] A new hostage crisis erupted in Iraq Wednesday just a day
] after a kidnapped Filipino was freed, with guerrillas
] saying they had seized three Indians, two Kenyans and an
] Egyptian and threatening to kill them one by one.
]
] In video footage given to Arabic satellite channel Al
] Arabiya, masked gunmen said they would behead the
] captives unless the Kuwaiti company they worked for
] pulled out of Iraq.
]
] "We announce we have captured two Kenyans, three Indians
] and one Egyptian. We tell the company to withdraw and
] close its offices in Iraq," said one of the masked men,
] from a group calling itself the "Black Banners."
]
] The guerrillas also demanded that India, Kenya and Egypt
] withdraw their citizens from Iraq. None of the three
] countries are part of the U.S.-led military coalition in
] Iraq but many of their nationals work as drivers and
] contractors.

(sigh)

I am happy for the Filipino hostage who was released, and I rejoice for his family, even as at the same time I still believe that the Philippine government made the wrong decision. All that it did was to reinforce to the Iraqi criminal element that hostages have value. It has taught them that it's more powerful to capture someone and drag things out through the media, making threats, and occasionally beheading someone, than it is to simply shoot someone on the street.

Where does it stop? As absurd as it sounds, will people in the tech scene start adopting these tactics? Kidnap a software executive and threaten to execute him unless the RIAA changes its policies? Display an image of a blindfolded Microsoft employee on a website and demand that the company shut down?

The Philippines set a terrifying example, and I despair about where this is going to lead. :/