Posted on 10/23/2004 10:54:11 PM PDT by Murtyo
MARGARET HASSAN was kidnapped for one reason - she was born in Dublin. With Ken Bigley, her captors learned how useful the Irish Government is to their cause. By insisting that Hassan is Irish and not British, Dermot and Bertie Ahern have shown yet again how wildly they misunderstand the foe that we face.
Had there been no pleading with Abu Musab Al-Zarkawi for Bigley's life, Hassan would never have been targeted. Through her aid agency, Care International, she did more than most to relieve the suffering of Iraq during Saddam's misrule.
But once these so-called "insurgents" realised the lengths some of us will go to win their favour, her fate as a citizen of both Ireland and Britain was sealed.
It gives me no pleasure to say it, but I told you so. After Ken Bigley's murder, I predicted in these pages that "every British and Irish citizen in Iraq will be prioritised as a potential target". Now, less than a fortnight later, Margaret Hassan is in captivity and her aid agency abandoned. Thanks to the efforts of Dermot Ahern and Michael D Higgins, Ireland is now seen by the Jihadists as a soft touch.
They know that if they snatch a Brit with Irish connections, we will capitulate by declaring that we oppose Britain's role in the Iraq war. By having Dail debates and joint press statements from Irish and Palestinian ministers, this country is simply making matters worse.
Had we learned the lesson of Ken Bigley's tragedy, we would not be addressing Margaret Hassan's kidnappers as if they were civilized.
Higgins and Ahern should realise that appeasement only prolonged Bigley's agony. By similarly reacting to Hassan's plight, they risk subjecting this woman to the same ordeal.
What we are dealing with in Iraq is not, as the left thinks, a highly skilled group of "resistance fighters". Those who blow up Iraqi schoolchildren and carve the heads off innocent hostages are an assortment of Jihadi fanatics and Saddam loyalists. Until recently, they ran the torture chambers and filled the mass graves of Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is this bunch of misfits that our Government now defers to when appealing for clemency. In so doing, it is giving the impression to thugs like al-Zarkawi that they are Iraq's rightful leaders. That is an insult not only to their victims, but to those brave Iraqis joining the new police force and army.
The only way to prevent others following Margaret Hassan, is to declare that we shall never concede to the demands of fascism.
For make no mistake, in the mad ideology of those for whom murder is a sacred act, we have no special exemptions. The Irish are politically useful right now, but ultimately we are just like all the rest - decadent, impure, unholy, and therefore worthy of slaughter. The only language the Jihadist understands is that of force. Surrender is something he never contemplates. And only when we realise that this battle will end either in his death or in ours, will we appreciate what we must do to survive.
That means refusing under any circumstances to talk directly or indirectly to those who kidnap our citizens. It requires that we stop believing hostages will somehow be shown mercy because they are Irish. Most importantly, it demands that we fully support Britain in saving Iraq from those who would plunge it back into the Dark Ages.
Either we are on the side of those who value life and freedom, or we believe that those who have declared holy war on the West have some justification. The actions of the Irish Government suggest we are still shamefully hedging our bets. But for the silent majority of Irish people, the head of Ken Bigley will have settled the matter.
They know that if the Government does not stand firm against such lunacy, more people will find themselves at the edge of al-Zarkawi's blade. That is the price for responding to tyranny with liberal niceties. By seizing Margaret Hassan, the Jihadists have given us the two fingers. It is high time we returned the compliment.
At some point someone in one of the countries affected is going to walk into a mosque and put a gun to the head of the leader and demand the hostage in Iraq be released..
This writer gets it. Excellent Read.
High time? Man, you're a few years behind with a lot of catching up to do.
I think he's way ahead of Irish opinion. I doubt very much that Irish Public opinion could bring itself to have its army go join this fight. They are way too attached to "Peace Keeping", me I live in the USA and I'm all for "Piece Keeping".
Mark Dooley gets it. Let's hope the Euro-Leftists are listening.
Keep Hopin
I'd just like to know where the SAS is???
Let them off the leash already!....
It may yet come to that.
Yes, thank you. There is no middle ground. This is a great read.
Again, wonderful words.
Such an opinion in Europe is of a tiny minority. Much of the West lacks the resolve to survive, especially on the Continent. Here is a link to a message board that is populated by many Europeans -- I get into it with them from time to time:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=14
Our enemies, however, have no such doubts about their survival. Indeed, they hold that their way of life should be the ONLY way of life -- supplanting all others by force.
There is no multiculturalism for them.
They may be at a tactical disadvantage with respect to finanical and military power, but their strategic advantage of resolve is eminently sufficient to overcome that.
The purpose of warfare is to change the enemy's government policy by force. Ho Chi Minh aptly knew that this could be done by demoralizing us at home, by inflicting pin-prick casualties long enough to make us quit. This would not have been successful if he had not seen the mounting self-righteous protests that were occurring here.
If we lose the current World War between civilization and barbarism, it will be lost at home. We have sufficient hardware and technology to defeat them, but that is not enough.
Until and unless we realize that we are in a fight to the death and that we are worthy of survival, by the end of the century the small remainder of humanity will be languishing in a new Dark Age.
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