I read about the two American couples that were kidnapped by African pirates, and then shot during a failed military rescue operation. The other day, a Danish couple with 3 children on a sail boat trip around the world were kidnapped outside by Somalian pirates.
The Danish government aren't commenting on what measures they are taking, and I'm not sure what the US stance on the kidnapped couples were, but apparently the Danish government aren't considering paying the ransom. I guess it has to do with the presedence it sets for the future, the repercussions it might have for future kidnappings, but I really don't get it. Government officials are indirectly electing to have their own countrymen killed. It seems way more gruesome considering the fact that there's three children who are all very young.
On a larger scale it makes me think of how many governments refuse to negotiate with terrorists, but this seems kinda different to me. Muslim extremists have kidnapped people and executed them as some kind of demonstration of power or will, but I thought pirates were about booty lol. Jokes aside, I'm ignorant to African pirates, but the way I see it they aren't fighting a political agenda so whether the family is killed or not shouldn't matter to them, but receiving a ransom would probably be in their interest, right?
I just wanted to hear people's take on it. Obviously the compassionate side of any human being agrees that the ransom should be paid; I would like to hear some thought-out arguments against. In the failed military operation, I got the impression the two couples were executed while the military borded the ship, and all the pirates were either killed or captured. They don't seem to be very smart, or to be thinking far ahead, so I don't buy really buy the simple argument that these incidents will occur more frequently if paying ransom becomes a habit. On the contrary, leaving a family (and children) to be executed by pirates would probably make me lose faith in my Norwegian government (which I kinda have, anyway).
The Danish government aren't commenting on what measures they are taking, and I'm not sure what the US stance on the kidnapped couples were, but apparently the Danish government aren't considering paying the ransom. I guess it has to do with the presedence it sets for the future, the repercussions it might have for future kidnappings, but I really don't get it. Government officials are indirectly electing to have their own countrymen killed. It seems way more gruesome considering the fact that there's three children who are all very young.
On a larger scale it makes me think of how many governments refuse to negotiate with terrorists, but this seems kinda different to me. Muslim extremists have kidnapped people and executed them as some kind of demonstration of power or will, but I thought pirates were about booty lol. Jokes aside, I'm ignorant to African pirates, but the way I see it they aren't fighting a political agenda so whether the family is killed or not shouldn't matter to them, but receiving a ransom would probably be in their interest, right?
I just wanted to hear people's take on it. Obviously the compassionate side of any human being agrees that the ransom should be paid; I would like to hear some thought-out arguments against. In the failed military operation, I got the impression the two couples were executed while the military borded the ship, and all the pirates were either killed or captured. They don't seem to be very smart, or to be thinking far ahead, so I don't buy really buy the simple argument that these incidents will occur more frequently if paying ransom becomes a habit. On the contrary, leaving a family (and children) to be executed by pirates would probably make me lose faith in my Norwegian government (which I kinda have, anyway).
