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