Would American Money Have Saved

James Foley?
European governments pay millions of dollars in
ransoms to free their hostages. The White House
needs to decide whether its willing to sacrifce
principle for people.
BY J!E" T#$B%$&$"T '() '(*+
The ,loodthirsty -ihadists of the .slamic "tate /."0
have murderedJames 1oley) an merican -ournalist who was 2idnapped in
"yria in 3ovem,er '(*'. They also have threatened the life of "teven
"otlo4) another merican freelancer) who was sei5ed last ugust) and who
has written for 1oreign 6olicy on three occasions. The e7ecutioner in the
video warned 6resident Barac2 8,ama that "otlo4 would die if the White
House continues its ,om,ing campaign in .ra9. . assume that the president
has as2ed intelligence and special forces operatives whether "otlo4 could
,e freed in a raid. . hope he determines that he can ,e) ,ut it:s very
unli2ely. ccording to the New York Times) a rescue attempt earlier this
summer came to naught when commandos air%dropped into a remote
region of "yria failed to fnd the hostages. The record of rescue attempts
has not ,een good since merican helicopters came to grief in the .ranian
desert in *;<(. nd ." could ,e shuttling "otlo4 anywhere in their vast
=caliphate.=
.t is a gut%wrenching moment. nd it:s impossi,le not to thin2 a,out how it
could have ,een otherwise.
"otlo4 had ,een sei5ed a few wee2s ,efore . arrived on the Tur2ish%"yrian
,order to write a piece for 16 a,out the rampant 2idnapping of -ournalists
,y ." /at the time) still ."."0 and other .slamist e7tremists. . never met him)
,ut he was a good friend of Bara2 Barf) an ra, scholar and fellow at the
3ew merica 1oundation who served as my guide and mentor on that
article. . tal2ed to many of the people who had advised "otlo4 on when and
where and how to cross into "yria that last time. />ittle of that made its way
into my dispatch) since . went to great lengths to protect the identity of
-ournalists then ,eing held.0 "ome of them thought he had not ta2en proper
precautions? ,ut the situation had deteriorated so rapidly over the summer
of '(*@ that even a few of the world:s most e7perienced war
correspondents had escaped ,eing sei5ed only ,y a stro2e of luc2. "otlo4
was one of the unluc2y ones.
Being 2idnapped is not usually a death sentence) whether for diplomats or
,usinessmen or tourists or -ournalists. !ost 2idnappers in war 5ones view
their prey as a commodity. The Tali,an who 2idnapped New York
Times correspondent Aavid #ohde in fghanistan at frst sought to trade
him for money. .n "yria) the nationalist re,els who sei5ed -ournalists in the
frst years of the war usually held them ,rieBy and then sold them o4. .".")
however) was di4erent. They as2ed nothing) and divulged nothing. Their
victims simply disappeared. nd yet) it seemed) they had not ,een 2illed.
3o one 2new what) if anything) they wanted. 6erhaps they weren:t sure
either.
nd then) earlier this year) some disappeared -ournalists ,egan to emerge.
Two "panish -ournalists were released in !arch. The following month) four
1rench -ournalists emerged from captivity. .t was widely assumed that ."."
had demanded ransom) and that the European governments had agreed to
pay. European governments generally agree to ma2e) or facilitate) ransom
payments) which are ,elieved to have run as high as C*( million.
3either the $nited "tates nor Britain ma2es payments of this sort) and ,oth
countries sharply critici5e European governments for doing so. But perhaps
that:s why no merican or British -ournalists have ,een freed during this
period. .n ugust) of course) the $nited "tates ,egan ,om,ing ." positions
in .ra9) further complicating any oDcial attempts %% if they were made at all
%% to free 1oley and "otlo4. They were thus availa,le to serve as
punishment) and as ,lac2mail.
This raises an agoni5ing 9uestionE "hould states pay ransom to
2idnappersF .f you are a friend or loved one of the victim) the answer is
o,viously yes. But even a more remote o,server could cite the moral
argument that the o,ligation to treat people as ends rather than means %%
what Gant calls the =categorical imperative= %% for,ids one to place the life
of the a,ductee in a ,alance with a,stract goods) li2e =sending a message=
that 2idnapping doesn:t pay. .n any case) the conse9uences of capitulation
are remote and hypothetical? the life is terri,ly real. .srael) the most hard%
nosed of democracies) has ,een prepared to pay a terri,le price to retrieve
its captured soldiers? in '(**) the state handed over *('H prisoners) a
9uarter of them serving life terms) in e7change for &ilad "halit. .sraelis
understand that ,y doing so they may encourage further 2idnapping) and
thus further endanger their own security? it is a price they are prepared to
pay.
Journalists are not soldiers) and mericans are not .sraelis. nd $.".
presidents are clearly not moral philosophers. The president has an
o,ligation to consider the conse9uences of his decisions) and act
accordingly. The conse9uences of capitulating to terrorist 2idnappers are
ruinous. s a recent New York Times investigation revealed) =Gidnapping
Europeans for ransom has ,ecome a glo,al ,usiness for l Iaeda)
,an2rolling its operations across the glo,e.= That:s why no European
government will admit to ma2ing payments. The thought of "teven "otlo4
-ammed into a pit) awaiting death) when he might have ,een freed for
nothing more than money) is un,eara,le. But the thought of rewarding the
.slamic "tate for its savagery is also un,eara,le. humane response to a
monstrous act engenders more monstrousness.
t the end of the video apparently showing 1oley:s e7ecution) "otlo4 is
shown 2neeling? the ." e7ecutioner says) =The life of this merican citi5en)
8,ama) depends on your ne7t decision.= The plain implication is that
6resident 8,ama could save "otlo4:s life ,y calling o4 the merican
,om,ing campaign in northern .ra9. 8ne might say that this represents
another stage of the moral dilemma? ,ut here the calculus is unam,iguous.
To call o4 the ,om,ing is to endanger thousands of .ra9i civilians now
menaced ,y the -ihadists: advance? and there is no guarantee that ." would
have even a modicum of compunction to spare their captive:s life %% even if
they got what they wanted. 3evertheless) you would not want to ,e in
8,ama:s shoes right now.
The li,eral state is awestruc2) and often paraly5ed) in the face of evil. We
shiver when we hear a Tali,an or al Iaeda warrior ,oast) =We worship death
and you worship life.= To see2 death over life is to gain mastery over those
who love life. That:s why the suicide ,om,er is such a fearsome weapon. .n
fact) peace%loving people are prepared to fght) and ris2 death) to preserve
everything that ma2es life worth living. Yet there is a terri,le insight in that
death%swagger. When our cherishing of each life leads us to surrender to
,lac2mail) we fortify the death%cult? we a,et evil.
8ne wishes) of course) for some sort of &otterdammerung out ofInglourious
Basterds) in which the former victims rise up to give the monsters a taste of
their terri,le medicine. That:s what the movies are for. .n real life) 8,ama
has done what he can do ,y sending merican warplanes to hammer ."
positions in .ra9. 1or the moment) at least) he has saved Gurdistan from
,eing overrun) and driven the -ihadists away from the !osul Aam. That:s a
very good start. There may ,e nothing 8,ama can do to save "teven
"otlo4. But there is a great deal he can do to show the criminals of the
.slamic "tate that the West is prepared to defend the values it professes.
Posted by Thavam