I’m surprised no one has asked the obvious question: what if one or more SAS troopers of American SF soldiers had been killed rescuing these individuals? (I hesitate to label them the way I’d like to.)
I really think any such people planning to go to Iraq should be left in absolutely no doubt as to their status should they be taken hostage. It should be clearly pointed out that no effort will be spent and no risk of life taken in attempting a rescue. End of story.
I was intrigued at the way CNN truncated the sound bite of the bearded … person (see above) from Canada who was the ‘co-ordinator’ of the peace group. Early broadcasts included (given the way and by whom his people had been rescued) his totally inappropriate comments about the war; in later transmissions, these comments were dropped.