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Thursday, March 23, 2006
Good News From Iraq
U.S. and British troops Thursday freed three Christian peace activists in rural Iraq without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman, said the hostages were being held by a "kidnapping cell," and the operation to free the captives was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier.
No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into a house in western Baghdad. The captives' hands were tied, Lynch said.
"They were bound, they were together, there were no kidnappers in the areas," Lynch told a news briefing.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said the captives were rescued northwest of Baghdad between the towns of Mishahda, 20 miles away from Baghdad, and the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, 12 miles away.
British officials in Baghdad said those freed were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men — members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams — were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox.
The body of Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., was found earlier this month.
After last month's hatefest for Tom Fox over at Little Green Psychopaths, I wonder if they'll have anything rah-rah to say about this glorious rescue by the military.
ntodd
[Update: I was just thinking about this story a little more and I wonder about the captives being found completely unguarded, and discovered in the first place due to a tip from somebody the military captured just a few hours before. Sounds like the insurgents have enough infiltration into our operations that word quickly reached the kidnappers' ears so they were able to split. That seems ungood to me.]
['nother update: yup, the Snotballs are up in arms about the "peace creeps" not being sufficiently enthused with the military (via Daou Report via Devil's Advocate), as is Michelle "I Dig A Pygmy Marmoset" Malkin (via catnip).]
March 23, 2006 | Permalink
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Tracked on Mar 23, 2006 9:46:34 AM
Comments
I also hear the wait for gasoline in Baghdad is down to 11hr. & 30min, from the previous 12hrs., so things are improving.
Posted by: Christopher | Mar 23, 2006 12:06:41 PM
...that's the problem with becoming cynical (there's no good news).
Damned these internet(s). It's like a palantir: it shows the truth (but that which confirms your worst fears).
Posted by: Darryl Pearce | Mar 23, 2006 12:24:40 PM
Christopher - chocolate rations are up, too!
DP - don't pull a Denethor on us, okay?
Posted by: NTodd | Mar 23, 2006 12:36:32 PM
Sounds like the insurgents have enough infiltration into our operations that word quickly reached the kidnappers' ears so they were able to split. That seems ungood to me.
If that were true -- why wouldn't they take the hostages with them, or kill them before they split?
I'd say its more likely they just didn't worry that the hostages would be able to free themselves -- or that they'd make it very far even if they did.
Posted by: flory | Mar 23, 2006 1:33:39 PM
Yep, Little Green Freaks has taken it up with relish. Check it out on the right side of the Daou report.
I particularly like the expression "peace creeps". It tells you anything you need to know about the vileness, baseness, and pure evil of LGF.
Posted by: Devil's Advocate | Mar 23, 2006 1:36:06 PM
flory - well, I was thinking that they new a raid was imminent and trying to move the captives would be difficult in that situation, so they just melted into the population again, as insurgents are wont to do.
Advocate - yes, 'peace creeps' takes the proverbial cake. Shows just how much cognitive dissonance is, uh...dissonating in their minds right now. They claim their "real" Christianity is the Religion of Peace, but soon as somebody tries to, you know, work for peace, they're creeps. Oy.
Posted by: NTodd | Mar 23, 2006 1:48:20 PM
Hey NTodd,
Crooks and Liars just linked to my piece about Malkin. Expect some traffic coming your way too.
Posted by: catnip | Mar 23, 2006 3:46:52 PM
A peace creep is someone who "emotes concern" over the situation but hasn't got the cojones to admit that sometimes you have to stand up to the bad guys. Like the ones that kidnapped them (and beat Tom Fox before shooting him). Or someone who has the common decency to thank the people that saved them - "But Horrors!, you are soldiers!
And while the comments at LGF are always way over the top, the stories are first class.
Posted by: Mark | Mar 23, 2006 10:44:40 PM
Buy me stuff off my 
