In FrontPage I explain why it is still never wise to negotiate with terrorists.
Having murdered one of its Japanese hostages, Haruna Yukawa, the Islamic State issued an audio recording purportedly of the other, Kenji Goto, pleading for his life and making a new demand. Yukawa had been “slaughtered,” said the man claiming to be Goto. He reminded the Japanese that “you were given a deadline” of Friday to give the Islamic State $200 million to save Yukawa’s life.
But now the jihadis had changed their demand. “They no longer want money,” said the voice. “You bring them their sister from the Jordanian regime, and I will be released immediately. Me for her. Don’t let these be my last words you ever hear. Don’t let Abe also kill me.”
“Their sister from the Jordanian regime” was Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, whom CNN identified as “an Iraqi woman facing the death penalty in Jordan for her role in a series of bombings in 2005 that killed dozens of people at hotels in the Arab kingdom.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted with “strong indignation” to the murder of Yukawa: “Such act of terrorism is outrageous and impermissible, which causes me nothing but strong indignation.” However, he did not say whether he planned to work with the Jordanian government to release Sajida al-Rishawi and hand her over to the Islamic State. According to CNN, “Japanese officials declined to explicitly rule out paying a ransom but said they wouldn’t yield to terrorism.”
“I would be surprised if the Jordanian government or Japan really pushed forward and released this female suicide bomber as ISIS has requested,” said CNN global affairs analyst David Rohde, and we can only hope that he is right. If Abe accedes to the Islamic State’s demand in this, he will only encourage more kidnappings, and more and more demands from the jihadists to the free world.
The Islamic State has plenty of reason to think that the Japanese are going to give them what they want. The New York Times reported last July that “kidnapping Europeans for ransom has become a global business for Al Qaeda, bankrolling its operations across the globe.” European officials denied paying ransoms to jihadists, said the report, but “ an investigation by The New York Times found that Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates have taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008, of which $66 million was paid just last year. In news releases and statements, the United States Treasury Department has cited ransom amounts that, taken together, put the total at around $165 million over the same period….Put more bluntly, Europe has become an inadvertent underwriter of Al Qaeda.”
With non-Muslim governments financing al-Qaeda’s jihad through ransom payments, why not the Islamic State? Yet this is, of course, why we continue to see kidnappings of Westerners, and these kidnappings will continue into the indefinite future. For the jihadists, they are lucrative.
They’re also in complete accord with Islamic law:
“As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, ‘When you encounter those [infidels] who deny the Truth [Islam] then strike [their] necks’ (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4)” — Al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance).
Everything the Islamic State has done is in accord with this: it demanded ransom for Yukawa; when it didn’t get it, it killed him. It could also have enslaved him or freed him outright. For Goto, it is demanding a prisoner exchange – for a trained killer who would almost certainly kill again in the name of Islam and jihad.
It would be terrible indeed if the Islamic State murders Kenji Goto. If the Japanese give in to the Islamic State’s demands and give them money or Sajida al-Rishawi, many, many other innocent people will be murdered as well.
AnneM says
Not surprised. ISIS KNOWS that Japan only has a defendsive arm force, that is all.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
It doesn’t matter about their military, after all, what good does our military do us here in the States?
The strength Japan has in this is that there are no Moslems there. The same can be said for Korea and Vietnam. This is a reason to envy East Asia, at least to the east of the Semi-Autonomous Region of Xinjiang Uyghur, that is.
SpiritOf1683 says
A major weakness of theirs seems to be that they don’t know much about Islam either. At least some in the West are finally getting it.
Salah says
ISIS in an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood international islamic terrorist organization.
Banned and outlawed in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the MB is flourishing in the West.
Is Civilization gradually shifting sides?
Muslim Brotherhood Starts A Political Party Out Of Chicago
http://www.inquisitr.com/1790170/muslim-brotherhood-political-party-chicago/
mortimer says
They will not stop imitating Mohammed until they join Mohammed in hell.
lemondrop says
it’s just too bad they can’t see that now. we know they’ll be in hell, but these people think they’re going to be w/ 72 virgins. how they believe that is beyond me, just like how they think Mohammed is s prophet.
Dave J says
Ever fair minded, Islam wants to trade the kidnapped man who has done nothing for a proven Muslim serial killer.
Why can’t we locate the prisoner and if not rescue him then blow up the entire encampment. It would be a better way to go for the unfortunate innocent.
anonsos says
This is a very hard choice to make.. I’d hate to be the one to make it.. I know people want to save this guy, including me, but if we give what they ask for, this will make them do it again, and again which will make more to be in danger of to be murdered.. So, we are dammed if we do, and dammed if we don’t.. It’s a catch 22 kind of thing.. I’d hope to God that they enslave him.. That way, we will have a bit more time to save him.. But, we all know thats not gonna happen cause these devils are blood thirsty monsters.. Just like their anti-prophet was..
We need to try to change the way the Muslims think, their mindset.. But this kind of way will take decades cause the Adults that are in the Islamic State or Muslims in general are too far gone to have their minds changed.. So, start with the kids.. Get rid of all the Islamic schools(Madrassas) where these people get brainwashed.. Outlaw the Quran from the west, because lets face it, it is the worst hate filled book that ever was, even worst than My Kamp(A hell of a lot worse) .. The Quran is soooo full of hate speech against all non-muslims around the world.. It even hates Muslims .. As Satan(Islamic Allah) says that he could change his mind about letting Muslims into Genna even if they are the best Muslim(Bad Muslims to us).. There place in Genna isn’t set in stone…
Anyways, I hope to God something happens for this guys life to be saved..
Peace out my infidel friends!
SpiritOf1683 says
The first time you say “Yes”, you end up saying “Yes” every time. One concession leads to another and another until you’ve got no concessions left to make. Infidels shouldn’t go to these parts, and they should be told over and over again. Moreover, they ought to know by now. The West, and that includes Japan, and any infidel nation cannot make concessions to these cutthroats, for once they discover a tactic works, they’ll try it every time. We’ve already seen more than enough images of infidels sporting orange jumpsuits and flanked by these bloodthirsty savages to last a hundred lifetimes, but we’ll keep on seeing it over and over again because common sense is no longer a virtue. We have been breeding morons who have been infused with political correctness and moral relativism, and as a result either seem incapable of, or simply refuse to see the evil in the evil. This is how Westerners fall into the hands of ISIS.