Malkin On Sgerna

Michelle Malkin's new column focuses on the Sgerna release and the possiblity of a ransom being paid by Italy. She also has a number of posts on her site regarding this event (go here and then start clicking).

Here are a few highlights of the column;

The scandal is that Italy— - our reputed ally in the global War on Terror — - negotiated with Sgrena's Islamist kidnappers and may have forked over a massive ransom to cutthroats for Sgrena's release.

Where is the uproar over this Islamist insurgency subsidy plan?
[...]
Whatever the final tally [Jeff's Note: stories in the press range from $1m to $13m], it's a whopping bounty that will undoubtedly come in handy for cash-hungry killers in need of spiffy new rocket-propelled grenade launchers, AK-47s, mortars, landmines, components for vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, and recruitment fees.
[...]
To be fair to Italy, which continues to maintain a 3,000-troop presence in Iraq despite enormous anti-war pressure, its reported payoffs to terrorists are dwarfed by the mollycoddlers in Manila and Malaysia, who have fed Abu Sayyaf's head-chopping kidnappers tens of millions in tribute over the past several years— money that is now reportedly being channeled to worldwide al Qaeda operations.

Still, you would expect a country that once embraced the defiant spirit of Fabrizio Quattrochi —the murdered Italian security guard taken hostage in Iraq last year who stoically told his assassins, "I'm going to show you how an Italian dies"—to resist the Quisling impulse with every fiber of its collective being.

Quite right. Of course, as I mentioned here, the idea of not paying off terrorists has been violated by us as well. One would have hoped, however, that the Italians - and everyone else for that matter - would have learned from the mistakes of the past. Simply put, paying off terrorists and criminals only leads to more terrorism and crime.

Whether the Islamic thugs in Iraq or the garden variety kidnappers in Colombia, ransom payments may save an individual hostage's life, but ultimately only serve to increase the likelihood of subsequent kidnappings.

For Malkin's full article, go to Jewish World Review.