Free Republic

Pacifist group revealed as moral imbeciles By Ian Robinson When the three Western hostages were rescued by coalition forces in Iraq last week and returned to Canada, was I the only one who was disappointed? Was I the only one who thought: Dear Lord. Is THIS what all the fuss was about? These smarmy, international busybodies, the Gladys Kravitzes of the Iraq occupation, peering out at the world from behind the curtains with their pursed little disapproving lips? These sanctimonious, reality challenged little creeps? And even after the release, the organization to which they're attached was still taking metaphorical shots...

My previous column was about the Christian Peacemakers and how enormous amounts of money and time were spent on rescuing them from their largely pointless and acutely political intervention in Iraq. I also said their ultimately selfish antics distracted from the genuine need to help Iraqis and that because these men were western and middle class, they received special treatment in the media. A week later, it is clear that Canadian James Loney in particular has been treated with a generosity and credulity that is at times quite bizarre. Please, in the name of common sense, can we stop claiming...

TORONTO (CP) - The co-director of the Christian Peacemakers Teams says the family of freed Christian peace activist James Loney kept his sexual orientation quiet out of fear for his safety. Doug Pritchard says the family feared Loney might come to harm at the hands of his Iraqi captors had they known he was gay. Pritchard says it likely wouldn't have helped if Loney's partner, Dan Hunt, had come forward with public pleas for his release. Hunt made his first public appearance since Loney's ordeal began last November when he greeted his partner Sunday at the airport. Loney arrived in...

Iraq's embassy to Canada lashed out at the Christian Peacemaker Teams Friday, calling them "phoney pacifists" and "dupes" after the antiwar group responded to the rescue of three of its kidnapped activists by condemning the U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq. The Iraqi embassy called CPT "willfully ignorant" and "outrageous," and accused the Chicago-based group of being on the side of anti- democratic forces in Iraq. "The Christian Peacemaker Teams practises the kind of politics that automatically nominate them as dupes for jihadism and fascism," the embassy's statement said. A British-led special forces team on Thursday rescued three CPT members, who...