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Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke the plain truth about the nearly 500 Americans in Gaza not being allowed to leave by Hamas: They are being held hostage by the Islamist Palestinian terrorist group. The nearly 500 are in addition to the “less than ten” Americans known to have been taken hostage in the October 7 terror attack by Hamas on Israel. The Biden administration has said Hamas has been making demands for their release that the U.S. is not prepared to meet.

ransom Published June 23, 2015Associated Press Facebook237 Twitter105 Email Print Now Playing Report: US hostage policy to allow families to pay ransoms In a softening of longstanding policy, the Obama administration will tell families of Americans held by terror groups that they can communicate with captors and even pay ransom without fear of prosecution -- part of a broad review of U.S. hostage guidelines that will be released Wednesday. President Obama ordered the review last fall after the deaths of Americans held hostage by Islamic State militants. The families of some of those killed complained about their dealings with the...

As the American people have watched the horrific rise and expansion of the radical Islamic State group over the past year or two, they have also witnessed helplessly as several Americans have been taken hostage and executed by the radical Islamic jihadists. Such atrocities spurred a member of the Army’s Green Berets to contact Congress and blow the whistle on the Obama administration’s policies dealing with rescuing American hostages. But while American hostages held by terrorists barely garner a nod from the administration, whistleblowing about it certainly gets their attention, as Lt. Col. Jason Amerine has found out. Amerine, who...

Houthi rebels have taken at least four Americans hostage in Yemen, The Washington Post reported Saturday. According to the report, three of the hostages were working in the private sector. The fourth is a dual citizen of Yemen and the US, whose job is unknown. An unnamed US official in the report said that a number of rescues operation have been attempted and failed.

The rebel group that has seized power in Yemen has taken at least four U.S. citizens prisoner, according to U.S. officials who said that efforts to secure the Americans’ release have faltered. One of the prisoners had been cleared for release in recent days only to have that decision reversed by members of the Houthi rebellion that toppled the U.S.-backed government earlier this year and now controls most levers of power in Yemen.

Lawfare Blog: Following an American special forces raid on the compound of Islamic State operative Abu Sayyaf, U.S. interrogators, who are part of the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group, have flown to Iraq in order to question Umm Sayyaf, the wife of Abu Sayyaf, who was taken during the operation. Umm Sayyaf was allegedly involved in the workings of the Islamic State and could possibly have played a role in “the enslavement of women in Iraq and Syria.” U.S. interrogators plan to talk to Umm Sayyaf about U.S. hostages held by the militant group. However, according to the Washington Post,...

Islamist militants attacked a gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, claiming to have kidnapped up to 41 foreigners including seven Americans in a dawn raid in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, according to regional media reports. The raiders were also reported to have killed three people, including a Briton and a French national. An al Qaeda affiliated group said the raid had been carried out because of Algeria's decision to allow France to use its air space for attacks against Islamists in Mali, where French forces have been in action against al Qaeda-linked militants since last week. The attack...

The Obama administration is condemning an Islamist attack on a natural gas field in southern Algeria and confirming that Americans are among those being held hostage. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Italy that Americans were among the hostages and called the incident a "terrorist attack."

With pictures worth a thousand words, here is a look at what Ahmadi-Nejad's visit means and what incompetence in our political arena and denial of reality can bring very close to home. Yours and mine. Not as far fetched as it seems at first blush. The extent of unthinkably violent "repression and suppression" depicted in this real photo of the Bassiji "police" may not reach America nor Europe tomorrow but will be a logical conclusion to the events unfolding now. All pointing in that direction as we hesitate and waffle, hoping the nightmare will go away when we awake.How stupid...