View Full Version : Standby for Expression of Gratitude!
CoLawman
03-23-2006, 08:23
Will be standing by for an expression of gratitude from these "peace activists."
:rolleyes:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11971376/
I guess we shouldn't hold our breath.
The Reaper
03-23-2006, 09:05
Group co-director Doug Pritchard also called for coalition forces to leave the country.
“We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq,” Pritchard said.
Well, I guess if the coalition forces were not there, they could have enjoyed their partner for peace, Fox's fate, at the hands of the poor, misunderstood kidnappers.
IMHO, the root causes of the kidnappings are terrorism and financial gain, and the root causes of the insurgency are hate, prejudice, external agitation, and a power struggle.
Stand by for the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, the "peace activisits" and their group's statements are all saying that they were "released". The press and military's version is that they were rescued when coalition forces raided the building they were being held in.
My brief review of the English language leads me to believe that released would be an action by the kidnappers, and that rescued would be an act by a third party. If they had done it themselves, they would have escaped, but it appears that they did not take that initiative, despite being unguarded. Since they were not free till the coalition forces came and got them, I would say that they are disingenuous, ungrateful, useful idiots who are extremely lucky to have been RESCUED and not to have suffered the fate of Fox, but what do I know.:rolleyes:
You want to read some sorry, self-serving, ungrateful pablum, read their statement for yourself:
http://www.pulse24.com/News/Top_Story/20060323-005/page.asp
I would be strongly inclined to drop them off in the same neighborhood and let them make their own way to the airport.
TR
I would be strongly inclined to drop them off in the same neighborhood and let them make their own way to the airport.
TR
Should have left 'em right where they were.
Warrior-Mentor
03-23-2006, 13:19
“We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq,” Pritchard said.
TR
...because things were SO much better under Saddam...
You want to read some sorry, self-serving, ungrateful pablum, read their statement for yourselfcan't say i wasn't warned...well, that block's checked...good thing folks aren't in this hostage rescue business for gratitude, ain't it...
Soft Target
03-23-2006, 16:31
Methinks a little too much LSD and the like.
You think you have it bad with the press. I’m in South America and all I get is CNN International. I was In Brazil when the Iraq war started; hell I thought we were loosing watching CNN International. Got back to the States and I hear something like Ten Americans KIA, 20,000 Enemy KIA. Not one word on CNN International about our Troops finding and securing those guys. Not one word! I thought they were just found walking down the street until I read the news on the Internet.
London Daily Telegraph
March 25, 2006
Pg. 1
Released Hostages 'Refuse To Help Their Rescuers'
By Oliver Poole, in Baghdad
The three peace activists freed by an SAS-led coalition force after being held hostage in Iraq for four months refused to co-operate fully with an intelligence unit sent to debrief them, a security source claimed yesterday.
The claim has infuriated those searching for other hostages.
Neither the men nor the Canadian group that sent them to Iraq have thanked the people who saved them in any of their public statements.
One of them, Norman Kember, 74, a retired physics professor, of Pinner, north-west London, was in Kuwait last night and was expected to return to Britain today. He is understood to have given some helpful information.
He provided details of the semi-rural area north-west of Baghdad where he was held and confirmed that his captors were criminals, rather than insurgents. Their motive was believed to be money.
The two Canadians kidnapped with Mr Kember - Harmeet Sooden, 32, and Jim Loney, 41 - were said to have been co-operative at first but less so on arriving at the British embassy in Baghdad after being given the opportunity to wash, eat and rest.
Previous hostages have been questioned on everything from what shoes their kidnappers wore to the number of mobile phones they had. The pacifist Christian Peacemaker Teams with which the men were visiting Iraq is opposed to the coalition's presence and has accused it of illegally detaining thousands of Iraqis.
Jan Benvie, 51, an Edinburgh teacher who is due to go to Iraq with the organisation this summer, said: "We make clear that if we are kidnapped we do not want there to be force or any form of violence used to release us."
Although the CPTs has welcomed the men's release, it has not thanked the rescuers in any of its statements. It blamed the kidnapping on the presence of foreign troops in the country, which was "responsible for so much pain and suffering in Iraq today".
When told how angry the coalition was feeling, Claire Evans, a spokesman for the CPTs in America, said: "We are extremely grateful to everybody who had a role leading to the men's release."
Mr Kember, in a statement through the embassy, said: "I have had the opportunity to have a shave, relax in the bath and a good English breakfast. I am very much looking forward to getting home to British soil and to being reunited with my family." He did not publicly thank his rescuers.
Tony Blair, in Brussels for an EU summit, said: "I'd like to say how pleased I am that he was released and pay tribute to the extraordinary courage, dedication and commitment of the British, American, Iraqi, Canadian and other forces that were involved."
Gen Sir Mike Jackson, the chief of the defence staff, told Channel 4 News: "I am slightly saddened that there does not seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives to save those lives."
Asked if he meant that Mr Kember had not said thank you, he said: "I hope he has and I have missed it."
It emerged that about 50 soldiers, led by the SAS, including men from 1 Bn the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Marines, as well as American and Canadian special forces, entered the kidnap building at dawn.
A deal had been struck with a man detained the previous night who was one of the leaders of the kidnappers. He was allowed a telephone call to warn his henchmen to leave the kidnap house. When the troops moved in and found the prisoners alive, they also let him go as promised.
uboat509
03-25-2006, 17:48
"He provided details of the semi-rural area north-west of Baghdad where he was held and confirmed that his captors were criminals, rather than insurgents. Their motive was believed to be money."
"It blamed the kidnapping on the presence of foreign troops in the country, which was "responsible for so much pain and suffering in Iraq today".
I think that this is a good example of cognitive dissonance. Either the kidnappers were common criminals, motivated only by money or they were insurgents who were trying to fight the "illegal occupation" of Iraq, unless you are a far left moron with an ax to grind with the coalition. Then they can be both.
SFC W
Harmeet Sooden is also a New Zealand resident, his family live in NZ and he was studying at Auckland University when he went over.
Related storys:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3616705a11,00.html
Freed hostage may reach NZ on Monday
26 March 2006
By JENNIFER DANN
Freed hostage Harmeet Sooden is expected to arrive home in New Zealand as early as tomorrow.
The 33-year-old Auckland student, rescued by coalition forces in Iraq on Thursday after four months in captivity, was yesterday on his way to meet his father Dalip Sooden and brother-in-law Mark Brewer in Jordan before flying home.
Fellow hostages Briton Norman Kember and Canadian Jim Loney were also preparing to leave Iraq yesterday. The body of American hostage Tom Fox was found in a Baghdad rubbish dump last month.
Sooden's return comes amid British newspaper reports that the three were ungrateful and unco-operative with the military forces who freed them.
The Guardian quoted an unnamed security source who said the pacifists refused to fully co-operate with an intelligence unit sent to gather information about their kidnappers.
Kember was reported to be the most helpful, giving details of the semi-rural area north-west of Baghdad where he was held and confirming the kidnappers were criminals, rather than insurgents, whose motive was money.
Canadian citizens Sooden and Loney, 41, were said to be initially co-operative, but less so on arriving at the British embassy in Baghdad after being given the opportunity to wash, eat and rest. None of the Christian Peacemaker Teams members had publicly thanked the rescuers, the paper said.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Auckland University student Daniele Abreu e Lima said she didn't believe Sooden had refused to co-operate or had been rude.
"He's a gentleman. A pacifist. When he speaks, he's incapable of saying any word that would offend anybody."
She said the fact the kidnappers fled just before the British soldiers arrived indicated they had been voluntarily freed their hostages and the rescue could have been conducted by any organisation.
Lima said Sooden was relieved and talkative when he rang her at 4am on Friday. He told her the most harm he came to was during the hospital check-up after his release, when doctors struggled to find a vein for a blood sample from his naturally thin frame.
"The first question he had for me was `had I been playing squash?' He was my coach. I said `no, of course not!"'
She said Sooden's suspicions that Fox had been killed were confirmed only when he rang.
"He was shocked," Lima said. "To lose a colleague will change his life but not in a way to make him change what he's doing. If anything, it will emphasise it more."
"They're not naive. There's always a risk but it's worth it. When you do a social job like this, it's bigger than you."
Sooden had also phoned his Australian peacekeeper friend Donna Mulhearn, who will fly to Auckland today to see him.
"To hear his voice so strong, I was so happy. I was pleased at how normal he sounded. The first thing he said was: `How are you doing?' I said `What? How are you doing?' It was so typical of Harmeet."
She said Sooden was surprised to hear how big a story his capture had been in New Zealand. He still considered New Zealand his home, and hoped to return to his studies next semester, having missed the first semester while in captivity.
The claims the hostages were ungrateful and exposed their rescuers to danger have been denied by Ekklesia, the British religious think-tank which works with CPT. Ekklesia and Kember's wife had made statements of appreciation to the soldiers and others involved in the rescue.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3616706a11,00.html
Why Harmeet Sooden declared war on old boss
26 March 2006
By TIM HUME and TONY WALL
Freed hostage Harmeet Sooden quit his job at an Auckland company because of moral concerns he was supporting the war industry, and became involved in activism against the firm.
Emails to colleagues in the peace movement obtained by the Sunday Star-Times reveal Sooden's concerns about his former employer, Oscmar International, an Auckland company which provides laser training weapons systems for armies around the world and sought to do business with the Israeli army.
He wrote in June: "The NZ govt is doing nothing about the company that is selling military hardware to Israel it seems. That is a real disappointment. People worked really hard on that. And now they are sending 50 NZ SAS to Afghanistan in contravention of their own laws. Democracy my @#$$! We won't give up."
Details of Sooden's employment with Oscmar were not reported under voluntary terrorist event media protocols so as not to jeopardise Sooden's safety while he was held hostage. Information about his employment at Oscmar was publicised after Sooden was freed in Baghdad on Thursday.
Yesterday, a Foreign Affairs spokesman said: "Our judgement was the fact of his employment at that company, which had a connection with Israel, could potentially put him at risk."
Oscmar International was twice refused a licence in 2004 to export military-style laser harnesses -which detect laser beams sent out by simulated weapons and are worn during training exercises - to Israel because of the potential for the product to contribute to regional conflict. Sooden, who turned 33 on Friday, worked as a designer at the company for a year., It is understood he worked on the harness project.
Motivated by moral concerns, he quit his job and became involved in activism against Oscmar International. Activists alleged that, after the government blocked Oscmar's bid to export the harnesses, the firm had emailed technical details on how to produce the harnesses to its American parent company in order to manufacture the product for Israel.
Advertisement
Advertisement
A subsequent investigation by Customs, triggered by leaked Oscmar documents, found the company had acted within the law.
Ernie Armijo, Oscmar's managing director, said he did not want to talk about Sooden's involvement with the company.
"Those stories are over. The last thing I want to do is engage in any debate about our business again."
Sooden's close friend Omar Hamed, a student, organised pickets against Oscmar. He met Sooden through Auckland University's Students for Justice in Palestine group, which he says his friend was drawn to.
"He feels there's been a lot of injustice to Kashmiri people, so he naturally wants to help out other causes."
Peace Movement Aotearoa coordinator Edwina Hughes said her organisation was able to focus activism against Oscmar because it had a lot of information on the company. She would not say whether Sooden was a source of information on Oscmar's activities.
"That's something you would have to ask him about."
Claire Evans, delegation co-ordinator for Christian Peacemaker Teams, the American group which sent Sooden and three other volunteers to visit Iraq, said her organisation's first contact with Sooden was through his unsolicited application to go to Iraq last year.
His credentials after similar visits with Solidarity International to the West Bank, impressed, as did character references.
Evans said Sooden's application revealed his change in career, from electrical engineering to studying English with the aim of becoming a teacher, was motivated by political convictions.
"It was having to do with not wanting to be involved with electrical engineering because of reasons of conscience - he didn't want to support the war industry," she said.
Miriam Pierard, president of Students for Justice in Palestine, said she and Sooden discussed him taking over leadership of the group which he joined last year after enrolling in an English literature course at Auckland university.
"He more than deserves the role. He's essentially a really good guy who was willing to put himself on the line for the underprivileged."