Obama just put a target on every American abroad
- Thread starter WVPATX
- Start date
One of my patients who is a former special forces Army officer and is an older guy (60+). He is a courier for corporations who pay ransoms for their employees who are kidnapped and held in east Africa. When I asked him if he was crazy because of the danger, his reply was that the kidnappers need him if they are going to get paid and they have an incentive to keep him safe. And that they are not afraid of him because he is old. His commission is 30%. Still, I would have a moral dilemma doing what he does. Granted, he is getting people out. But it does perpetuate kidnapping.
Better a money bag than a body bag. And this policy change only removes the former threat of prosecution against families who attempt to ransom kidnapped loved ones, so I don't see it necessarily leading to an uptick in kidnappings. Groups like ISIS and the Taliban have always demanded ransom, and in a few cases have been paid - just not (as far as we know) by the U.S.
"Obama just put a target on every wealthy American abroad" fify
This is a dumb move. No ransoms and no negotiations is the best policy.
This is a dumb move. No ransoms and no negotiations is the best policy.
I hope you realize that Obama restated the governments policy to not pay any ransoms has not changed. He changed the part that pertained to families being able to offer private ransom payments for relatives kidnapped. It makes sense because it's the right thing to do and no one had ever been prosecuted under the old law.
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But this change will tell the enemy that capturing Americans can lead to a very big pay day. Bay, very bad policy.
I'm pretty sure you have been able to get kidnapping insurance. I looked into fora trip to Libya a couple years ago.