Shaking the Will of Western Civilization... One Hostage at a Time !

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped director of CARE International in Iraq, appeared on a videotape aired Friday, weeping and pleading with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw troops from Iraq 'and not bring them to Baghdad' because 'this might be my last hours.'

'Please help me. Please help me,' said a terrified Hassan, breaking down in tears and burying her face in a tissue. She said she might be killed like British hostage Kenneth Bigley, who was beheaded by his captors earlier this month.

'This might be my last hours,' she said in the video aired by the Arabic television station Al-Jazeera. She begged the British people to 'ask Mr. Blair to take the troops out of Iraq, and not to bring them here to Baghdad. That's why people like Mr. Bigely and myself are being caught. And maybe we will die like Mr. Bigley. Please, please, I beg of you.'

Hassan - an Irish-British-Iraqi national who has been doing humanitarian work in Iraq for 30 years, including distributing medicine and food - appeared haggard, her eyes baggy as she stood alone in front of a bare wall."

There is no other purpose for these hostage taking events but to shake the will of ordinary people around the world who can identify with the victims. What you see playing out is a brutal form of warfare. Make no mistake about it... it is warfare. The ammunition is personal fear made public by instantaneous media and as such internalized by millions of people world wide, including our political leaders. In the long run it can be just as deadly as a .30 cal round being fired from a sniper's rifle. Wake up everyone. The root of this is a clash of ideologies and culture, emanating from the 40 years of hatred between the Israel and it's Arab neighbors. Will it take an alien invasion from another world to bring this historic conflict to a close? This form of brutal terrorism can go on forever, especially if it produces political results. It will continue until the ROOT CAUSES are eradicated. One only needs to look at history to understand what they are. 40 years worth of root causes between Israel, Palestine and her Arab neighbors leave a pitiful legacy on both sides. - zzb