It looks like I was wrong...

...and in this particular case I won't mind a bit: Three Turkish hostages 'released'

THE extremist group responsible for beheading two foreign hostages was releasing three Turkish captives "for the sake of their Muslim brothers", Al-Jazeera television said today.

The Arab satellite station broadcast a videotape showing the three hostages kneeling in front of three members of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad movement, as one of the militants read a statement.

"For the sake of you, our brothers, and Muslims of the people of Turkey ... we will release these hostages and send them safely home," the statement said.

If this checks out, this is excellent news, and I am happy for the hostages and their families. It should not be forgotten, however, that SPC Keith Maupin has almost certainly been murdered. We're seeing a bit of improvisation going on here, I think - which is itself a positive sign (I prefer my country's enemies to react to what we do, not vice versa) but not a tranquil one.

(Via The Command Post)

Moe

Comments

[double-plus-ungood]

We're seeing a bit of improvisation going on here, I think - which is itself a positive sign (I prefer my country's enemies to react to what we do, not vice versa) but not a tranquil one.

Could you clarify that a bit? I'm a bit thicker than usual this AM, and amn't sure what you're saying here.

[Edward]

I agree with Moe on this. I see this release as an improvisation. No point in killing Muslims in a "sovereign" Iraq (Turkey is no longer supporting an occupation, per se)...have to go back to rebuilding the us v. them rhetoric, and what better way than to show that Muslims are exempt from the threat.

Had the handover taken longer, I suspect these Turks would not have lived.

[double-plus-ungood]

I think that this release should be a pretty strong indication that these murders are being used as a recruitment device, among other things. Obviously, showing mercy to fellow muslims has more propaganda value than killing perceived lackies of an occupying power.

[Moe Lane]

"Could you clarify that a bit?"

I think that this may be an attempt to play to perceived Muslim sensibilities*; I'm waiting to see if the terrorists begin to distinguish between treatment of non-Muslim and Muslim hostages, killing the former while sparing the latter. I also think that this is a reaction to events; generally speaking, al-Qaeda has made it a point to never bluff when it comes to killing people, so it's interesting that they retreated when the Turkish government held firm, and I don't think that it's unreasonable to postulate that this may be due to a growing realization that possibly they aren't on the verge of reestablishing the Caliphate just quite yet.

To paraphrase Chelsea Quinn Yarbo, I merely entertain these thoughts; I have not yet invited them into my home. :)

Moe

*Note the deliberate use of the word 'perceived'; I am not discussing actual Muslim sensibilities, only my opinion of how the terrorists may be seeing them.

[Jesurgislac]

This is good news - unequivocably good news, for the families of the hostages and for the hostages themselves, and so for all of us who feel for them. (If it's the direct result of transferring "sovereignity" two days early, then it was worth it.)

That said, my guess is that the reason for the release of the three Muslim hostages with a message that explicitly evokes "Muslim brotherhood" is the same reason for the execution of Keith Maupin: the reason for taking the hostages and threatening them with execution isn't necromancy, it's terror. My guess is that al-Zarqawi's group's intention is to make every non-Muslim in occupied Iraq fear that they are a potential kidnap victim, and if taken, that they are dead.

It makes me to wonder what would happen, though, if they kidnapped an American Muslim. But I'm not anxious to find out.

Still. It's good news out of Iraq, which is rare these days.

[Jesurgislac]

This is good news - unequivocably good news, for the families of the hostages and for the hostages themselves, and so for all of us who feel for them. (If it's the direct result of transferring "sovereignity" two days early, then it was worth it.)

That said, my guess is that the reason for the release of the three Muslim hostages with a message that explicitly evokes "Muslim brotherhood" is the same reason for the execution of Keith Maupin: the reason for taking the hostages and threatening them with execution isn't necromancy, it's terror. My guess is that al-Zarqawi's group's intention is to make every non-Muslim in occupied Iraq fear that they are a potential kidnap victim, and if taken, that they are dead.

It makes me to wonder what would happen, though, if they kidnapped an American Muslim. But I'm not anxious to find out.

Still. It's good news out of Iraq, which is rare these days.

[double-plus-ungood]

Ah. Thanks, I disagree with the part about "they retreated when the Turkish government held firm" because they haven't retreated when other governments have held firm. Their conditions for releasing the hostages are pure bluster, IMO. They're issued merely to give them a pretense for killing these people in gruesome ways in order to get them widely viewed.

[Cameron]

It makes me to wonder what would happen, though, if they kidnapped an American Muslim.

I am trying to find out about Corporal Hassoun's religion. As for what would happen, I think it's sadly obvious by now.

[Cameron]

Confirmed. He is a Muslim. And I have a feeling that those creatures won't give a damn about that.