A Funny Smelling Story That Now Reeks To High Heaven

Amidst the recent rash of kidnappings involving journalists in Iraq is the plight of German journalist Susanne Ostoff. She was abducted last month by gunmen. Germany eventually paid a ransom for her, and ironically released a Hezbollah terrorist from prison two days later. However, something smells rotten in Denmark, or rather in Baghdad.

Part of the ransom money alleged to have been paid by the German government to win the freedom of Iraq hostage Susanne Osthoff last month was found on Osthoff after her release, the German magazine Focus said on Saturday.

Without citing its sources, Focus said officials at the German embassy in Baghdad had found several thousand U.S. dollars in the 43-year-old German archaeologist's clothes when she took a shower at the embassy shortly after being freed.

The serial numbers on the bills matched those used by the government to pay off Osthoff's kidnappers, the magazine said.

Efforts to contact Osthoff for comment through her mother and a friend failed.

A spokeswoman at the German Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report. The German government is known to have paid ransoms for hostages in the past, but has refused to comment on whether it did so for Osthoff.

Osthoff, who converted to Islam and lived in Iraq, was seized heading north from Baghdad on November 25 by gunmen who threatened in a videotape to kill her and her driver unless Germany ended all support for the Iraqi government.

Speculation about the circumstances of her kidnapping and release has swirled in the German media since the German government announced on December 18 that she was free.

Two days after her release, the German government freed a Hizbollah member jailed for life in 1985 for the murder of a U.S. Navy diver. Berlin has denied a connection between the two events.

Osthoff herself caused a stir when she said in an interview at the end of December that she did not believe her kidnappers were criminals.

So, the glaring question remaining is why did she have some of the money on her person? Was this fraud? Or, was she allowed to keep the money to pass onto others when she arrived back home in Germany? In other words, was she a "bag-man" for a cells in Germany; an easy way to get the cell some cash?

Regardless of the answer to any of those questions it is now plainly clear that the media--at least the foreign press--could very well be working with some terrorist elements in Iraq. This should send off sirens, bells, and whistles to any nation out there that has journalists there.

In addition, I dislike the idea of paying ransoms to these animals. The money paid for the release of these idiotic journalists is going right into the hands of our enemies, and they are using it to fund their operations against our troops, and coalition forces. Frankly speaking, I would have left her butt there. It may sound cruel, and even heartless to some, however it beats having that money used against the forces fighting the enemy abroad.

Europe has proven, once again, that they lack the fortitude necessary to carry on this war. They will appease and negotiate with the enemy rather than destroying them. Bin Laden's recent truce offer is a prime example; he is only offering this to bide his time, and rebuild his shattered forces in Iraq and elsewhere. The proposal should never be taken seriously. We do not make peace until victory is achieved, and that has yet to occur. Instead of letting up on al Qaeda forces in Iraq--while we "contemplate" their proposal--we should be crushing any and every position we are aware of there, and in Afghanistan. Finish them off, then we can negotiate their unconditional surrender.

The Bunny ;)