Aussie E
04-12-2004, 12:05 PM
From the editoral page www.theaustralian.com.new.au
Editorial: Defying the kidnappers
April 13, 2004
BY taking international hostages, the insurgents in Iraq have done their various causes no good.
Civilians from several countries, including China, the US and Japan, hardly threaten the power base of the armed gangs now fighting in the hope of holding dominant positions of power when the Americans leave. However horrible the threatened fates of the hostages, any or all of their deaths will not erode the determination of the US to restore order prior to the transfer of power to an Iraqi government. If anything, the kidnappings will only stiffen the resolve of those governments whose citizens are being held not to back down. No nation can afford to let standover men dictate its policies. For any government to agree to the demands of the hostage-takers as the price of their citizens' lives would guarantee future attacks by terrorists around the world, looking for easy victories against cowardly countries. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumo in particular appears to have understood the risks inherent in bargaining with the terrorists threatening to kill three of his citizens unless he pulls his country's troops out of Iraq.
Nor is there anything the US and its allies could do that would appease the hostage-takers. The reconstruction of a free market Iraqi economy, offering the potential for prosperity impossible for most people under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, is progressing well. But the US occupying authorities are unpopular with many religious Iraqis, Sunni and Shia both. However the combatants, now fighting US troops and kidnapping foreign civilians, do not speak for ordinary Iraqis. Certainly some Iraqis want the Americans to leave – so does the US Government. But to depart before an interim Iraqi government is able to take over would create a real chance of rule by warlords. The only thing that now unites the Sunni and Shia gunmen is their mutual dislike of the Americans. Even if they were able to defeat their common foe the alliance of convenience would quickly dissolve into fighting. This is why senior Shi'ite and Sunni clerics are not urging on the militias.
The same strategy that led to the terrorist bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad last August is now being used anew to try to frighten foreigners away. The government of every nation whose citizens are under threat must make it absolutely clear that kidnapping will not sway them from their involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq. For any government to bend to the will of these murderous bullies would do inestimable damage to stability and freedom in Iraq.
Editorial: Defying the kidnappers
April 13, 2004
BY taking international hostages, the insurgents in Iraq have done their various causes no good.
Civilians from several countries, including China, the US and Japan, hardly threaten the power base of the armed gangs now fighting in the hope of holding dominant positions of power when the Americans leave. However horrible the threatened fates of the hostages, any or all of their deaths will not erode the determination of the US to restore order prior to the transfer of power to an Iraqi government. If anything, the kidnappings will only stiffen the resolve of those governments whose citizens are being held not to back down. No nation can afford to let standover men dictate its policies. For any government to agree to the demands of the hostage-takers as the price of their citizens' lives would guarantee future attacks by terrorists around the world, looking for easy victories against cowardly countries. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumo in particular appears to have understood the risks inherent in bargaining with the terrorists threatening to kill three of his citizens unless he pulls his country's troops out of Iraq.
Nor is there anything the US and its allies could do that would appease the hostage-takers. The reconstruction of a free market Iraqi economy, offering the potential for prosperity impossible for most people under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, is progressing well. But the US occupying authorities are unpopular with many religious Iraqis, Sunni and Shia both. However the combatants, now fighting US troops and kidnapping foreign civilians, do not speak for ordinary Iraqis. Certainly some Iraqis want the Americans to leave – so does the US Government. But to depart before an interim Iraqi government is able to take over would create a real chance of rule by warlords. The only thing that now unites the Sunni and Shia gunmen is their mutual dislike of the Americans. Even if they were able to defeat their common foe the alliance of convenience would quickly dissolve into fighting. This is why senior Shi'ite and Sunni clerics are not urging on the militias.
The same strategy that led to the terrorist bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad last August is now being used anew to try to frighten foreigners away. The government of every nation whose citizens are under threat must make it absolutely clear that kidnapping will not sway them from their involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq. For any government to bend to the will of these murderous bullies would do inestimable damage to stability and freedom in Iraq.