It seems to be that kidnapping “important” foreigners (i.e. North Americans and Europeans and not just Turkish truck drivers) is big in the news from Iraq again. A German archaeologist called Susanne Osthoff has been kidnapped and Spiegel, at least, is describing it as “Merkel’s first big test“.
In the absence of the KSK finding out where she is and shooting the fuckers holding her, the preferred option seems to be paying ransom money. Or at least to quote the SPD foreign affairs spokesman, Gert Weisskirchen, “Man kann nur hoffen, dass die Entführer bestechlich sind” or “One can only hope that the kidnappers can be bought off”.
Now, I have no idea what the hell Frau Osthoff was doing in Iraq, although I presume it had something to do with “old things” she was distributing humanitarian aid (thanks JCS). Similarly I have no idea about the German publics’ beliefs on giving money to terrorist thugs. But surely someone in the German foreign ministry can work out that paying large sums of money to people who kidnap Germans is going to make the idea of kidnapping Germans and holding them for ransom ever so slightly more attractive.
nothing new. that’s the same way they got the german hostages off abu sayaff kidnapers in the philippines a few years ago…
Apparently Germany has softened somewhat in it’s hostage policies. Had this been the 70s special forces would have gone in and just shot everyone- but that is perhaps not Politically Correct enough for this new government.
I just cannot believe I will have to look at that woman’s sour face for the next 4 years. She has the charisma of a wet noodle.
There are definitely inconsistencies regarding hostage situations at the Auswaertige Amt (Foreign Office). As Ruth correctly pointed out, ransom has been paid in the Philippines but also recently in the case of the kidnapped tourist groups in Algeria. In these situations the money was funneled to mediators (local governments, trustworthy third parties like Libya etc.) so that no direct payment took place.
Belinda’s assessment is incorrect. It was just much easier to target the terrorists who captured the (Lufthansa plane) “Landshut” and who were lame ducks at a Yemen airport than it would be to track down a militant group in the Philippine jungle or the Algerian desert. Also, it is doubful whether former colonies like Algeria would allow armed forces of a foreign nation to freely operate in their hinterlands. I fully agree with AF that payments are making Germans a much more attractive target. But what foreign officer would be willing to turn down the opportunity to save a life of a fellow German? In some cases one can easily scoff at the travellers’ naivete (Algeria), in others the crime was rather unexpected (guarded hotel compound in a rather safe area of the Philippines).
I would like to refuse any payment whatsoever in order to discourage future kidnappings. But the matter is probably a different one if you have to make this live or death decision yourself.
Current coverage suggests that the German archaeologist was trying to help the local population by distributing pharmaceuticals. She seems to be married to a Jordanian and spent many years in the Arab world. It is very telling that the hostage takers very often are threatening the very people who are trying to help their people. (Another example was the murdered British woman who spent a large deal of her life in Iraq.)
JCS
Well I’m a bit short this month so I’m going to go kidnap a few Jerries…..there’s load round here.
How much do you think I should ask as a ransom?
ruth: It was the tone of the article with its “cash or cheque?” attitude that caught my attention.
Belinda: As JCS points out above, if they actually knew where they were - it might be a different story.
As for four years of (Frau) Kanzler(in), is anyone prepared to give odds on the coalition lasting that long?
I know there are elections here in Baden- Wuerrtemberg in March next year and the CDU members I know loathe her - they’re actually worried that they might lose this conservative state.
On the subject of sour-faced women running your country, some Britons who endured the 1980s might say four years was mercifully short. But not me, obviously. She was Britain’s greatest prime minister since Churchill etc…..
Haddock: You really want me to answer “how much is a German worth?”
JCS: Obviously, they’re not got going to find this woman in Iraq. I’m sure the Brits would love to let the SAS free the British hostage (actually, from speaking to the one guy I know who was ever a member, they want to kill trolls, rescuing the hostage is a handy extra, and perhaps most importantly, as these seem to be political kidnappings, the head troll always seems to be around - and they definetly want him).
The article I quoted really surprised me with the openness with which people were talking about cash. Even the Italians when they got their hostages released said “we didn’t pay any ransom, oh no”.
Now as a Brit I know my government isn’t going to pay up and if captured I’m going to have my head sawn off unless the army know where I am. Hence I’m not an unarmed civilian in Iraq, I’m here with Mr. Haddock trying to work out how many Germans we need to kidnap before we can retire to the Bahamas.
Similarly when I had the opportunity to speak to people* who were on leave from Iraq when I was in England in August, the general opinion was that “being captured was not an option, it would always be a fight to the death, when ammunition ran out, fix bayonets and try and at least take one of them with you, rather than have your own decapitation videoed” - it didn’t seem like bravado speaking either, just an acceptance of the facts. I’m happy to report that everyone who was at that barbecue completed the last 61 days of their tour safely (with the exception of one very minor injury). As for the German hostage, I really hope for her sake she’s been kidnapped by a group that want money and not political concessions.
*Yes, it was the Staffordshire Regiment, we’ll leave it at that.
well if this situation is anything to go by, you may need to only capture the one- unless you’re not so good about sharing the spoils with the Haddock
Yeah I understand logistically they are not able to rush in and shoot people, I just meant had they the information I still doubt they would.
If I kidnap some Germans here in Spain will that stop the bastards from waking up early in the morning and “claiming” the beach chairs as their own by putting those damn towels on them?
Belinda and GC: Actually, I should stop being quite so flippant as this is a woman who appears to being held for political reasons. As I suspect the Germans won’t fold she could very well end up sufferring the same fate as Margaret Hassan - the British/Iraqi woman who’d lived in Iraq for 30 years and who, when the (insert expletives of choice) holding here realised that they weren’t going to get any concessions for her, shot her, despite her being an anti-war humanitarian worker.
Philo: I will try and find you a link to the book by a German lawyer that told Germans that actually, they couldn’t claim beach chairs in such a manner - I know large parts of the British press covered it extensively.
At a swimming pool nearby there is a notice that towels placed on beach chairs are not to be left unattended. It made me think of the British tourists in Spain annoyed by Germans… perhaps they could try putting up similar signs?