Dealing With the Devil

Major Mike

The Italian Red Cross had now joined the Italian government as another entity that is doing business with the Devil.

The Italian Red Cross has secretly treated wounded terror suspects, and their children (for various maladies) in order to secure the release of two Italian citizens.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/Europe/08/25/italy.iraq/index.html

Fable, fiction and reality are replete with examples of immediate benefits from engaging in such deals. This case being no exception. Of course we are relieved that these two international do-gooders have been spared a horrible death by the very same people that the Italian Red Cross has helped heal...but at what price?

Instead of four dead terrorists, we now have four terrorists back on the streets...how many innocent men, women, and children are yet to die at their hands? For all those stirred by this release...do not forget...these Islamafacists are killing innocents every day. The Iraqis who are dying everyday at the hands of their very likes, may appreciate that two more innocents were spared, but at the cost of how many Iraqis? I suggest, as with most Faustinian deals, the price will go much higher.

Additionally, negotiations with kidnappers have never been proven to be a viable deterrent to the practice. No credible police department or international agency does it. And for good reason...negotiations with kidnappers only beget more kidnappings. Witness the continuous wave occurring in Mexico over the past decade or so. This trade was certainly effective in securing the release of these two Italians, but how will the logarithmic costs be assessed as the practice of adductions accelerates? As with the Sgrena affair, who will accept responsibility for future kidnappings and deaths as this becomes SOP for terrorists? I suspect the Italian Red Cross officials who did this deal, will continue to enjoy their comfortable existences, and never connect that their action begot more killings. There is no room for this kind of cluelessness in the GWT.

What is next? Will we deal with kidnappers who want weapons? Cash? New Mercedes Benz's with navigation and DVD players? These kinds of deals...like the Sgrena deal...need to be roundly condemned by the international community. I don't care if the Italian government is an ally, the Italian Red Cross needs the heat from the entire, clued in, international community. A community that understands that we're not in a game of patty-cake, and that cutting deals with the Devil will bring a thousand fold more harm than good.