Eshin Direct

The lesson should have been learned the last time around. Negotiating with terrorists is not an option. With the news that yet another British hostage has been captured and humiliated, one can only wonder whether Tony Blair is thinking straight by giving in to US requests to redeploy 850 troops to Baghdad. Firstly, why aggravate the situation? The UK (well, Tony Blair at the very least) has already shown its willlingness to be part of the coalition of the willing by sending a sizeable number of troops already. By sending more British troops into Baghdad, he’s happily helped make UK forces a potential target for a backlash against US incompetence and hatred. One wonders whether the US is unwilling to send any of their troops in until after their sham of an election…

Secondly, why be even more willing than simply already being part of the willing? The move shows the UK to be more pro-active albeit at the US behest. It’s sort of like when your friend has this great idea to poke a sleeping dog with a stick and you watch on with amusement but from a good distance. Only now, you decide you want to have some fun too and start poking him too. Of course, the dog is also going to come after you.

The kidnapping of Margaret Hassan is perhaps a symptom of this, although one doubts whether the kidnapping would have stopped even if the troops hadn’t been redeployed. This action has only made it impossible now for Tony Blair to withdraw the troops from Baghdad without seeming to cave into militant demands. The Iraqi militants have also shown that they are also ungrateful bastards given that Hassan has worked as an aid worker for their country for so long.

What’s worrying is that the powers that be might not take this kidnapping seriously. Yahoo! News writes:

“Unlike most previous hostage tapes, however, this one featured no hooded gunmen, no banners identifying the militant group and no explicit demands for the captive’s freedom. Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based station, said it received the tape Friday but did not say where or how.”

The insinuation is that she might have gone too local (by marrying an Iraqi man) and be helping to achieve Iraqi demands voluntarily.

Regardless, Tony Blair must find the resolve to not give in to any further militant demands, despite the grisly outcome of the Bigley situation. Maybe a few people will lose their lives but in the long run it will ensure the security of the nation by demonstrating that threatening the lives of civilians will not succeed as a political method.

Tags: Political Rants