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| Iraq |
| Desperate Measures |
| 2005-12-01 |
| December 1, 2005: The terrorists are getting desperate. They have resumed political kidnappings, something that fell out of favor after a flurry of it last year. Normally, nearly all the hundred or so kidnappings each week are criminal operations, often yielding as little as a few hundred dollars. But in the last week, four Western peace activists and a German academic were taken by a new terror group. Shia pilgrims were also seized. Since last year, when 41 Westerners were killed by kidnappers, people who are choice targets (foreign reconstruction workers, diplomats) improved their security to the point where the seizures stopped. So now the terrorists are going after "soft" targets. That is, people who support the terrorists (in the case of the peace activists, who want coalition troops out, which is the main goal of the Sunni Arab terrorist groups). Taking Shia pilgrims just inflames the passions of Shia gangs and militias, bringing more attacks on Sunni Arabs. Grabbing the peace activists actually helps the government, as it forces many Sunni Arab leaders to assist in negotiating to get the Westerners freed. This gives more Sunni Arab leaders more reasons to break with the terrorists, and make a deal with the government. These deals involve extensive discussions on who will get amnesty for crimes committed during Saddam's rule. Some Sunni Arabs even want to keep property they stole from Shia Arabs or Kurds during that time. In Iraq, you can't just say no, you have to discuss it at length. A lot of these discussions are going on right now, just judging from the mentions, in the Iraqi media, of various Sunni Arab leaders who are now negotiating. In the next two weeks, before the December 15th parliamentary elections, a lot more of these amnesty discussions are expected to get started. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 December 1, 2005: The terrorists are getting desperate. Oh! I thought this was going to be something about the MSM..... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-12-01 14:26 |