Ironic, to say the least.
Posted on 04/15/2006 6:39:19 AM PDT by oxcart
A Briton who was held hostage in Iraq for almost four months said he considered suicide because he thought it might help his fellow captives.
"I thought it might help the Canadians, if they got rid of the Brit," said Norman Kember, who was abducted along with two Canadians and an American, Tom Fox. Fox was later killed.
Britain participated in the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, but Canada did not.
"I got very depressed at one stage. ... When you're really depressed you think of suicide but there aren't any means of doing it," Kember, 74, told British Broadcasting Corp. radio in an interview broadcast Saturday.
Kember, Fox and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, were abducted in Baghdad on Nov. 26. All had traveled to Iraq with the pacifist group Christian Peacemaker Teams.
Kember, Loney and Sooden were freed without violence by U.S., British and Canadian forces on March 23. After their release the three learned that Fox, 54, had been killed by the hostage takers weeks earlier.
Kember broke down in tears at times as he recounted his ordeal to the BBC.
He said the captives sat for 12 hours a day in a dim room with curtained windows. He said they thought of escape but were deterred by the heavily armed guards.
"Where we were you could hear all the life of Baghdad, all the sounds of Baghdad outside, and that was another world," Kember said.
After Kember's release, the chief of the British army criticized him for apparently failing to thank his rescuers, who included troops from Britain's elite special forces unit, the Special Air Service.
Kember insisted he was grateful.
"I continue to thank them for what they did," he said. "They were brave. I disagree with their profession — but it's ironic. You go as a peace activist and you are rescued by the SAS."
Not ironic at all...predictable, and sad that they had to risk their lives to save his...but that is what they do, and they go honrably about it.
Faulty logic. This assumes the Islamofascists were actually stirred up by the coalition. To them, an infidel is an infidel is an infidel, regardless of their pro- or anti-war stance.
I want a little more 'grateful' from that guy.
A Christian that considered suicide huh...
While grandiosity is the diagnostic hallmark of pathological narcissism, there is research evidence that pathological narcissism occurs in two forms, (a) a grandiose state of mind in young adults that can be corrected by life experiences, and (b) the stable disorder described in DSM-IV, which is defined less by grandiosity than by severely disturbed interpersonal relations.
Liberals!
He says he considered it and needs to tell us all about it. But apparently he didn't even try or do anything to plan it in case he decided to do it. This is the kind of drama queen shtick I'd expect from a "holier than thou, I'm nobler than thee", peace activist.
I'm sure the situation he was in was terrifying, but he could spare us this little melodrama. That facts are sufficient.
I attribute it to a lack of self esteem, but I agree with what you said too!
It's never to late to learn or to change your mind.
"I continue to thank them for what they did," he said. "They were brave. I disagree with their profession — but it's ironic. You go as a peace activist and you are rescued by the SAS."
UNBELIEVALBLE!
His pride and ego get in the way of reality - EVEN NOW!
Only Ironic In the Minds Of the Moronic!
No, it would have been ironic if fellow peace activists came in with guns blazing to rescue you.
Ironic, to say the least.
LOL!
just another LOOOOOOSER saved by a WINNNER!!! Nature is cruel but fair.
Bingo!
These people are totally self absorbed imbeciles with a Messiah Complex.
In the future we should refuse to lift a finger for rescuing any of these social turds on the grounds that it is not the job of the US military to track down people with mental problems. Let the Ministry of Health do it.
Some people will never learn, no matter that reality smacks them in the face.
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