Political activism, Islamic style

[Mycroft]

Iraqi Group Holds 2 French Journalists Hostage

DUBAI, Aug 28 - An Iraqi militant group has kidnapped two Frenchmen and given the French government 48 hours to end a ban on Muslim headscarves, Arabic television station Al Jazeera said on Saturday.

The channel aired a brief video showing two men standing in front of a black banner bearing the name of the Islamic Army in Iraq. One man told the camera: "I would like to tell my family that everything is OK."

Wow, that's optimism! He's being held captive, an implied threat of murder, and he says everything is okay?!

The journalists -- who work for Le Figaro and Radio France International -- were declared missing on the same day that Italy said freelance journalist Enzo Baldoni was also missing and that his driver had been reportedly killed.

Baldoni was taken hostage by the Islamic Army in Iraq and on Thursday, Jazeera said the group killed him because Italy refused to heed a deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq.

So Italy has troops in Iraq, so we can sort of expect them to react this way to Italians, but to the French?! What do they do, grab someone and then figure out who and what to blackmail for their lives?

A French Foreign Ministry spokesman in Paris said: "We have nothing to say. We are trying to analyse the information we have learned the same way you did."

Hmmm, I wonder how this analysis will go?

I know, let's talk to the UN and see if we can get a strongly worded condemnation!


Editied to add link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41871-2004Aug28.html

 

[epepke]

Russians, now French. Next it will be Germans.

You know what it means. A lot of people will have to smoke a lot more dope to remain stupid.

 

[corplinx]

Terrorists attack targets of opportunity. They see a weakness and they take it.

I offer the Spanish train bombing as an example. Spain wasn't exactly the UK as far as US allies in Iraq go. I think its likely that terrorists realized that a train bombing in Spain would be successful so they did it.

 

[Mr Manifesto]

I know, let's talk to the UN and see if we can get a strongly worded condemnation!

Better still, let's get an army and invade Iraq!

Oh, wait...

 

[Mycroft]

Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

Better still, let's get an army and invade Iraq!

Oh, wait...

Or we could be like the French and appease them.

Oh, wait...

 

[Mr Manifesto]

Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

Or we could be like the French and appease them.

Oh, wait...

Or we could be like the Americans and support them with weapons and other types of assistance until it's no longer politically expedient to do so.

Oh, wait...

 

[BPSCG]

Why don't we just ask them what they want, and when they tell us, give it to them. Then they'll let the hostages go and we'll all live happily ever after. That's always worked before. The sweet voice of reason always works when dealing with cutthroats. We just need to make them understand that what they're doing isn't nice.

I'm pretty tired tonight, so there may be some tiny flaws in the above argument, but I'm sure y'all will point them out to me...

 

[NoZed Avenger]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

Or we could be like the Americans and support them with weapons and other types of assistance until it's no longer politically expedient to do so.

Oh, wait...

Yes, you realised your mistake here -- you were STILL talking about the French. Or Germans. Or possibly the Russians.

 

[Jocko]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

Yes, you realised your mistake here -- you were STILL talking about the French. Or Germans. Or possibly the Russians.

Impossible. Otherwise he would have added something on the subject of illegal oil contracts facilitated by their UN cohorts. But I guess he can't be blamed for forgetting about that bit... God knows the French and the UN already have.

 

[Mike B.]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

Or we could be like the Americans and support them with weapons and other types of assistance until it's no longer politically expedient to do so.

Oh, wait...

Actually the French were the second biggest supplier of weapons to Saddam, right behind USSR/Russia.

 

[Mike B.]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

Impossible. Otherwise he would have added something on the subject of illegal oil contracts facilitated by their UN cohorts. But I guess he can't be blamed for forgetting about that bit... God knows the French and the UN already have.

Don't forget the cute double game thay some countries in the EU are fond of playing.

Give indignent moral lectures to the US about "supporting dictatorships" then lift arms exporting embargo to PRC over US objections. High-Tech weapons the PRC will use to threaten democratic Taiwan get lots of money.

(This happened recently, and strangely The Don, EJ Armstrong, Chaos, MM, etc. were all quiet about it.)

 

[Mycroft]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040829/wl_nm/iraq_france_government_dc

Chirac Sends FM to Mideast to Win Iraq Hostage Release

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac sent his foreign minister to the Middle East on Sunday to try to win freedom for two journalists held in Iraq (news - web sites) by militants demanding France end its ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.

"Today, the whole nation is united because the lives of two Frenchmen are at stake," Chirac said in a televised address on Sunday evening.

"Backed up by this national unity, I solemnly call for the release of Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. Everything is being done and everything will be done in the coming hours and days to achieve this."

Hmm, I wonder what they will do?

 

[shecky]

Such kidnappings are to be expected in a democracy.

 

[003998]

Wow, that's optimism! He's being held captive, an implied threat of murder, and he says everything is okay?! [/B]

I find this comment to be very sad. I would call it not optimism but courage. Trying to comfort his family while being in such perilous personal danger seems to me like the ultimate act of love and bravery.
That`s the kind of thing that makes me keep my faith in humanity even when reading about his disgustingly stupid and morally corrupt captors.

 

[Mr Manifesto]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

Actually the French were the second biggest supplier of weapons to Saddam, right behind USSR/Russia.

The French didn't sponsor a coup which put the Ba'athist regime in charge of Iraq, allowing Saddam to take power.

 

[Ziggurat]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

The French didn't sponsor a coup which put the Ba'athist regime in charge of Iraq, allowing Saddam to take power.

Neither did Bush. But Chirac did help Saddam in his quest to build nuclear weapons with the Osirak reactor. Funny how recent European sins get washed away so easily for you by much older American ones.

 

[Flo]

Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

I find this comment to be very sad. I would call it not optimism but courage. Trying to comfort his family while being in such perilous personal danger seems to me like the ultimate act of love and bravery.
That`s the kind of thing that makes me keep my faith in humanity even when reading about his disgustingly stupid and morally corrupt captors.

Well, you can't very well put "French" and "courage" side by side, can you ? You know perfectly well that the French are "cheese eating surrender monkeys" ...

Besides, be charitable and allow Mycroft and his fellows French-basher here their daily dose of gloating ...

 

[Mr Manifesto]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

Neither did Bush. But Chirac did help Saddam in his quest to build nuclear weapons with the Osirak reactor. Funny how recent European sins get washed away so easily for you by much older American ones.

Sorry, where did I say that I support France's support of the Iraqi regime? Do you think that I've forgotten about France's attack on the Rainbow Warrior, too? You're very quick with that mouth of yours. Pity about the brain.

PS- how 'old' is the American sin of murdering thousands of Iraqi civilians based on bullsh!t?

 

[Ziggurat]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

PS- how 'old' is the American sin of murdering thousands of Iraqi civilians based on bullsh!t?

You, along with most "anti-war" people, never calculate the costs of inaction in your arguments. Iraqis were dying already, and would continue to do so indefinitely as long as Saddam (or his sons) were in power. Would you then blame those deaths on US inaction? Or maybe French inaction? No, I do not see how deposing one of the century's worst tyrants can be considered a sin. I guess I'm funny that way, though.

 

[Mr Manifesto]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Political activism, Islamic style

You, along with most "anti-war" people, never calculate the costs of inaction in your arguments. Iraqis were dying already, and would continue to do so indefinitely as long as Saddam (or his sons) were in power. Would you then blame those deaths on US inaction? Or maybe French inaction? No, I do not see how deposing one of the century's worst tyrants can be considered a sin. I guess I'm funny that way, though.

Don't make me laugh. People are dying indefinitely right now. And just to add to the comedy, a thug has been deposed to be replaced with... another thug. Call that progress? 'Cause I don't.