I do not believe the US government offered any money for Pearl. His family may have...but that is not the government. I do not believe we would...or should...pay such ransoms as a government because it would invite a wave of hostage taking that would have no end.
Paying ransoms is appeasement, with all the attendant ills.
No kidding. Where did she get the idea the US govt got into the Italian appeasement game with kidnappers. Those people are not going to be saved by capitulation. They might serve a higher purpose though, should they be slaughtered. A lot of active XIANS and what I'll call heritage ethicists (not driven by a belief in God but rather a belief in the Judeo Christian ethic) are going to be seeing red, figuratively and literally.
dont worry about pearl. pearl was a jew, and when arabs kill a jew, the mossad is tasked to kill the arabs. this will be done if not already done. this is yet another area where our so called govt fails the grade once again.