Posted on 01/18/2016 12:17:24 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Three Americans have been kidnapped in Baghdad by "militias," according to Arab news channel Al Arabiya, citing its own sources.
The State Department said it is aware of the report and is working with Iraqi authorities to locate the missing Americans. Officials, however, would not confirm that anyone been kidnapped.
"We are aware of reports that American citizens are missing in Iraq," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement to The Hill.
"The safety and security of American citizens overseas is our highest priority, he continued. "We are working with the full cooperation of the Iraqi authorities to locate and recover the individuals."
"Due to privacy considerations, I have nothing further."
The reported kidnapping comes a day after four long-detained Americans were freed in Iran in a prisoner swap.
Several Republican presidential candidates have criticized the move, saying it will encourage American abductions.
"Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is hammering the Obama administration this weekend for a prisoner swap he says puts America at risk.
No word on why these Americans were in Iraq in the first place? I can understand if these were military personnel or aid workers, diplomats or others there for a legitimate purpose, but if it turns out these were a bunch of ISIS wannabes or college kids who thought it would be cool to go to a war zone — I’d say, let the kidnappers keep them.
And the Obama administration has NEVER "cared" about captured Americans!
CBS reported a few minutes ago that the contractors were captured by an Iranian-backed group. Don’t know where they got the info so don’t know how accurate it is but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s true.
"................Dubai-based news channel Al Arabiya reported on Sunday that three U.S. nationals had been kidnapped in Dora on Friday. Citing its own sources, it said the Americans were "contractors or trainers" employed by U.S. companies at the Baghdad airport."
bttt!
AP: Iraqi official: Americans kidnapped from interpreter's home
"BAGHDAD (AP) - A group of Americans who went missing over the weekend in Iraq were kidnapped from their interpreter's home in Baghdad, according to an Iraqi government intelligence official.
The kidnapping occurred, the official said, after the Americans were invited into the home of their interpreter in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora. The individuals were then taken to Sadr city, the official said, "after (the kidnapping) all communications and contact stopped in Sadr city."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the press......................................"
We’ll know soon enough if IS captured them, which is the first thing I thought and feared when word came out about it. They’ll be featured in a video and we know how those end.
I hope they can find them soon and rescue them safe and sound.
Cruz must have studied up on the Barbary war and Jeffersons real Koran... While Obama is campaigning for in king of the universe. At first, I called this the continuation of Carter..now Obama owns it.
The AP story (linked above) mentions other kidnappings and organized crime.
Hey, daffy jeans, wtf are you talking about?
POS Obama now can clean out Gitmo in a swap.
Yes, I read it and they did mention IS is one of the groups kidnapping people. That’s why I mentioned it.
Why anyone would want to go to that h3llhole of a country is beyond me. Nothing I know of that’s worth the risk. Just bomb the Middle East (minus Israel) to oblivion and the world would be better off. But that’s just mho. :-)
Sadr City = iran
Hecky Durn.
“Bahram Mechanic received word before dawn Saturday that he would soon walk out of the federal detention center in downtown Houston as part of a prisoner release swap that also freed four Americans in Iran Saturday.
President Barack Obama pardoned Mechanic and six others, including two of Mechanic’s colleagues in Houston, as part of the agreement.
Mechanic, 69, and Khosraw Afghahi, 72, have been held in Houston for nine months after 2015 charges that they violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by shipping millions of dollars in technology to their company in Iran.
Afghahi, who lives in Los Angeles, and Mechanic, who lives in Houston, are co-owners of both the Iran-based Faratel Corporation and its Houston-based sister company Smart Power Systems, which opened in 1984. Faratel designs and builds uninterruptible power supplies for several Iranian government agencies, including the Iranian Ministry of Defense and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, according to the charges.
The technology Mechanic sold to Iran is used in a wide range of military systems, including surface-air and cruise missiles. Between July 2010 and 2015, Mechanic’s network allegedly shipped about $24 million worth of parts to Iran through Taiwan and Turkey. Among the parts shipped were microelectronics and digital signal processors, according to the indictment.”....................
Probably on their way to Iran as we speak.
Nicely racked up for Obama’s next “swap.”
Yeah.
Can probably negotiate a higher return and finders fee this time.
Then more get kidnapped and ransomed.
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