The cost of life - Is it right to pay ransoms?

[Santti]

No, it's not right to pay the ransoms. They just capture another person and ask for more money.

[larrakeyah]

Or in the example of ISIS... We could all stay away.. All of us.
Sooner or later they'd then come after us. ISIS is actually a prime example of what happens if you don't go there in time...
We've passively watched them grow.

I honestly don't think they would come after us. We should just let them kill each other, it's not our problem.

[x_Fiona_X]

I honestly don't think they would come after us. We should just let them kill each other, it's not our problem.

I think it's possible, there have already been plots foiled in Europe from returning fighters coming back from Syria mostly, I believe. They've been brainwashed into carrying out acts of terror at home. I think there was a large operation in Australia, too?

[Wildtree]

I honestly don't think they would come after us. We should just let them kill each other, it's not our problem.

They would come after us

[larrakeyah]

I think it's possible, there have already been plots foiled in Europe from returning fighters coming back from Syria mostly, I believe. They've been brainwashed into carrying out acts of terror at home. I think there was a large operation in Australia, too?

I think the operation in Australia was done in order to have an excuse to support America. Moozzies pose no problems to us, most of the whites except the idiots in government don't like them.

[x_Fiona_X]

I think the operation in Australia was done in order to have an excuse to support America. Moozzies pose no problems to us, most of the whites except the idiots in government don't like them.

While I am in no way saying all Muslims are dangerous, wanting to carry out acts of terror at home etc, I think the reality of the situation is there are those who have returned or are trying to return that wish to do so. They also target young, more impressionable people via social media etc to radicalize them, of course it's a small minority, but it's still happening. Though this is getting a little off my original post

[Deleted]

Paying ransom is not an option, however rescue is, whenever possible. As long as I'd not recklessly suffer greater casualties.

Although I find their kidnapping methods odd and quite appalling. I don't know how it does them any favor to kidnap and ransom/execute people that seem pretty nice, and did not do any crime aside of being the of the wrong nationality, they weren't even having some great deal of power of influence.

Looking back to medieval tactics at least, taking knights, high ranking officers and noblemen or their family for ransom was a really common move. More important figureheads that may actually serve some strategic importance as a bargaining chip.

But killing a random Western person is just appalling, and not doing their cause much favor.

[Duronos]

Definitely not. If you pay once you will be expected to pay again and with these guys the price will always change. If I asked for 10 million and you paid 10 million I am going to ask for another 5 million just because I can.

On the other hand if I'm kidnapped pls pay for my release.

Or they get a reputation for releasing the prisoner therefore whoever they capture means they get guaranteed money if it's paid, simple as that. Has nobody ever heard of crime organizations that make a good amount of revenue off of this? In other words, if you always release the prisoner after the ransom is paid then you have good credit so too speak. If you kill the prisoner after the ransom is paid then well you're known to just kill people anyways... No money for you.

Also if any of you think a humans life isn't worth any money then you need to rethink yourselves, everyone is so apathetic. They never think about how they themselves would feel in a situation like that. You could go to Mexico on holiday and get captured, bet you'd want someone to pay your ransom then.

[Deleted]

What's to stop ISIS and the like from kidnapping, then publicly executing, more and more people in an effort to make a stronger and stronger case for paying the ransom?

Isn't that the very tactic the US uses with it's prisoners? "Tell me what I want to know, or I'll hurt you. If you refuse, I'll hurt you even more, and even more, and even more, until you give up."

Kidnapping people seems to be quite easy for ISIS and al-Qaeda. Where's the proof that they'll stop kidnapping people if they don't get paid for it, and instead don't kidnap and execute more and more people just to make the point very damn clear?

[Saxtorph]

No. As the bodies stack up maybe the stupid westerners will figure out it's not safe to go there and stay out.

[Nihilan]

No. As the bodies stack up maybe the stupid westerners will figure out it's not safe to go there and stay out.

I actually heard this conversation in the hallway the other day. One of our senior program managers was chatting with an engineer and they were talking about this very thing. The PM, a very conservative straight-arrow family man, said something along the lines of "If these morons (journalists) insist on traveling to the middle east and african hotspots, they have nobody to blame but themselves when they get kidnapped and killed. They are falling victim to their own stupidity."

I got a chuckle out of it because of who it was coming from. As it happens i totally agree with him.

[Ciddy]

If you pay once you have opened yourself up to every dirt bag trying to make quick money. I would not pay a ransom.

This. Also, paying would just encourage the bad guys to do it more often.

Still, I guess I'm kind of torn there. It's easy to say paying the ransom is a bad idea when you're not the one who has to make the decision, or the victim is not someone close to you. I imagine I'd have a different opinion if the victim were someone close to me, like a family member or close friend.

[Airlick]

Well, there's no guarantee that the hypothetical kidnapped person is not dead already. I think it's better to let police deal with it.

[Kalis]

I used to have to deal with ransom demands, though not the messy dangerous part, and generally we paid them. Usually they don't kill the captives, though they may kill the odd one or two. They have been known to release sick/injured captives as well.

The ones we dealt with were generally Somali pirates, and they would demand an amount that was less than the value of the crew's life insurance and ship's cargo, so it made economic sense as insurers to pay - their ability to know how much they could ask for was astounding, it was almost like they had an indepth knowledge of the shipping industry gained from inside sources...

Ransoms in that part of the world are big business, the kidnappers themselves are just the footsoldiers, the 'brains' behind the business were almost certainly not the local warlords.