[TomGuy]

[expanded Reuters article]

American Hostage 'Escapes' from Iraqi Captors

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. hostage Thomas Hamill is free three weeks after television pictures showed him being driven away by armed men following an attack on a convoy in Iraq, the U.S. military said Sunday.

"He apparently escaped from a building," Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told a news conference in Baghdad.

"He came out of a building and identified himself to American soldiers. It looks like an escape," Kimmitt said.

Mississippi farmer Hamill was a truck driver for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root, which has a major logistics contract with the U.S. military as well as another deal rebuilding the country's shattered oil infrastructure.

[Miss Marple]

AP diplomatic correspondent Barry Schweib being interviewed by Julian (UGH) on Fox. Not wanting to let any good news go uncontested, Barry says he finds it hard to believe the guy just escaped and hints that perhaps we are negotiating with kidnappers. Julian does his usual liberal agreement. UGH.

[SuziQ]

Mississippi farmer Hamill was a truck driver for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root, which has a major logistics contract with the U.S. military as well as another deal rebuilding the country's shattered oil infrastructure.

There is a lot of "yadda, yadda" among liberals about Halliburton and that they 'overcharge' the government for services, etc. I believe this incident shows just how dangerous these types of jobs really are, and that these people deserve to make more because they are in a 'war zone' and are getting a 'combat differential'.

To help people understand this, remind them that many employees get extra money for working weekends and holidays and no one bats an eye about it. Shouldn't these folks be paid even better for risking their freedom, and more importantly their LIVES for the work they do in support of our military?