The Taliban toys with South Korean Christian hostages’ lives Update: 1:30pm Eastern…Second hostage reportedly killed…World yawns…Taliban will kill more…Update: Video of female hostages aired
Update 9:45pm Eastern. Al Jazeera has aired video of seven of female South Korean Christian hostages. Here’s a still:
Update 2:45pm Eastern. Yonhap reports, “The Taliban, claiming Monday to have executed another male South Korean hostage, threatened it will continue to kill more of them and more frequently. Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the militant group, told Yonhap in indirect contact that the Taliban will start to kill female hostages after the men, should negotiations fail.”
Here is a photo of Shim Sung-min, the second hostage reportedly killed:
***
Update: 1:54pm Eastern. The United Nations “expresses concern.” Oh, the Taliban is trembling now.
Update 1:30pm Eastern: Via Jawa Report, a second male hostage has reportedly been murdered. Rusty asks: “Where is the outrage?!?!!!!”
The victim’s name, the Taliban claims, is Sung Sin. The bloodthirsty jihadists say they shot him with an AK-47.
Yonhap reports that the Korean government is trying to confirm the murder. More details:
South Korean officials said they were trying to confirm reports that the Taliban has executed another male hostage. The South Korean embassy in Afghanistan declined to comment.
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the militant group, told AFP and Reuters that a man named “Sung Sin” was killed at 8:30 p.m. (local time) with AK-47 gunshots because the Afghan government did not heed the deadline set for exchanging the hostages with Taliban prisoners. He said the body was abandoned at Qarabagh in the Ghazni province.
The given name of the victim is most similar to Shim Sung-min, 29, who is among the kidnapped. If confirmed true, it will be the second killing of the hostages. Bae Hyung-kyu, a pastor, was killed last Wednesday, his bullet-riddled corpse later recovered.
Sifting through Korean media outlets for more info, I came across this moving story at donga.com about the hostages’ families:
Lee Chae-bok, mother of Je Chang-hee, one of South Koreans held hostage by a Taliban group since July 20, wrote a letter to her only son yesterday at the office of hostage’s family members, located in Bungdang-gu, Seong-nam, Gyeonggi, saying, “We don’t know how such a terrible thing happened to us. You haven’t done anything that harms others. Your smiling face comes to mind so often, and it is really breaking my heart.”
The letter starting with “Lovely Chang-hee,” is filled with the mother’s strong love to her youngest child and only son, who received the strongest love from family members.
Lee also wrote that, “You went there to share love that you get from here, and I hope you endure the difficulties there by remembering the love of family here.”
Lee ended the letter with words, “My lovely son! I really want to see your smiling face. I will pray for your safe return.”
***
Yet another deadline extended–and now expired. Mullah Omar is now involved:
The Taliban extended its deadline to 1130 GMT (7:30 a.m. EDT) for 22 South Korean hostages they are threatening to kill after an appeal by Afghan negotiators, a Taliban spokesman said, adding all of the remaining captives were alive.
“Because of the team’s requests … the Taliban have extended the deadline to 16:00 local time,” Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location.
The Taliban had earlier set a 0730 GMT “final deadline,” after which they said they would kill the 22 Koreans — mostly women — unless the Afghan government freed jailed rebels.
Monday’s first deadline was issued by the Taliban leadership council, led by elusive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, giving the threat to kill the hostages more weight than several other deadlines that have passed without incident.
Yonhap reports that negotiations have failed and the hostages will be killed.
In case you missed it over the weekend, Hamid Karzai tried to appeal to the Taliban head-choppers by pleading that kidnapping and killing innocent civilian women is “un-Islamic:”
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the kidnapping of 23 South Koreans by Taliban militants “shameful” on Sunday, noting that abducting women in particular was un-Islamic. A purported Taliban spokesman set a new deadline for the hostages’ lives.
In his first comments since the July 19 kidnapping, Karzai also assured a South Korean presidential envoy that the government will “spare no effort” to secure the hostages’ release.
“This (kidnapping) will have a shameful effect on the dignity of the Afghan people,” Karzai said, according to a statement after his talks with South Korean presidential envoy Baek Jong-chun.
“(The president) explained that hostage-taking and abuse of foreign guests, especially women, is against Islam and the Afghan culture and the perpetration of this heinous act on our soil is in total contempt of our Islamic and Afghan values,” Karzai’s office said.
Like that has ever stopped the jihadists before.
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It puzzles me how this isn’t all over the news. Maybe if it happened during the olympics it might get some airplay…only because the games would have been held up. Also, to bridge to your main posting: How is it that Islam is so protected in our country while Christianity can be mocked and ridiculed without repercussions? I mean, when was the last time a group of Christians took a group of people hostage and threatened to kill them?
Not exactly how I wanted to start my Monday…
It has been a loooooong time, gregorystephens.
But you’ll get breathless acclamations from Biblically and theologically illiterate liberals and atheists that Christianity is just as bad as – or worse – than Islam. I call it the “Rosie O’Donnell School of Theology”.
They’ll base their hatred of Christianity on a few, select, and out-of-context passages (especially passages from the Old Testament). They’ll whine that Christians oppose abortion, birth control, treat women badly, and are somehow attempting to impose a theocracy on America.
Which is why – in addition to the naivety that is politically correctness – liberals are all gung-ho about Islam and treating it so reverently…much more reverently than they do Christianity. The old saying “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is 100% applicable here. Liberals love Islam because they hate Christianity more, and they know Islam will violently crush Christianity (with the assistance of the politically correct).
So with Christians out of the way, the liberals believe they will have the no-holds-barred society they long for…gay marriage, abortion on demand, free love, feminism, etc.
Only thing is, all those things they whine about Christians opposing are opposed by Muslims too.
And Muslims don’t turn to the courts, peaceful protests, or reason to settle arguments.
They turn to bombs, shari’a law, stoning, and beheading.
The day will come when liberals realize they’re sorely mistaking in allowing shari’a to creep into our nation.
The only question is: will there be any conservatives or Christians left to defend their sorry hides?
This is why the South Koreans are getting ZERO attention in our news media. They can’t possibly portray their last best hope at destroying Christianity in a positive light.
God bless these captives and their families – I can’t imagine what they’re going through. Please pray for them.
I hope that ZERO effort is being made to negotiate and that no effort is spared in attempting to find them, kill their captors, and bring them home.
They need to send in the ROK Marines in there to kick A$$!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, please pray. Take just one minute now, stop and pray.
Saw Rescue Dawn over the weekend…excellent, would be superb if the Korean hostages pulled off a similar escape, or otherwise turn the tables in whatever fashion. Sounds ridiculous, but what Dengler pulled off at that POW camp was pretty ridiculous as well.
Other than Korean media (via MM), MM is still the only vigilant voice carrying this crisis. Watched F&F’s this morning. Zip, nada. Something is going on at FOX. It seems to me that FOX on the whole, just doesn’t deliver like they used to. It’s real hit and miss, with more misses than hits of late. Was there a new format switch recently that encourages more lighthearted material, more entertainment news? And it’s not just the Paris, Brit, Lohan stuff…it’s the overall template. Anyways, kudos to MM for still carrying this crisis.
No need in America today when you have the liberal base who will do the work for them.
CNN reporting that they’ve killed another hostage.
Pray…
Soul of Christ, be my sanctification;
Body of Christ, be my salvation;
Blood of Christ, fill all my veins;
Water of Christ’s side, wash out my stains;
Passion of Christ, my comfort be;
O good Jesus, listen to me;
In Thy Wounds, I fain would hide;
Ne’er to be parted from Thy side;
Guard me should the foe assail me;
Call me when my life shall fail me;
Bid me come to Thee above,
With Thy Saints to sing Thy love,
World without end.
Amen.
Are you liberals not getting this yet?
My heart breaks for this family. I am thankful for his soul.
Rusty demands to know where the outrage is at Jawa…I still have to go one step further.
What story? What hostages? Huh?
The only people that know about this story are the ones that follow MM and Jawa, and/or happen to catch FOX and CNN and juuuust the right time.
Yep and did MikeB get the axe. I sure would like to hear his spin on this and Michelle covering it yet another day.
Which brings me to:
Thanks Michelle.
“It’s just a bumper sticker slogan”. The war on terror isn’t real. Give me a break!
My thoughts and prayers are with these people and their families.
They will kill them all.
Someone please send the forces in NOW.
The Korean Christians were performing humanitarian aid for the Afghani people.The murdered ones shall be martyrs,in the eyes of God,and Christians.They will surly be in Heaven.
This is the Afghani Governmants problem.They alone,must rescue the hostages.
This is actually the first web sit along with Hot air I turn to for news, even prior to turning on the TV which happens so rarely these days. Fox is turning into a Joke. I pray the hostages stay strong in the faith, I can only Imagine what those animals are putting them through.
9/11 happened right.in.front.of.their.eyes. It happened to their neighbors, co-workers, friends, and they still don’t get it.
Exactly, davidleerothmann. They hate America, Christians, and the though of being politically incorrect for even a nanosecond so much they don’t care.
Another blog I frequent posted a picture of the blogger and her husband at the WTC, dining at Windows on the World back in ‘98. A scant three years later, those buildings came down. Looking at the picture, I can’t imagine the horror of being up there, trapped, and moments away from dying at the hands of Islamofacists.
The same feeling must be permeating those remaining hostages. They must be terrified.
And liberals just don’t care. I don’t have the stomach or temper to do it, but I bet a search of liberal blogs could turn up some sick post either praising the terrorists or condemning the Christians for simply being.
As I said above, liberals ally themselves with terrorists because they hope the terrorists will destroy Christians and free them from the burdens of the supposed Christian theocracy.
Every Christian that’s killed by jihadists is one less they have to worry about.
It’s sick, it’s sad, and it’s infuriating.
My wife was Korean (is now American) and is following this story. I will no doubt have a chance to hear how the Korean media is spinning this when I get home this evening.
In any case, this is exactly the type of thing that SHOULD shock the world. BUT, it won’t, excuses will be made for the Jihadists and this will eventually be forgotten.
As much as I would like to see the Koreans get properly motivated in the GWoT, they won’t. S Korea is fair-weather friends at best these days, and all they offer is token support, few troops, etc.
Many Koreans (and many people in the world) will offer the typical, “Oh! Thats such a shame! How horrible that the USA angered these people this much to kill innocents!” Pathetic, but true.
I hope there is a special place in Hell for the Taliban AND those Reuter’s reporters who pandering to them.
I agree with Gator70, comment #17. If only O’Reilly, Hannity, Gibson and Cavuto would stop giving wall-to-wall covrage about drunken Hollywood airheads and their silly lives, they would gain more viewers and get the respect back of their present viewers.
It’s becoming the Fox Tabloid Network.
Should be … coverage …
David Lee & English Queen,
I’m from NY City. The office I worked in for a decade was destroyed on 9/11 and former colleagues of mine died during the attack. Many of my friends in NYC are liberal and your characterizations of them with regard to the Taliban are off-base. Most of my NYC liberal colleagues oppose theocracies, hate the Taliban and favor an increase in military and intelligence resources for Afghanistan, while opposing Iraq invasion. Criticisms of NY liberals on abortion, gay rights, gun control, etc. ring true but your Taliban comments don’t square with what I see in NYC on a daily basis.
Here’s a link that might help to shed some light on the views in Korea.
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2007/07/29/my-personal-view-on-the-current-hostage-crisis/
Now granted this blog is from the point of view of a long-time, English + Korean as a second language speaking expat living in Korea. The comments are also from expats with a few Koreans. However, it should still give one a view of the attitude in Korea, which seems to be decidely, “blame the victims.”
The last line:
“But IMO, the responsibility of the entire fiasco should also rest on the shoulders of the church elders, who may have taken part in the planning and recruiting of “volunteers” for this ill-fated mission.”
So why isn’t the Afghan government responding in a manner that will put this to rest? For each hostage killed, a taliban supporting village is leveled. Or at a minimum, two of the prisoners the taliban wants released are publicly executed.
Force is all these people understand.
Until the west (and I’m lumping the Karzai & Musharef governments in with the west) understands that, and acts accordingly, these types of episodes will continue.
walterc#26 comments suggest a fatal flaw in “Afghanistan democracy”: The constitution is steeped in Islamic law.
There isn’t a driving secular spirit of Afghan law which would frame what is happening to “Christian” missionaries as an outrage worthy of retaliatory bloodshed, and certainly not the bloodshed of other Muslims.
It is a losing game relying on Iraqi or Afghani or Pakistani governments to do anything with conviction that means killing Muslims on behalf of Christendom.
I am pro-Iraq invasion btw.
All the way. Run the table in the Middle East and do not stop until Muslim theocracy and every last Mullah is dead.
Make the consequences of seeking a Caliphate by jihadists *UNTHINKABLE*, much like Japan would never think of creating a warrior class or an imperial class ever again.
Simple human nature can be socialized if and only if each participant knows that actions have consequences (something liberals seem politically incapable of grasping in this war).
This is an outrage. Whoever believes this is not a war of Islam against the world had better take some time to review their position. This is coming to our neighborhoods very soon. Very very soon.
Bear1909 from Berkeley “Palestinian Sanctuary City” California. OUT!
While I do not lump all liberals as American hating, the vast majority are liberals – sorry, that is just plain fact.
For the most part:
People who care for CAIR – liberal. People who want shame-nesty – liberal. Every decent Christian thought considered intolerant by – liberals. Supporters of Islam in public schools paid for by tax dollars – liberals. Tried to kill John Doe – liberals. Saying we lost the GWOT – liberals.
Should I go on? It is the liberal press that will not give this story its due. Now, Fox news is doing the same but you see here that we conservatives do not much care for Fox news anymore.
OMSB, #28, good post. It will no doubt fall on deaf Liberal ears.
I forgot my all time favorite:
Making sure terrorists captured during a time of war get rights under the Geneva Convention, get attorneys and trials (paid for by my tax dollars) and get released to kill more of our soldiers – liberals!
Unless something major happened yesterday I can’t imagine MikeB getting the axe. He may be a liberal but he’s a fairly polite one. Which is better than some of you have been to him.
He’s already stated his case on this in a previous thread.
This was following his “it’s all Bushs fault because we cut and run in Afganistan to get to Iraq”.
Maybe he got the day off from work. *shrug*
Maybe he got tired of being called an a$$ just because you, as in the collective you, don’t agree with him.
I hope not. He pisses me off to no end. But that’s what freedom of speech is all about.
It really bothers me that Afganistan has chosen to side with the Taliban again. But in some ways I understand it. They ARE Muslim. And the Taliban offers order, such as it is. And life outside the poppy fields which the tribal leaders put right back into production as soon as they were in charge. I don’t believe we ‘cut and run’ in Afganistan. But I don’t believe we did enough to make sure they were stable politically and economically.
As far as the actual members of the Taliban who have taken and now killed these hostages. I have to put my faith in God and know that what goes around comes around. And that should they actually manage to get away with these atrocities in this lifetime that there is a special place for them in eternity. (And there ain’t no virgin’s involved.. grrrr)
I think most of us understand this.
Yes, most of US understand that. The problem is with the millions of liberals that believe the ‘Coexist’ bumper sticker. They refuse to see that Islam doesn’t ‘Coexist’ they Conquer.
What is not being talked about is that while The Taliban is killing innocent people, the Los Angeles Times wants to free San Francisco John Walker Lindh, who is only guilty of aiding the Taliban.
Between Radical Islam and Radical San Francisco, it is no wonder this kid became a mess. Nevertheless, if the LA Times wants him free, perhaps they support terrorists everywhere.
http://blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com/2007/07/30/support-terrorism-buy-the-los-angeles-times/
Respectfully,
eric
I remember his comment and MikB will bring it on the name calling 90% of the time by firing the first salvo of insults. If you go back and read where you cut this comment from, you will see he apologized to me for the “Shouldn’t Christianity and all religions be out of the “missionary” business.” comment. Even in this comment you dug up he could not resist slamming someone.
MikeB was constantly insulting our host and forevermore changing the topic.
I, for one, was hoping to see his take on this and wanting to see if he would attack Michelle (yet again) for covering this story (which deserves covering).
Never mind looking it up, here it is.
On July 24th, 2007 at 1:35 pm, MikeB said:
To Soap Box, I respect any person who is trying to help poor people, especially Haitians and Missionaries have certainly done a lot of good in this world. So, I apologize if I offended you. If I were a Christian Evangelist, I would go to places like Haiti and Africa, rather than the Muslim world.
Since when?
Christians are commanded to take the Gospel to the “ends of the earth”. Especially those places infested with great evil. This is as true now as it was in the days of the Apostles. Tragically, sometimes evil ‘wins’ a very temporal “victory” that comes around to bite tit in the backside, as it did it Calvary.
LOL, that should be “bite it”.
(Dang laptop keyboard!)
I wish we had guys like this on our side sometimes.
Thanks for the link.
I find it very illustrative that Christian missionaries, such as this group of innocent decent and good people, reject such things out of hand.
We could be in the exact same situation in the very near future JUST for being a Christian.
Will you deny your faith if that occurs?
We may all be tested.
To lose my life is gain!
I’m so saddened at this senseless death and the first hostage who was killed at well. This type of evil makes no sense.
Just as I wrote in the first thread of the hostage that was killed, I will post it here:
Regardless of political affiliation, everyone should care about this. God rest this man’s soul.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10-12).”
I, too, am upset that this story is not at the top of the news outlets. Although you can find articles related to the topic on Google, the fact that they are not on the front page enough to attract attention, is not right. Liberals, Conservatives and anyone else should not stand for the tactics of the Taliban. Period.
I am careful to get into political discussion on this thread, but it appears as if this has already started.
I will just say that there are some Liberals who are Christians, some who are not. There are Conservatives who are Christians, some are not. When anyone reads a quote like “liberals ally themselves with terrorists because they hope the terrorists will destroy Christians,” essentially you are saying that Liberal Christians want other Christians to be destroyed?
I see many liberals who are just as patriotic as conservatives. They love their country just as much as anyone in the GOP. I would be cautious to say that these people ally themselves with terrorists.
But as I said earlier, I truly believe that this story transcends political lines. This story should not disintigrate into a “Liberals Suck, This is All Their Fault” thread.
I’d have liked to improve on that thought, but I couldn’t. Well said.
Found this link at the English language version of Al Jazeera. Once again, that “news organization” gains unprecedented access to the thugs behind the madness. I wonder why
Can you imagine if a Christian outfit went to a mosque and seized 23 muslims? Killed two and threatened to kill the rest unless their demands were met? Can you even begin to imagine the coverage that would get? Not saying anything that anyone doesn’t already know, but enough food for thought to lose your stomach.
I concur, and once again, I would like to redirect the comments to where I think the focus belongs.
These are Koreans, not Americans. Certainly, the lack of coverage, American reaction (liberal and conservative alike), and the world reaction is important. However, what is MOST important is how the KOREANS will react.
This is a litmus test to see where the Koreans stand as far as placing blame where blame belongs and support for the GWoT.
I’d say there is a great deal of truth to that inasmuch as that there are those who preface their “faith” designation with a political designation. They very clearly & vividly declare what literally “comes first”. i.e their Lefist ideology precedes and defines any belief in Christ, the Bible, God, theology, etc.
Purplepeep, please note that I am not saying that thought, simply making sure that I am understanding the point that EnglishQueen01 was saying so we please attribute that to EnglishQueen01.
I, for one, disagree with that assessment that Liberal Christians are so called not because they believe politics comes before God. Politics won’t save your soul and give you Eternal Life.
Sorry edit for clarification:
“I, for one, disagree with that assessment that Liberal Christians are so called because they believe politics comes before God.”
This was in response to purplepeeps opinion.
Thank you purplepeep, I only wish that there was not a cause to say God Rest His Soul. I would have much rather have celebrated his coming home. But God is always in control.
FWIW, CNN now has it front page, but it’s not the main story.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/30/taliban.hostage/index.html
Fox doesn’t have it prominently on their front page either. O.J.’s Book Rights are a bigger story apparently.
Or perhaps domestically it’s a bigger story to them.
Maybe South Korea should join the coalition. Their marines are very good…in Nam, they were well know for their bravery and I may add savagery….just what we need in Iraq.
Thank you for that clarification, DK. As far as I can tell, I’m 100% sympatico and in sync with EnglishQueen’s thoughts.
I’d say that “Liberal-Christians” are unaware of that fact and don’t care. They have yet to prove otherwise. That would also go for anyone who confuses political ideology with faith in God: all Christians are called to be conservative, moderate and liberal. But not in the political sense of those terms.
MikeB is not banned. He is probably resting after a very busy day yesterday driving everyone nuts with his illogic and failure to address people’s points directly.
He’s sorta polite – but he is REALLY starting to get on my nerves.
I too was wondering about MikeB.
Maybe his computer is having issues.
OR
Maybe he’s mulling over the decision to convert to the conservative side.
South Korea is/was in the coalition. I remember they were in Irbil while I was there. Though, I am not sure they had much more then token support.
1. South Korea is a free democracy.
2. The hostages are Christians.
3. So far, the executed are men.
4. None are “of color”?
5. The taliban are the left’s allies.
6 S. Korea supports our efforts in Iraq.
lol @ Rick #57
ROFL @
yaya.. sure it was
On my soap box #35
I do agree with you.. I really wasn’t trying to defend him. I see that what I ended up posting wasn’t exactly what I was going for. But I had a hellish day and deleted my sarcasm in fear that it wouldn’t come thru correctly.
They are truly martyrs. God rest their souls.
(An attack would be worth it if they could get Mullah Omar.)
It is not against Islam. Mohammed showed the way. What the Jehadis are doing is following Mohammed. That makes all the peaceful ones bad Muslims.
The examples, to many to count, prove I am correct.
There can be no real negotiation with people of this nature. If they were released, in a fashion similar to the old Israeli deals, you’d be freeing dozens or hundreds of hardened terrorists. Unfortunately, and tragically, this is completely unacceptable. It’s a disgusting situation.
I continue to look at the group photo of these beaming Koreans, presumably taken before their trip to Afghanistan…their smiles are ear to ear … with such an arduous task ahead of them. They are clearly so abundant in happiness, charity, and enthusiasm.
How often do you see Muslims smiling this way? I can’t think of a single Muslim corollary. Drawing a complete blank. How often does one see a Muslim woman smiling out of genuine and sincere happiness?
I’ve seen many pictures of Muslims smiling in that way, both men and women.
Most of those pictures were taken by our troops in Iraq.