Thursday 11 December 2014

France choses a different route

A day after French President François Hollande announced the release of Serge Lazarevic, who was kidnapped in Mali in November 2011, the contrast between the headlines in France and Mali could not have been starker.While French news sites on Wednesday splashed images of a smiling Hollande greeting Lazarevic on the tarmac of a military base near Paris, Malian media displayed images of Mohamed Ali Ag Wadoussene, a Malian terrorist. He has been released possibly on a prisoner exchange along with four other terrorists.     Val says

France in the past has been known to pay ransoms of millions and this time agreed to prisoner exchanges. The USA and the UK both believe paying ransoms and swapping prisoners just leads to more prisoners being captured and used for ransom and the US has seen in the last few weeks some dramatic footage of their compatriots being beheaded, a powerful weapon to make a country pay. I am delighted after 3 years to see Serge Lazarevic freed but at what cost to others? I am with the US and the UK on this one give no quarter to the bullies who perpetuate these crimes, more and more hostages will be taken if the terrorists see it as a source of income or a way to free their top terrorists.

On another story one has to be shocked at the US and possibly the UK torturing victims, a terrible fact that and when I hear those at the top saying " we did not know" I have little sympathy " you should have known what your law forces were  up to and  they should have been stopped. 
I was going to add I am sure that is not a controversial statement when I read what Marine Le Pen thinks
Speaking early Wednesday on BFMTV in an interview discussing the revelations that the CIA used brutal interrogation methods, Le Pen said she “did not condemn” the use of torture when questioning terror suspects. “Of course [torture] can be used,” she said. “It’s been used throughout history.” 
Val says again so because it has gone on throughout history that makes it acceptable, I think not! Comments to taglines82@gmail.com