Althouse: "Kidnapping Europeans for ransom has become a global business for Al Qaeda, bankrolling its operations across the globe."

July 29, 2014

"Kidnapping Europeans for ransom has become a global business for Al Qaeda, bankrolling its operations across the globe."

"While European governments deny paying ransoms, an investigation by The New York Times found that Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates have taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008, of which $66 million was paid just in the past year."

14 comments:

Sorun said...: "...funnel the money through a network of proxies, sometimes masking it as development aid"

Then they brag at conferences about their humanitarianism.; 7/29/14, 7:04 PM
chuck said...: Europe is ripe for the picking. Or at least their governments are.; 7/29/14, 7:06 PM
Annie said...: What is old is new again.

Barbary pirates.; 7/29/14, 8:05 PM
madAsHell said...: Soooo....we gave up 5 from Guantanamo, and how much money did we send??

....or am I just reading too much between the lines.; 7/29/14, 8:14 PM
Emil Blatz said...: Danger is my business. And business is good, damn good.; 7/29/14, 8:21 PM
Jason said...: Maybe we need to ban the practice of buying and selling "ransom insurance."

If Al Qaeda ever kidnaps me, call in a fucking nuke.; 7/29/14, 9:03 PM
n.n said...: America has a similar policy. Sometimes. We also abandon our people to the terrorist hoard and plant them in helicopters to be dead ducks.; 7/29/14, 10:40 PM
Anonymous said...: It's like the good old barbary slave trade of european captives (crack must be ecstatic about that one).
You find a reference to it in your history "... to the shores of Tripoly".

The West made an end to the slave trade (and slavery itself) in the age of colonization (that one gives crack much pain).

It's normal that with the retreat and self-destruction of the west the slavetrade resurfaces. After all, it's an integral part of islam.; 7/30/14, 1:20 AM
Quaestor said...: Arnie wrote:
What is old is new again.

And then as now it was Europe's dirty little secret. Yes, what's old is new again... so is the solution.; 7/30/14, 2:42 AM
damikesc said...: You mean giving into terrorists leads to more terrorist actions?

Stunning relevation.; 7/30/14, 7:09 AM
Fen said...: Liberal response: "but if we just GIVE them $125 million annually, then they won't NEED money and will stop kidnapping"

Yup, back to the Danegeld too.

Geez, those conversvative ideas about preserving lessons learned from the past, often at great expense.. maybe we shouldn't have chucked those over the side.; 7/30/14, 7:18 AM
Ian Nemo said...: It is always a temptation for a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say: --
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away."

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.; 7/30/14, 7:49 AM
Tibore said...: So, Al Qaeda in 2008 started doing what other groups have been doing for decades now?

Well, nice of the NYT to notice... guess it took Europeans getting kidnapped before it got their attention, nevermind that Filipino's, Mexicans, Lebanese, and so on have been dealing with this crap since the $#@!$ 80s. Al Qaeda's just the latest business to open on that street.; 7/30/14, 8:21 AM
Achilles said...: These are just reparations. Crack wins.; 7/30/14, 10:41 AM