do I really have to say it???
They will spend the money for their campaign to drive out foreign aid organization, destabilizing the country. Anything Roh's government is into leads to one disaster or another.
Dear God... why don’t they just give them our F-16’s?!
for $20M they could have hire some black ops and got a bunch of taliban killed too
Nothing so stupid as those who will not learn. I guess Roh thinks he can avoid all harm by staying neutral.
Tell that to Belgium, Luxemborg, Holland, Denmark, etc. circa 1941.
There ought to be laws against paying ransoms to kidnappers. My other question is, what the heck were 23 civilians doing in Afghanistan anyway?
60 Suspected Afghan Militants Killed
"KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan police and foreign forces killed around 60 suspected Taliban fighters, many in the region where the insurgents recently released a group of South Korean church workers they had been holding, authorities said Saturday."
But I have never been able to get real harsh over a reluctant cave-in. The S.K.'s hung tough for a long time, even after two of their folks had been killed. Sometimes it is just impossible to stick with the wise, long-term view when people are in this kind of a jam.
Remember when the Left used to shriek that Reagan and North "traded arms for hostages?" I never bought into the criticism. Some situations are just so horrible that I just feel sorry for the people who must struggle with them.
do I really have to say it??? “South Korea paid Afghanistan’s Taliban more than $20 million (9.9 million pounds) to release 19 missionaries they were holding hostage, a senior insurgent leader said”
They may have paid that, but this information is coming from “a senior insurgent leader”. His statements are self-serving.
South Korea is a long time ally and in many ways has been America’s best friend on the Pacific Rim for decades = assume they’re lying
Taliban is America’s sworn enemy and an actively terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of America and the rest of Western civilization = assume they’re telling the truth
Amazing.
South Korea vehemently denies this.
Sheesh!
Those people are not friends.
Financing/Arming our friggin enemies!!!!!
Let’s get out of Korea by 2010.
I recently read a statement by a Taliban spokesman in a Korean newspaper. He said something to the effect that “this method (kidnapping) has proven effective, so we will certainly consider using it again.” Wish I could find the exact quote.
There's a shocker.