She's a lying sack of.......
She has done everything in her power to keep the US troops at bay. She made it very plain she wanted no outside interference while the Burnham's were tortured and moved around like abused animals.
WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE???
Why is this not drop-dead headline news????
These people suffered for over a year, a ransom was paid to the filthy scum that held them and now Mr. Burnham is dead.
We owe more to these people than to bury this story on the back page.
It would have been if they were journalists instead of Christian workers.
Basilan, Philippines
(March 10, 2002)
"...Unknown to most, the U.S. troops-- especially the Special Forces now in this Abu Sayyaf lair--are facing not merely a rag-tag band of bandits but hard core Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-trained fighters. Most of the Abu Sayyaf leaders have fought Rambo-like in the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan in the 1980s after receiving training from the CIA, battling some of Russia1s best fighting paratroopers, a reality the Philippine military seemed to have forgotten. And they are now better and well armed, thanks to the millions of dollars of ransom collected from the so many hostages they have taken, some of which they brutally tortured, beheaded and killed.... .According to former Philippine Senate Minority Leader Nene Pimentel, the Abu Sayyaf are remnants of about 800 Filipino Muslim Moujahideens who, together with thousands of other Muslim jihad warriors from several countries, were recruited, trained and financed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to fight the CIA-sponsored proxy war in Afghanistan against the Russians in 1980....."
I have no outrage toward President Arroyo or the people of the Philippines - only toward those Abu Sayyaf bastards.
Having followed this story closely for over a year, there is no certainty that the outcome would have been different if we had sent 20,000 of our own troops and conducted the jungle rescue operation alone. Martin Burnham was kept in shackles - and it's clear that the Abu Sayyaf planned to execute him at the first sign of a rescue attempt.
I'm impressed by the compassion and concern expressed by the majority of Filipinos for the American hostages - even more than for their fellow citizens. I think are determined to rid their country of this scourge. But it is extremely difficult.
You may recall that a few months ago in Afghanistan, we had some American missionaries who were being persecuted and imprisoned by the Taliban. When the Northern Alliance moved in to Kabul, the Taliban removed them from their cells and carried them south. We were unable to mount a direct rescue effort, but fortunately, some friendly Afghans found them and alerted our forces to their whereabouts and we were able to extricate them to safety.
And I hate to bring this up, but our own CIA was accidentally involved in the shootdown of a plane carrying a missionary family in Peru recently, with fatal results. So having the U.S. involved does not absolutely guarantee the safety of American missionaries in foreign countries.
My sister is a missionary, and has been on some extremely dangerous missions. She knows the risks.
The political reality is that Arroyo has allowed the U.S. to do every practical thing possible in her country, against some opposition by a vocal minority. President Bush has expressed his appreciation for her efforts, and I agree with him.
There is one matter where the Philippines government has fallen short of U.S. expectations - the extradition of the fugitive felon Mark Jimenez. I expect the Philippines to meet our demands for his return immediately.