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Germans figure out Downside of Ransom Cave
Spiegel EFL Bräunlich and Nitzschke are unlikely to forget their ordeal anytime soon. The German government, for its part, will also spend some time facing public scrutiny over its decisions to spend such a large sum of money to save the two engineers' lives. It can count on widespread support within the population for its checkbook diplomacy. Seventy-six percent of Germans surveyed believe that the lives of hostages should take priority, even if it means that the millions spent will fall into the hands of terrorists and Islamists. But the end of the hostage crisis also marks the beginning of a debate over the extent to which German politicians should yield to extortion. It'll be an extension of the debate that's been conducted within the crisis task force in recent weeks and between Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier. Security officials are especially concerned that the affair could now mean that every German carries a price tag, and that the price placed on German hostages' heads is likely to balloon because their government is seen as being all too willing to give in to ransom demands. Indeed, that price inflation is already evident in the difference between the ransom of just under $5 million paid for the 14 Sahara hostages in 2003 and the sums the German government paid to gain the release of recent hostages -- more than $5 million for Susanne Osthoff alone, and the ransom it paid for Bräunlich and Nitzschke, which is reportedly much higher. Security officials foresee a dim future for Germans abroad, and many officials in the crisis task force share their views. "A country can afford to do this kind of thing, but only within limits," says a high-ranking administration official, "but the question is, when are those limits exceeded?" And yet no one in Berlin political circles can offer a better or alternative solution. The two hostages have been released from their trap, whereas the government now finds itself in a trap of its own. Are these guys really related to the guys who pulled off the Ardennes twice? TGA must be hemorraging. Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-05-10 |
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