March 22, 2007

"Christian" Hostage Wants Clemency for His Captors

A former British peace activist held hostage in Iraq wants to defend his captors in court. He's not just trying to shield them from the death sentence, but also from a "long prison sentence". He even believes that if they were released, that they may become hostage takers again.

As I've said from time to time on these pages, this is one of the logical outcome of Christian fundamentalism and New Testament literalism. Pacifism is a form of Christian fundamentalism and literalism.

I hope the reason I bring this up is obvious. But, to state the obvious to the clueless: When was the last time you met a Muslim literalilst or fundamentalist who was a pacifist? All religions, my friends, are not the same.

Christians face the problematic of justifying violence when pacifism, in my mind, is clearly an immoral position. As history shows, Christians have not had that hard of a time figuring out a way to justify violence when necessary (and often, when not necessary). But, most of the violence committed in Christianity's name comes only after the Church rejected a core literalist tennet: seperation of church and state.

Muslims, on the other hand, have quite the opposite problem. The Quran and the hadiths clearly show that violence is God's way of not only defending the faith, but also in spreading the faith and in enforcing its moral codes. Thus, for the Muslim, the problematic is justifying peace when the Quran, the sayings of Muhammed (hadiths), and Mohammed's example (sunna), when taken literally, indicate that "God" wants his "submitters" to act immorally.

And, like Christians who rejected a literal interpretation of Christ's "turn the other cheek" or Paul's invitation to soldier converts to "do no violence", because doing so in every situation would clearly be immoral (eg, allowing genocide), so too have many Muslims, over the years, worked out ways of justifying peaceful coexistence with infidels (eg, India--at least, from time to time) or in rejecting sharia as nothing more than a set of values not to be enforced by state power (eg, "liberal" or "secular" Muslims). Because human beings have a way of finding the moral thing to do, even when Allah commands them to "strike the neck of the unbelievers".

But just because we have the capacity to see the immorality of pacifism or of jihad & sharia, this does not mean that people always follow their conscience. Ideas can have powerful effects on killing our innermost humanity. Marxism is the main example that comes to mind. An idea so powerful that it lead to the deaths of tens of millions of people.

In any event, there is something deeply troubling about a man who takes his reading of the New Testament so literally that he wishes to translate his personal forgiveness of his hostage takers into a public policy stance which would set them free, only to take more people hostage. Of course, Norman Kember's forgiveness stance is much less troubling than Osama bin Laden's kill the infidel stance. Both are problematic, but only one leads to mass murder.

Reuters:

A year after his release from almost four months of captivity when he was chained to fellow hostages, deprived of daylight and denied contact with the outside world, Norman Kember wants to defend his captors.

The British peace activist, seized in Baghdad with two Canadians and an American in November 2005 and held hostage for 118 days, says he will plead for the lives of the men accused of holding him and killing his American friend Tom Fox even though he fears they could kidnap or murder again.

"It's certainly part of Christianity and it's part of other religions, that forgiveness and an attempt to restore people who have done you wrong is the most positive outcome of something like this," Kember said in a telephone interview.

For more, see our Norman Kember archives here.

PS-for the record, I am a "Christian" and a "fundamentalist" (ie, back to the basics) but not a Biblical "literalist". I go to church every week, in fact. I am a believer. Or, at least, a "suspecter". Which is what Orson Scott Card describes as, to paraphrase, something more than a "hoper" but something a little less than full of faith.

November 08, 2006

Ex-Peacenick Hostage Won't Testify Against Terrorist Captors

I don't know whether to admire former hostage in Iraq Norman Kember for his principled stand or to think the worst about him for believing in those same principles which I think are misguided at best and evil at worst. The thought that one shouldn't testify against terrorists because they might receive the death penalty is so foreign to me that I'm speechless.

BBC News:

Former British hostage Norman Kember has said he is unlikely to testify at any trial over his kidnapping in Iraq....

Mr Kember told Channel 4 News he had been informed there had been arrests but said he faced a "moral dilemma" as he was against the death penalty.

The 74-year-old, who was opposed to the US-led action in Iraq, said he "can understand" what motivated the gang.

August 26, 2006

Murdered Hostage Families Sue Syria

The families of Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley--both civilian hostages murdered by Abu Musab al Zarqawi in Iraq--are suing the Syrian government.

AP:

Survivors of two civilian contractors taken hostage and beheaded in
Iraq filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Syria, which they claim supported the group who murdered him.

This is a step they can take to deter states who sponsor terrorists," said John Salter, an attorney for Jack Hensley's widow, Pati Hensley, and their teenage daughter, Sara.

The plaintiffs also include Francis Gates of Michigan and Holly Pettis, now living in Canada. They are the mother and sister, respectively, of Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, who was taken hostage and slain along with Hensley and a British co-worker.

The families are also seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. "The trick is collecting," Salter said.

Salter said the lawsuit is based on the attorneys' investigations that show Syria was responsible for supporting and harboring the group that killed the men in September 2004.

The lawsuit also names Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and a Syrian Air Force general. Keep an eye on this one. We may learn a thing or two about the Syria-insurgent connection through it.

Hat tip: Hostage watcher.

April 15, 2006

Norman Kember is Thankful to Be Free

Peace Activist Norman Kember has given an interview to BBC. Kember is one classy peace activist. Norman was on eof the four CPT hostages. Kember also speaks well of Tom Fox who was murdered by the terrorists who held them.

Via BBC :Peace campaigner Norman Kember has given an emotional account of his ordeal as a hostage in Iraq.

Mr Kember, 74, of Pinner in north west London, was held in Baghdad for four months before his rescue on 23 March.

American peace worker Tom Fox, 54, was killed weeks before the rescue. When asked about his fellow hostage, Mr Kember said he was a "remarkable man".

His voice breaking with emotion, he spoke of the moment his rescuers arrived.

"We had this sort of futon thing on the floor, and we were lying there, and suddenly we heard noise outside and then somebody calling out and then the breaking of glass and then up the stairs came these SAS gents," he said.

"It's unbelievable because it was so sudden and first of all, because they were British, they wanted to know if 'Mr Kember' was there, and I said, 'Yes' and then they said, because I was the person at that stage chained to the door, 'This is a bolt-cutter job,' so they went down and cut the padlock and released me."

Mr Kember said he "continues to thank" his rescuers.

"They were brave. I disagree with their profession, but it is ironic isn't it - you go as a peace activist and you are rescued by the SAS, which is perhaps the most violent of all the British forces.

"Anyway I am grateful to them. I met one of them by chance on the way out of Baghdad and he was quite happy to chat to me and I was happy to chat to him."

Norman Kember Acrchive here.

The Jawa Report's Hostage Archive Here.

Don't forget hostage Jeffrey Ake and many others are still missing.

March 23, 2006

Western Hostages Rescued by Coalition Forces (UPDATED)

A great day for those of us following hostages in Iraq closely!! Three peace activists from the Christian Peacemakers Team held hostage in Iraq have been freed by Coalition Forces. Ironically, the CPT activists were in Iraq to document alleged human rights abuses by U.S. mililtary forces. The three rescued are Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, and Briton Norman Kember.

Scroll down for updates.

American Tom Fox was found murdered on the streets of Baghdad last week by those the CPT claimed were simply 'insurgents' and who the CPT clearly believed were responding to Western aggression.

We are very happy to learn that at least three of the four hostages have been released and wish to congratulate our soldiers who took part in the raid. A job well done.

The Jawa Report's complete archives about these four hostages can be found here. For information about the other hostages still held in Iraq, including American Dean Sadek, please see our extensive hostage archives.

The CPT is a Leftist organization which claims to be pacifist and 'Christian,' but which focuses all of its efforts against Western governments. The four 'peacemakers' were taken hostage near the same mosque where Giuliana Sgrena had been abducted. Also, like the communist newspaper writer, the four activists were at the mosque to interview persons displaced by the Fallujah offensive and to document various 'war crimes' committed by U.S. troops.

Today, the CPT insulted the U.S. and other Coalition troops who daringly rescued the three peace activists by releasing this announcement. In it they compare the taking of hostages and their subsequent murders to Coalition Forces who detain suspected terrorists:

Harmeet, Jim and Norman and Tom were in Iraq to learn of the struggles facing the people in that country. They went, motivated by a passion for justice and peace to live out a nonviolent alternative in a nation wracked by armed conflict. They knew that their only protection was in the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers. 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. The occupation must end.

Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow to their families. In the spirit of the prophetic nonviolence that motivated Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom to go to Iraq, we refuse to yield to a spirit of vengeance. We give thanks for the compassionate God who granted our friends courage and who sustained their spirits over the past months. We pray for strength and courage for ourselves so that, together, we can continue the nonviolent struggle for justice and peace.

Throughout these difficult months, we have been heartened by messages of concern for our four colleagues from all over the world. We have been especially moved by the gracious outpouring of support from Muslim brothers and sisters in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. That support continues to come to us day after day. We pray that Christians throughout the world will, in the same spirit, call for justice and for respect for the human rights of the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained illegally by the U.S. and British forces occupying Iraq.

During these past months, we have tasted of the pain that has been the daily bread of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Why have our loved ones been taken? Where are they being held? Under what conditions? How are they? Will they be released? When?

The four hostages were abducted by a group calling themselves The Swords of Righteousness Brigade. However, as first revealed on The Jawa Report, the group has been linked to the Islamic Army in Iraq and is probably a brigade or front for the well known Islamist terror organization. The Jawa Report was also the first U.S. media outlet to release the names of the four hostages.

NY Times story about the raid:

The delegation coordinator for the group, Claire Evans, said by telephone that Mr. Loney, a 41-year-old Canadian, had contacted his family this morning from the Green Zone, the fortified compound in Baghdad where some American military forces, Iraqi government offices and the American Embassy are located.

"He said that they were all in reasonable health," she said, adding that the three men were undergoing medical checks.

The men were freed by multinational forces in a military operation.

The hostages were found when American-led forces raided a house in western Baghdad, acting on information from one of two detainees interrogated late Wednesday night, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a spokesman for the American military, said at a news conference in Baghdad. The kidnappers were not in the house. The men were in "relatively good condition," he said.

In London, the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said the mission had included British forces.

"It follows weeks and weeks of very careful work by military and coalition personnel in Iraq and many civilians as well," Mr. Straw said, adding that it involved a number of countries, including Canadian personnel.

Mr. Straw said that Mr. Kember was in "reasonable" condition and that the two Canadians had to have hospital treatment. He said he had spoken with Mr. Kember's wife. "Of course, it goes without saying that she is absolutely delighted, elated, with this news," Mr. Straw said.

The Loney family released a statement today saying that Mr. Loney had been released unharmed with his two companions.

"What a joyful day this is," the family's statement said. "We have just learned that James is coming home." The statement also expressed sympathy for Mr. Fox's family.

Thank you for the dozens of people who e-mailed tips about this to us.

It would do well for us all to remember that the statements downplaying the hostages' rescue are coming from the CPT, and not from the hostages themselves. I have a feeling that the hostages, who were so critical of the U.S. and so praising of terrorists in the past, will have a different take now. The murder of Tom Fox is a good indication they weren't treated quite as well as Giuliana Sgrena.

Update: No Pasaran notices this from a British peace activist on the BBC:

Of course I would like to thank the Foreign Office and, ,b>if it was the military that helped free him, then them too. But the Muslim community has really behaved in a wonderful way.

And via Small Dead Animals we are pointed to this from Relapsed Catholic who notices this little nugget:

In reaction Kember's friend, Bruce Kent (...) said the miltants holding the hostages 'must have been people of great faith.'

12:30 Update: The Left (see for instance Body and Soul or A Lovely Promise) is already talking as if their release was negotiated. The implication being that it wasn't the military that should get the credit but, instead, diplomacy. However, had the Left removed their tinfoil long enough they would have realized that tips from detainees led to their rescue and that finding hostages alone is not necessarily uncommon. For instance, Roy Hallums was released in a similar manner. A tip led to our troops finding him and when the troops got their his captors had fled. Knowing cousin Achmed just got captured and then hearing the sounds of helicopters and the approach of an Abrams tank might be enough to send even the bravest of terrorists fleeing.

UPDATE 12:45: Families react

Ed Loney said his freed brother "sounded fantastic" when he telephoned their mother in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario - and had apologised for putting the family through such an ordeal.

"He told them that he was well and that he was concerned about us and the family and other people who were worried, which is pretty typical of Jim, to put others first," he said.

His parents issued a short statement saying: "What a joyful day this is. We have just learned that James is coming home... We would like to thank everyone for their support and prayers." ...

Mr Sooden's father, Dalip Singh Sooden, said he had talked to his son.

"It's like it's unbelievable. I just don't remember what I said to him and what he said to me," he said.

"I've seen him on video and he looked like he's probably lost 10kg or something, but it was traumatic today, it was good. I still can't believe it."

Mark Brewer, the brother-in-law of Mr Sooden, said from his home in Auckland, New Zealand, that relatives were planning to go to Baghdad to bring him home.

"We're just looking forward to getting hold of him, giving him a big hug and bringing him back home to his family," Mr Brewer said.

He told TV One News in New Zealand the ordeal had been "excruciating", particularly since the death of Mr Fox.

Weeks of intelligence work in lawless west Baghdad and a rapid response by special forces to information extracted from a prisoner led to British troops' rescue of three Christian peace activists in Baghdad on Thursday.

British and U.S. officials were reluctant to give details of the release of Canadians Harmeet Sooden and Jim Loney and Briton Norman Kember, not wishing to jeopardize efforts to free several other hostages believed still held around the capital.

"It was part of ongoing operations related to hostages," said British military spokesman Wing Commander Tony Radcliffe....

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "It follows weeks and weeks of very careful work by military Coalition personnel in Iraq and many civilians as well."

That suggested that the arrest of the man who provided the final tip was the product of detective work rather than chance.

Special police teams, apparently from Britain and possibly Canada, had been working on the ground since the four men were seized in west Baghdad on November 26, British officials said, stressing the role civilians played in the process.

The dawn raid that found the three hostages tied up and unguarded in a house was led by British troops and involved others from the U.S.-led Coalition, officials said.

They were acting on intelligence obtained three hours earlier from one of two people arrested the night before.

Though not a shot was fired, it is likely the operation was led by special forces ready to quell resistance and, especially, get the captives out unharmed after four months in captivity: "It was a fairly clinical extraction," Radcliffe said.

Update 1:00 P.M.: More from CNN:

Iraqi police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said it was believed the operation took place in Mishahda, 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Baghdad, AP reported.

Maj Gen Lynch told reporters in Baghdad: "Late last night, coalition forces conducted an operation and it came up with two detainees.

"These two detainees provided actionable intelligence about the location of the Christian Peacemaker Team hostages.

"We got that information at eight o'clock this morning and we conducted the operation.

"We moved to the location in western Baghdad that was reported for the location of the Christian Peacemaker Team.

"We conducted an assault on the house and inside the house we found the three hostages, in good condition.

"There were no kidnappers there at the time. The three hostages were by themselves."

The hostages were then freed, debriefed and taken to a hospital for medical checks.

"The key point is it was intelligence-led. It was information provided by a detainee," he said.

"In this particular case, of those two detainees, one knew where the hostages were and provided that information.

"The operation was planned and executed and the effect was the safe return of the three hostages."

"There seems to be a kidnapping cell that has been robust over the last several months in conducting these kind of kidnappings.

"It was a coalition forces operation so it involved all sorts of members of the coalition.

"The size and magnitude of the operation I'm not going to walk you through, because we have got other operations that continue."...

The early morning operation took place in a rural area north west of Baghdad, between the towns of Mishahda, 20 miles north of Baghdad, and the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, 12 miles from the city centre.

"The operation included representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, other agencies from Canada – and they did a terrific job – as well as the Americans and British staff and those from Iraq," said Straw....

Canadian military personnel were involved in the operation, according to Pentagon sources, but it's not clear how many took part or what their role was. There have been reports that members of Canada's top secret commando unit, Joint Task Force 2, have been working in Iraq.

Also:

Three members of a group of Christian peace activists have been released from a hospital, where they were taken after their rescue by U.S. and British forces in Iraq today.

Others (apologies for multiple trackbacks--something wrong on my side that I can't fix for some reason. Sorry. I know how annoying it can be.):

Exposing the Left: From reading the statement one might assume that they had escaped completely on there own. My suggestion....give them back.

Bluto: The really good news is that the rescue was effected without resistance, so soldiers weren't put at further risk by the this foolish group's irresponsible behavior.

Michelle Malkin notes: For crying out loud. Many readers note that the CPT statement refers to the hostages' "release" instead of their rescue.

Mr. T: On Easter, will they thank Christ for rescuing them from their sins? Or will they give props to Satan for letting them go?

Stop the ACLU says: That in itself can be viewed as an admiral conviction to their faith, even if misguided, but in conjuction with absolutely no gratitude towards the brave souls that rescued them it comes across more like spit in the face.

CDR Salamander: I hope this gets the play it deserves

Lawhawk: Too bad their experience being kidnapped, held for more than four months, and potentially witnessing one of their fellow victims murdered has done nothing to disabuse them of their notions of a heroic insurgency seeking to overthrow the coalition's efforts at building a democratic government in Iraq.

Soldier's Angels Germany: Thank you to the US and British troops who risked their lives to help others. Well done and congratulations on a successful operation.

Beltway Blitz: You see, Iraq was a pretty peaceful place before the United States and its fellow Western pillagers showed up. Michael Moore told us so. He said kids got to fly kites before the evil Westerners showed up to depose Saddam. And as soon as they leave, it's going to be all better. Life in Iraq will be grand.

Church and State: This is so typical.

Darleen: Since these "Christian" peace terrorist-enablers won't thank the US and British forces for their lives, let me say to those brave soldiers - Gentlemen, ladies there are those who grateful for your dedication and your bravery. We salute you. Be assured we will not denigrate your efforts or spit on you upon your return home.

Sister Toldjah: As a Christian, it shames me to see fellow Christians who seem ungrateful towards the brave and courageous members of our military who rescued them.

Publius Rendezvous: Just as these activists are not grateful to their own rescuers, so are the same protesters who mock those that secure their rights and freedom.

Point Five: The AP, whose editorial guidelines and ’stylebook’ sets strict policy to avoid such controversy, more accurately reported late Wednesday the “abduction” of the three peace activists by US Military forces. “The three were seized in a raid in the early hours, when the house where they were peacemaking was stormed by members of the US Special Forces.”

Demonrats: The most bizarre part of this whole putting flowers in guns movement is that these weaselly chickenshits absolutely NEVER try to put the flowers in the guns of the enemies that we are fighting.

Martin's Musings: Memo to the Christian Peacemaker Teams: loving your enemies is perfectly fine, but the fact remains that you were kidnapped by terrorists with no intentions of releasing you.

Paxalles: Could this be a cover for the total failure of their [CPT's] naive mission?

Inigo Montoya: "Released"? I do not think that word means what you think it means...

Gina Cobb: So if it's fair game to point out what's "illegal," why not a single word about the illegal and barbarous kidnapping and detention of four members of the CPT and the illegal torture and murder of Tom Fox?

Clarity and Resolve: Way to give evil a pass, Mr. Pritchard. Tom Fox is dead—a bullet in his head and heart, following torture. There is no excuse for such savagery. God's work was not done here.

Hyscience:These people would be a joke, were they not so dangerous! Somehow the Left always sides against America. Remember when the Daily Kos suggested that the kidnapping of these leftists was part of a "Strategic Psychological Operation" to portray the "enemy" as barbarians who defile the Koran and slaughter pious Christians or that the kidnappers might be hired by the Iraqi police?

Blogfather: Lots of groveling to the Islamic world and overly demonstrative “sympathy” for the Iraqi people, but not one word of gratitude to the soldiers who freed their fellow moonbats.

Llama Butchers: Their willful blindness to the evil around them brings to mind Lenin's characterization of the Fabian Socialists: "useful idiots"- which is probably how the insurgents see them.

James Joyner: I suspect they wouldn’t like the interrogation techniques that led to the intel that made their rescue possible, either.

Say Anything: When you don't believe that a war is just you can't ever see your way clear to appreciate what our troops are doing. Not even when they rescue you from people who were hold you captive and murdered your friend.

Six Meat Buffet: Do people still talk this way? Is al Zarqawi just a deeply insecure fellow who works out his issues on the necks of people?

Slublog: they couldn't even fit a simple 'thanks' into the release?

Dinocrat: Our rage is boundless as we read the lies of our supposed moral superiors

Gay Patriot: Remember: There can be no peace with out freedom. Iraq was not at peace under Saddam.

Ace: They're not for peace, they're just on the other side of assholish manners.

Others : Stuck on Stupid

Troops free three Western hostages in Iraq

Once again coalition soldiers risk their lives to rescue those who would spit on them.

BAGHDAD, 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.

Read rest and a statement by Christian Peacemaker Teams, it's unbelievable.

Updates posted here: Western Hostages Rescued by Coalition Forces

CPT Hostages Rescued

By US and Brit Special Forces.

Now that they've been rescued unharmed, I feel no reason to have any more sympathy for them, the ungrateful bastards.

stein hoist 6MB

UPDATE: backtiming this because traderrob scooped me and should get the top billing and all the nice comments.

Updates posted here: Western Hostages Rescued by Coalition Forces

March 10, 2006

American CPT Hostage Tom Fox Murdered

Tom was not seen in a video from the 'Swords of Righteousness Brigade' released March Seventh by Al-Jazeera. Today the FBI says that Tom was murdered.

Yahoo News :The FBI verified that a body found in Iraq Friday morning was that of Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., spokesman Noel Clay said. He said he had no information on the other three hostages.

Clay said he did not know how Fox was killed but said additional forensics will be done in the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is investigating, he said.

Fox's family has been notified, Clay said, and "our heartfelt condolences go out to them."

Full details on the CPT hostages here

Jawa Report archives on all hostages in general here.

Rather sad Hat Tip : Jesusland Carlos and George Ramos.

Update : Tom was Tortured before his Murder.

Yahoo News : Interior Ministry Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said Fox was found with his hands tied and gunshot wounds to his head and chest. There were cuts on his body and bruises on his head, indicating torture, he said. The corpse was dressed in Iraqi-made clothing.

Fox's body was found near a railway line in Dawoudi, a mixed Sunni-Shiite area that has been largely shielded from violence. Shocked local residents on Saturday condemned Fox's abduction and killing.

"These acts are terrorist ones and will hinder the political process and distort the reputation of Iraq," said Dhamir al-Samaraie, who had come to see where Fox was found.

March 07, 2006

New Christian Peacemakers Hostage Video

102 days into their captivity, a video has been broadcast by al Jazeera showing three of four activists held hostage in Iraq. Not shown in the video is American Tom Fox.

The video (no sound) can be seen here.

The video shows Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, and Briton Norman Kember sitting on chairs. Although no audio was broadcast, al Jazeera reports that the three plead for their governments to help secure their release. The three also ask that Gulf States help them--a less than cryptic message asking for a ransom.

This video is the first in which such a request is made and confirms speculation that 'The Swords of Righteousness Brigade' is after money. The group has been linked to the Islamic Army in Iraq. It is not uncommon in Iraq for 'insurgents' to use ransoms paid for hostages to fund their terroristic activities.

It is not clear what significance, if any exists, there is to the fact that the sole American is not shown on the video. We hope and pray that he remains in good health.

As always, the Left-wing 'Christian' group used the opportunity to highlight their political agenda. In a press statement, the CPT attempted to highlight 'abuses' by the Multinational forces in Iraq. Further, they claim that the 'root cause' of the hostage taking "is the U.S. and British-led invasion and occupation of Iraq."

It's sad and disgusting that supposed 'Christians' would attempt to find fault with those who are trying to rescue the four hostages, rather than with those who are holding them.

We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the four hostages. Those who are holding them bear 100% of the responsibility for this depraved and barbaric act.

For more information on this see our extensive Christian Peacemakers hostage archives. For general information on hostage taking in Iraq see our Religion of Peace hostage archives.

March 06, 2006

Christian Peacemakers: 100 Days in Captivity & Still No Word

Yesterday marked the 100th day of captivity for Norman Kember, 74, of England; Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32; and American Tom Fox, 54. The four pacifists are being held by terrorists linked to the Islamic Army in Iraq.

It is sad that Left wing organizations continue to use the hostage situation for their own political goals.

We pray for their immediate and unconditional release.

January 28, 2006

New Hostage Video of Four Western Peace Activists

A new video has emerged of four Western peace activists being held hostage in Iraq. The hostages are: Norman Kember, 74, of England; Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32; and American Tom Fox, 54. Background information on the four peace activists held hostage in Iraq can be found here.

The video is a very bad sign. While al Jazeera chose not to air the audio from it, the video is said to demand the release of all Iraqi prisoners or the four Western hostages will be murdered. Up to this point, speculation has abounded that the 'Swords of Righteousness Brigade', the organization behind the hostage crisis, was a criminal organization interested in ransoming the hostages for money.

However, The Jawa Report was the first media outlet to reveal the 'The Swords of Righteousness Brigade' may be a front for the radical Islamist terror organization, The Islamic Army in Iraq. Analysts working for major MSM outlets later confirmed our initial reports.

The Islamic Army in Iraq has murdered foreign hostages in the past, including Italian Red Cross worker Enzo Baldoni, and has worked with Abu Musab al Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq in the past.

More recent reports indicate that The Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) has broken any ties it had with al Qaeda. There is even some indication that IAI and al Qaeda are openly fighting in some areas.

Thanks to George for sending this link LTV:

Al-Jazeera television broadcast the video Saturday showing the four hostages standing against a wall. The four have been held hostage since November 26, 2005 and is the only evidence of the four peace workers still being alive after the first deadline passed in early December.

The kidnappers, a group calling themselves the Swords of Righteousness, believe the men were spying for U.S.-led forces and threatened to kill them if Iraqis were not released from U.S. and Iraqi prisons.

The group issued a statement saying this was the "last chance" for authorities to release all Iraqi prisoners or "the hostages will be killed."

December 16, 2005

Hostage Negotiator Taken Hostage in Iraq

Reports are trickling in that a hostage negotiator who had made contact with the 'Swords of Righteousness Brigade' in an effort to free four Western peace activists has himself been taken hostage. The hostage negotiator is a local Iraqi who has previous experience in high-profile abductions. The man is said to have been missing since December 8th.

Norman Kember of England, American Thomas Fox, and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden were taken hostage by an unknown group calling themselves 'The Swords of Righteousness Brigade'. 'As first revealed at The Jawa Report, The Swords of Righteousness Brigade' has been linked to the Islamic Army in Iraq. The Islamic Army in Iraq is an al Qaeda linked Salaafist jihadi group that has murdered foreign hostages in the past.

Curiously, the Islamic Army in Iraq website has been silent on the fate of the four hostages. Even more curious is the fact that although the group claimed responsibility for the murder of American hostage Ronald Schulz at an online forum frequented by jihadis, the Islamic Army in Iraq website has made no mention of it nor have they released the usual hostage snuff video.

The fact that the negotiator sent in to obtain the release of the four hostages may have been taken hostage himself is a bad sign. Hope for the best, pray for a miracle, but be prepared for the worst.

December 13, 2005

Islamic Army in Iraq Link to Peace Activist Hostages Confirmed

The Jawa Report was the first media outlet to report that there was a possible connection between the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, the group responsible for kidnapping four Western peace activists in Iraq, in a November 29th posting. In fact, what is said by the director of the SITE Institute in this Canadian National Post article comes awfully close to plagiarism.

The kidnappers holding four Christian activists hostage are connected to the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI), one of the country's leading insurgent groups, a U.S. researcher said yesterday.

Although the previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades has claimed it kidnapped the two Canadians, one Briton and one American, the SITE Institute said it had found ties to the Islamic Army. At least two of the videotaped statements issued by the hostage-takers were uploaded on to a hidden directory on the IAI Web site prior to broadcast, suggesting a link to the insurgent group, Rita Katz said.

"I would say that there is a strong connection between the hostage-takers and the Islamic Army," said Ms. Katz, director of SITE, a U.S. terrorist research organization that monitors jihadist Internet activities.

If correct, the link is worrisome because the Islamic Army has killed most of the hostages it has taken, including Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni. A statement from the group last week claimed that American consultant Ronald Allen Schulz had been executed....

The SITE Institute came across the IAI link last week, when the kidnappers issued a videotaped statement extending the deadline for meeting its demands until Saturday.

The video showed Canadian hostages James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, as well as U.S. hostage Tom Fox, 54, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. All are members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Ms. Katz said the video was hidden on a part of the Islamic Army Web site that only those in contact with the administrator would have been able to access. The research group later discovered that another video issued by the kidnappers had also been uploaded on to the Islamic Army site. "Apparently the first video that was received was also posted on that same hidden directory," she said.

She did not go public with the information at the time, fearing it could prompt the kidnappers to kill the hostages. Instead, she alerted U.S. investigators in Iraq.

But she said now that the deadline has passed without word of the fate of the hostages, she felt it was time to make public the link to the major insurgent group, the second- or third-largest in Iraq....

The nature of the relationship between the hostage-takers and the Islamic Army remains unclear, but is being investigated by U.S. authorities. One expert speculated the Swords of Righteousness could be nothing more than a front for the Islamic Army, possibly set up to raise money through ransom while distancing itself from the unsavoury act of kidnapping for money.

My sources indicate that "The Swords of Righteousness Brigade" may be an offshoot of The Islamic Army in Iraq. The announcement and video were posted on that group's website earlier today. The Islamic Army in Iraq has murdered foreign hostages in the past, including Italian Red Cross worker Enzo Baldoni, and has worked with Abu Musab al Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq in the past. This is bad news for the hostages if confirmed.

The original announcement in Arabic can be downloaded here if some one would like to offer a better translation.

The Islamic Army in Iraq has also been implicated in the kidnapping of four Western peace activists. Norman Kember of England, American Thomas Fox, and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden were taken hostage by an unknown group calling themselves 'The Swords of Righteousness Brigade'. However, that group has released its hostage videos on internet sites affiliated with The Islamic Army in Iraq.

Further, an examination of the document announcing that 'The Swords of Righteousness Brigade' would extend the hostage deadline reveals that the same author also prepared the Ronald Schulz announcement (thanks to Jay 87 and OvO). It is nearly certain, then, that some kind of relationship exists between The Islamic Army in Iraq and 'The Swords of Righteousnes Brigade'.

The Islamic Army in Iraq has known ties to al Qaeda and has worked with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda offshoot in the past. The group has murdered dozens of hostages on video in the past, including Italian journallist and Red Cross worker, Enzo Baldoni.

December 07, 2005

(Images/Video/Transcript) Hostages Urge U.S./U.K. to Leave Iraq in New Video

A new video released by terrorists on an Islamic website today shows two of the four peace activists held hostage in Iraq in a scripted message asking for U.S. and U.K. troops to withdraw from Iraq. In the video, British hostage Norman Kember and American hostage Thomas Fox urge U.S. and U.K. withdrawal from Iraq several times, sometimes repeating themselves word for word.

Canadian hostages James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden are not seen on the video.

The Jawa Report has obtained a copy of the video (hat tip Tribeca). A transcript of the video and images from it are posted below. The video is being hosted by Laura Mansfield here in Real format and by Ogrish here (note: Ogrish's site has been revamped so that it is now safe for work) in .wmv format.

Although the group claiming to hold Kember calls itself 'The Swords of Truth Brigade', the website is linked to the Islamic Army in Iraq, the same group which has threatened to murder American civilian Ronald Schulz.

The hostages are seen blindfolded and in heavy chains. Like many other hostage videos, they are made to wear the orange jumpsuits reminiscent of Abu Ghraib. The video shows the hostages repeating their lines, sometimes in more than one take and at the direction of a voice heard offscreen.

Here is a transcript from the video:

American hostage Thomas Fox:

I'd like to offer my pleas to the people of America, not to the government of America--a plea for my release from captivity and also a plea for a release from captivity of all the people of Iraq. We are all suffering from the same fate, and that is the occupation of the American troops and the British troops which have brought me to this condition and has brought the Iraqi people to the condition they are in. So I would ask the people of America to do what they can to free us all from this captivity.

American hostage Thomas Fox in a second take:

We plea for my release from captivity and also a plea for the people of Iraq for the release from their captivity of the occupation of the American and British soldiers. We are all suffering the same fate, and the only way that we can all be free is for the American and British soldiers to leave Iraq as soon as possible.

British hostage Norman Kember:

I'm a Christian Peacemaker. I'm a friend of Iraq. I have been opposed to this war, Mr. Blair's war, since the very beginning. I ask of him now, and the British government, to do all that they can to work for my release and the release of the Iraqi people from oppression.

(Directed to say more from voice offscreen)

I have been opposed to the war, the British troops in Iraq, from the very beginning and I ask Mr. Blair, the British government, and the British people, to work both for my release and for the release of the Iraqi people from oppression.

(pans to two hostages, Norman Kember and Thomas Fox side by side, sounds of horn honking outside--end)

In response to the statements of the British Foreign Secretary

Praise be to Allah the Lord of the World, and prayers and peace to the Honest Prophet, and to his Family and his Companions:

And then:

So that all the world knows that we are standing by our legitimate demands and that we have heard the statements of the British Foreign Secretary, and so that we prove to the world that they are not serious in what they say, and so that we can show the liar who lies to the world, we extend the deadline for two more days to that the world can see the difference between the truthful ones and the liars.

The Sword of Righteousness Brigades

What is equally disturbing is the fact that the hostages probably believe every word they say. The video was every bit as predictable in it's content as it was disturbing.

UPDATE: I've been asked how to interpret the video. The images on the video are disturbing. Orange jumpsuits are often used by terrorist organizations in beheading and other snuff videos they produce. The shackles are also disturbing in that they are there to server as a symbol of humiliation.

The blindfolds are also very disturbing. If you remember the Giuliana Sgrena videos, she looked right into the camera as she cried.

So, the visuals tell the story that these hostages lives are indeed in danger.

However, what is being said is very different than what one would expect if the terrorists really were serious with their threats. Usually the hostages plea for their lives, but these are only told to plea for their release.

Speculating that their lives are not really in danger, though, is a luxery pundits have and that intelligence officials do not have. They must, out of necessity, treat the hostages as if their lives were immediately in danger because to assume otherwise, and be wrong, is too risky.

More images below.

BBC:

New video footage has emerged in which British hostage Norman Kember calls for UK troops to be pulled out of Iraq.

"I ask Mr Blair to... leave the Iraqi people to come to their own decisions on their government," says Mr Kember, 74, and from Pinner, London.

The peace activist and three other Westerners seized in Baghdad last month were shown in handcuffs and shackles.

The kidnappers have threatened to kill them if Iraqi detainees in the country are not freed by Thursday.

December 05, 2005

Hostage Video: "We are being treated well"

We have finally obtained portions of the unedited hostage video of four Western peace activists. The names of the four activists are American Thomas Fox--who is also a blogger, Canadians Harmeet Singh Sooden and James Loney, and British citizen Norman Kember. The Jawa Report was the first media outlet to reveal the names of the hostages.

You can watch the video here (hat tip: Shawn at Bareknucklepolitics, Ian at Political Teen, and Doubletap at Infovlad--all of whom e-mailed me)

Here is a transcript of the video, via Doubletap at Infovlad:

Thank you very much we are being treated well and we hope to be out of here soon.

Um We are being treated well we are both well all of us are well.

We are all being treated well we are sleeping ok um and um we would like to thank the people holding us for that and hopefully we will be home soon.

I ask Mr Blair to take British troops out of Iraq and leave the Iraqi people to come to their own decisions on their government.

As a representative of Christian Peace Maker Teams we feel that continued British and American occupation is not in the best interest of the Iraqi people.

We will be following this hostage crisis carefully.

Developing.......

December 02, 2005

New Video: Peace Activists Threatened With Death

UPDATE: We have the video. Links and transcript here.

UPDATE: Confirmed by MSM sources. We are working on obtaining the raw video.

According to Matt Drudge, Al Jazeera has broadcast a video which purportedly threatens the life of four Western peace activists in Iraq. The names of the four activists are American Thomas Fox--who is also a blogger, Canadians Harmeet Singh Sooden and James Loney, and British citizen Norman Kember. The Jawa Report was the first media outlet to reveal the names of the hostages.

Because of the many similarities between the kidnapping of anti-American journalist Guliana Sgrena, it has been widely speculated that the terror organization never planned to kill the hostages, but are using the four peace activists as tools to drum up antiwar sentiment. However, because the orignial hostage video was first released on a website (contrary to media reports that al Jazeera first released the video) that belonged to a known terrorist organization the threat may very well be real.

The Jawa Report will post images and links to the video as soon as they are available.

UPDATE: Ian at the Political Teen has the al Jazeera video and has it posted here as does Bareknucklepolitics. Both are of a CTV report, and the latter has audio. We are still working on getting the original video before it went through the al Jazeera editing process.

Breitbart:

Al-Jazeera television broadcast a videotape Friday in which kidnappers of four Christian peace activists threatened to kill their hostages unless all prisoners in U.S. and Iraqi detention centers are released. The kidnappers gave the two governments until Dec. 8 to meet their demands, Al-Jazeera quoted a statement delivered with the tape as saying....

All four appeared frightened.

The Canadians were shown eating from plates of what appeared to be Arabic sweets. In a second clip, the British and American hostages were shown to talking to the camera but no audio was transmitted.

The two were calling on the U.S. and British governments to withdraw from Iraq, Al-Jazeera reported, quoting a statement from the kidnappers, who earlier identified themselves as the Swords of Righteousness Brigade.

Developing....

More links at Pajama Media and in trackbacks below.

Please send tips to mypetjawa-at-gmail-dot-com and feel free to drop links to related stories in comments section.

December 01, 2005

Peace Activists Kidnapped in Same Mosque as Giuliana Sgrena

When we first noticed the eary similarities between the Giuliana Sgrena kidnapping and the kidnapping of the four Western peace activists in Iraq, we had no idea just how uncanny the two situations would become. It turns out that American Thomas Fox, Canadians Harmeet Singh Sooden and James Loney, and British citizen Norman Kember were kidnapped in the exact same spot as Giuliana Sgrena.

Up to this point we have refrained from speculating that this hostage crisis could have been staged by the terror organization so that they could later release the hostages in a show of 'goodwill'. Our many readers and fellow bloggers have not been so restrained. However, in light of this new information...well, consider it a thought in the back of our collective heads which we just can't help thinking. In no way would this have to mean that the hostages were in on the hoax, only that the threat against their lives might not be real--especially if they were known by the terrorists to sympathize with their cause.

Why would terrorists do this? Well, look what happened during the Giuliana Sgrena crisis. Sgrena, who's sympathies were with the terrorists anyway, was more than happy to cry on cue and demand that Italy withdraw immediately from Iraq. The reaction from the Italian Left was overwhelming and the pressure mounted on the Burlesconi government to leave. Terrorists are not stupid. They choose tactics that they believe work. If it seemed to work once.....

If this is the case, then it is good news for the hostages as their eventual release is almost gauranteed. For the sake of the hostages, we hope this is so.

Guardian (hat tip Alicia):

Four Christian peace activists held hostage in Iraq were kidnapped at the same place where an Italian journalist was abducted, raising the possibility one group carried out both attacks, police said Thursday.

The style of the abduction also was similar: The activists were seized Saturday in the vicinity of a mosque near Baghdad University. A car blocked their car, gunmen got out, threw the driver and translator out and drove away with the four captives, security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media....

While in captivity, Sgrena also appeared in a video. She begged for her life and warned foreigners to leave the country.

Iraqi police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said Thursday that the activists were kidnapped in the same place as Sgrena, whose release on March 4 touched off a tragic friendly fire incident that strained relations between Italy and the United States.

Blogger Held Hostage in Iraq

The American hostage in Iraq, Thomas Fox, who's name was first revealed on The Jawa Report on Nov. 29th, is also a blogger.

His blog, Waiting in the Light, was last updated on November 9th. In his last entry, Tom Fox, now held by Sunni insurgents with links to those who fought the U.S. in Fallujah, decries the U.S. led assault on that city. Despite the fact that Fallujah was run by a form of strict Islamic law before the U.S. liberated that city--in which civilians were murdered for appearing too 'Western'-- Fox's entry decries the U.S. occupation with no words of criticism of the 'resistance' that fought his fellow countrymen.

Further, Fox seems to believe a Muslim cleric's version of the Fallujah narrative over those of the Marines and soldiers that liberated that city. Perhaps Fox was unaware that the cleric was possibly a member of the Shura council which ran Fallujah and which meted out death sentences to prostitutes, collaborated and gave refuge to al Qaeda linked terrorists (possibly some of the same terrorists holding Fox hostage now), and which saw even the possession of Western media a sign of apostasy?

It is tragic irony that those now holding Fox hostage are those that he found difficult to criticize, and that the U.S. Marines and soldiers which he found so easy to fault are his best bet on surviving his ordeal alive.

His entries are a mix of personal reflection and first-hand reporting from Iraq. His blog also reveals that Fox was a truly committed pacifist, willing to die rather than do violence to others. There is much to be admired in a man willing to die for his beliefs.

However, it remains unclear why it is that Western pacifists seem so eager to take on the U.S. and Israel and so willing to overlook the violence and aggression of Jihadis and Palestinians? If all violence is equally bad, then why the focus on Western violence and not on those who are the enemy of the West?

Unless of course the pacifist really doesn't believe his tactics would work in totalitarian states or among violent religious fanatics? Which, I think, is quite revealing.

Regardless of his naivite and poor judgement, we pray for his and the other hostages release and that those responsible will meet a swift and deadly justice. Fox is an innocent and a victim, and those who are holding him captive are guilty and aggressors. At The Jawa Report, we will not equivocate between the two and hold that the value of the life of an innocent is greater than the value of the life of those guilty of hostage taking.

Blogger Held Hostage in Iraq

The American hostage in Iraq, Thomas Fox, who's name was first revealed on The Jawa Report on Nov. 29th, is also a blogger.

His blog, Waiting in the Light, was last updated on November 9th. In his last entry, Tom Fox, now held by Sunni insurgents with links to those who fought the U.S. in Fallujah, decries the U.S. led assault on that city. Despite the fact that Fallujah was run by a form of strict Islamic law before the U.S. liberated that city--in which civilians were murdered for appearing too 'Western'-- Fox's entry decries the U.S. occupation with no words of criticism of the 'resistance' that fought his fellow countrymen.

Further, Fox seems to believe a Muslim cleric's version of the Fallujah narrative over those of the Marines and soldiers that liberated that city. Perhaps Fox was unaware that the cleric was possibly a member of the Shura council which ran Fallujah and which meted out death sentences to prostitutes, collaborated and gave refuge to al Qaeda linked terrorists (possibly some of the same terrorists holding Fox hostage now), and which saw even the possession of Western media a sign of apostasy?

It is tragic irony that those now holding Fox hostage are those that he found difficult to criticize, and that the U.S. Marines and soldiers which he found so easy to fault are his best bet on surviving his ordeal alive.

His entries are a mix of personal reflection and first-hand reporting from Iraq. His blog also reveals that Fox was a truly committed pacifist, willing to die rather than do violence to others. There is much to be admired in a man willing to die for his beliefs.

However, it remains unclear why it is that Western pacifists seem so eager to take on the U.S. and Israel and so willing to overlook the violence and aggression of Jihadis and Palestinians? If all violence is equally bad, then why the focus on Western violence and not on those who are the enemy of the West?

Unless of course the pacifist really doesn't believe his tactics would work in totalitarian states or among violent religious fanatics? Which, I think, is quite revealing.

Regardless of his naivite and poor judgement, we pray for his and the other hostages release and that those responsible will meet a swift and deadly justice. Fox is an innocent and a victim, and those who are holding him captive are guilty and aggressors. At The Jawa Report, we will not equivocate between the two and hold that the value of the life of an innocent is greater than the value of the life of those guilty of hostage taking.

November 30, 2005

Islamic Site: Pentagon Behind Western Kidnappings

The 'news' site uruknet blames the CIA:

One look at the CPT (Christian Peacemaker Teams) in Iraq website and it becomes obvious who abducted Kember and his associates and why....No doubt all of this Christian activity sincerely upsets the Pentagon and the Bushcons.