The Exploitation of Goodness

From Al Jazeera:

Howard defies captors' pullout demand

Australia's leader has said he will not bow to captors' demands for the country to withdraw troops from Iraq despite a videotape showing an Australian man appealing at gunpoint for foreign forces to leave the country...

"Everybody knows the position of the Australian government in relation to hostage demands," Prime Minister John Howard told the Australian Broadcasting Corp radio on Monday.

"We can't have the foreign policy of this country dictated by terrorists."

...Howard said on Monday Australia had established a special task force to try to secure Wood's release, but would not elaborate on what actions it might take. He said under no circumstances would Australia negotiate with "terrorists".

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the task force, made up of federal police and officials from the foreign and defence ministries, would head to Iraq as soon as possible to begin working for Wood's release.

Downer said that while refusing to meet demands to withdraw troops, Australia would do all it can to secure the captive's freedom.

Michael McKinley, a security expert at the Australian National University, said the task force would most likely consist of diplomats, special forces, intelligence officers and trained hostage negotiators.

Despite the prime minister's strong remarks, McKinley said Australia would most probably try to open dialogue with the captors and intervene on Wood's behalf.

But he added: "The problem in this case is the demands are absolute."

McKinley said the impact of the captors standoff on Australia's support for the Iraq mission would be mixed.

"I think the long-term effect is for declining support," McKinley said, but he added: "The immediate response could well be that nobody wants to be intimidated, so they will stand fast on the current position."
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Note the spin Al Jazeera puts on the story, highlighting that in the long run, the kidnapping of Douglas Wood will bring about declining Australian support for the Iraq mission.

That is obviously the hope of the terrorists.

Not only are they terrorizing the victims, they are attempting to indirectly terrorize the public by presenting haunting images of individuals pleading for their lives.

They are trying to exploit the goodness in people, their sympathy for hostages and their families.

While some countries have bowed to the terrorists, for the most part, the kidnappings result in a stalement between the leaders and the black-hooded thugs holding the guns at the heads of terrified human beings.

This hostage taking tactic is all about swaying public opinion and getting the people to demand that their elected officials withdraw from Iraq.

Isn't it possible that these gut-wrenching images may have the opposite effect, angering the public and strengthening their resolve AGAINST the terrorists?

What is so tragic here is that people in Iraq that are there to help, to aid in its reconstruction and to serve in humanitarian capacities, are being used as pawns.

Terrorists do not respect life. They hope to manipulate it to achieve their ends.

We can't negotiate with terrorists and give in to their demands. That fact makes the images of Douglas Wood and Jeffrey Ake so difficult to see.

May they and the others currently being held hostage return home safely.