South Korean weakness, Taliban extortion

NY Times:

Shocked by the killing of a second South Korean hostage in Afghanistan and weary from the 13-day-old crisis, South Korea on Tuesday urged the American and Afghan governments to show “flexibility” over Taliban demands for the release of imprisoned militants.

The government appeal — coupled with a growing frustration among South Koreans over what they say is a lack of cooperation from the United States — came hours after the Afghan police found the body of a second South Korean hostage.

A self-described Taliban spokesman said the man was killed Monday because the Afghan government had not released the Taliban prisoners.

“The government is well aware of how the international community deals with these kinds of abduction cases,” Cheon Ho-seon, a spokesman for President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea, said in a statement on Tuesday. “But it also believes that it would be worthwhile to use flexibility in the cause of saving the precious lives of those still in captivity, and is appealing to the international community to do so.”

Ever since the Taliban kidnapped 23 volunteer aid workers on July 19, Mr. Roh’s government has been caught between two uncompromising forces. The Taliban have insisted on a hostage-and-prisoner swap, but the Afghan government says that will only lead to more kidnappings.

“We shouldn’t encourage kidnapping by actually accepting their demands,” a spokesman for the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, told reporters Tuesday, according to Reuters.

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The South Koreans should be blaming the Italians for this mess. It was the release of prisoners to free one of their worthless journalist that led the Taliban to believe they could extort more prison releases. It is also a reflection of how badly the Taliban are hurting now with the loss of leadership and men that they need to engage in this type of extortion. There are several reasons why there are so few American captives used in this type of play. One is the knowledge that we will not negotiate with them at all. The second is that we will use our forces to go after teh people responsible for taking the captives. That is why they pick on people who have few forces int eh country and who operate outside the normal secured areas. Karzai is right on this one. Abetting extortion will only breed more captives and more extortion. It is time to stop all negotiation and try to rescue the captives and kill the captors.

Michelle Malkin is following the conflicting stories on whether rescue attempts are underway. I think it is possible that a government spokesman may have pulled back his earlier claim in order to protect the security of on going operations. However, if such operations are underway they are likely to involve special operations forces.

Malkin's suggestion in her column that no one cares about the south Korean martyrs is overstated. giving intot he demands of the Taliban is likely to create more martyrs.