Saturday, March 24, 2007

Italy Swaps 5 Talibans for La Repubblica Reporter


Hat Tip to Michelle Malkin for this NYT piece in which the Italian government made a deal with the devil i.e. the Taliban in exchange for one of their Leftinistra reporters.

After the exchange, the Times reports;
The concern was underscored on Tuesday just after the release of one of the prisoners, Ustad Yasir, who was identified as a Taliban spokesman. He said he would return immediately to war, and was “grabbing two rifles to begin jihad again to hunt down invaders and fight nonbelievers,” according to a statement attributed to him on the Internet.


This incident hits me personally on levels that are worth discussing here. First, as an Italian-American, it bothers me to no end that my quasi-countrymen could be so narrow minded as to consider this a victory and did not have the foresight to see this as a catalyst for kidnapping of many more reporters in the hopes that a similar deal will be struck. The Taliban and Al Qaeda now know that the Italians will negotiate with them, now making Italian reports a hot commodity in the Middle East.

Secondly, the Italians lack of historical epistemology leaves them with a horrible precedent that may haunt them as the international WOT continues. It is quite possible that this decision will not only put Italian reports at risk, but also the Italian people on a grander scale. The possibility of a terrorist attack in Italy will now be more like a probability. Recollections of the bombings in Madrid have not been wasted on the jihadists. Within days of 3/11 in Madrid, Spanish troops were redeployed.

Another avenue of discussion is the little known activity of the French being blood-letted by the Vietnamese for decades as POWs were quietly and gradually returned to their homeland as millions upon millions were paid to Communists in exchange for their countrymen captured in the 1950's.

We can now expect to see more reporters; nationality will be non-descriminant, being kidnapped or worse. Also expect to see reporters taking fewer risks to get closer to the story, meaning their reporting will be less accurate and more inclinded to being tainted by other sources before being put to print. That can never be a good thing for those of us who are pro-Victory.

The backdrop for all of this is the fact that, with the exception of England, our supposed European allies are just as weak as our shortsighted Congress members who voted for the anti-funding bill this week. Maybe we could get them kidnapped!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just one word. Tripoli.

Every time someone pays tribute, we all pay for it.

Ever read America Alone, by Mark Steyn? A lot of your posts remind me of his book. If you haven't read it yet, I think you'd like it.