Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

applegrove

(118,024 posts)
Tue Jun 10, 2014, 11:34 PM Jun 2014

"The Right Didn’t Mind When Bush Paid a Ransom to Terrorists"

The Right Didn’t Mind When Bush Paid a Ransom to Terrorists

by Michael Tomasky at the Daily Beast

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/10/the-right-didn-t-mind-when-bush-paid-a-ransom-to-terrorists.html

"SNIP..............


We turn now to the Philippines, where the Abu Sayyaf terror network—Islamic fundamentalist, al Qaeda-linked, occupant of a slot on the State Department’s official terrorist-organization list since Bill Clinton put it there in 1997—was rampaging around the southern archipelago and taking Westerners hostage. Two such hostages were an American husband-and-wife missionary team, Martin and Gracia Burnham. They were kidnapped in May 2001. Their captivity was a pretty big story for a while, but then came September, and the inferno of Lower Manhattan.

The Abu Sayyaf M.O. was the normal one—to demand large (or oddly not so large; the original demand for the Burnhams’ safety was $1 million) sums of money for their captives’ safe return. There were talks, and they bled into 2002. In April of that year, Bush gave a speech that included the line: “No nation can negotiate with terrorists, for there is no way to make peace with those whose only goal is death.”

A nice line. But of course, at that exact moment, the United States was negotiating intently with Abu Sayyaf for the Burnhams’ release. And not only that: The Bush administration arranged an indirect payment to Abu Sayyaf of $300,000, as reported a little later by ABC’s John McWethy, the veteran Pentagon correspondent, and even by Fox’s Brent Baier, whose phrasing had it that “the U.S. government facilitated a ransom payment to al Qaeda-linked terrorists.”

It seems that the payment was indirect rather than direct. But these days, that’s good enough for Ollie North (go reread his quote above). Even an indirect payment by the Obama administration to the Haqqani Network would clearly have these people screaming for impeachment hearings.



.............SNIP"
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"The Right Didn’t Mind When Bush Paid a Ransom to Terrorists" (Original Post) applegrove Jun 2014 OP
I posted this at the Discussionist and was promply informed that Dems cannot talk about Bush, applegrove Jun 2014 #1
HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!! WillyT Jun 2014 #2

applegrove

(118,024 posts)
1. I posted this at the Discussionist and was promply informed that Dems cannot talk about Bush,
Tue Jun 10, 2014, 11:35 PM
Jun 2014

anymore. LOL!

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»"The Right Didn’t Mi...