Good news, finally

**captain_azad** · 03-24-2006, 11:05 PM

Amid all the turmoil these days, it's good to hear news like this. Don't know if it's been posted yet, but I'm glad that they're ok now:

(CP) - Two former Canadian hostages could be heading home as early as Saturday after marking their second day of freedom Friday with a maple-leaf-decorated cake to mark one of their birthdays, an offical with the Christian Peacemaker Teams said.

"They said they have tentative plans for leaving tomorrow (Saturday)," Anita David told The Canadian Press from Baghdad. David said she assumed James Loney, 41, would be headed to his native Toronto and Harmeet Sooden, 33, would go to his home in New Zealand.

Both Canadians were resting at a location in Baghdad that David referred to as the Canadian embassy building.

"They were at the residence of the British ambassador for the evening - they stayed there overnight and for breakfast this morning with fresh orange juice," she said

"They're fine, they're well fed, they're tired," David added.

Friday was Harmeet's 33rd birthday and David said there was a moment of celebration for him.

"We had a white cake with a pink Canadian maple leaf in the middle of the cake," said David.

Both Canadians, said David, are "deeply grateful to all those who worked for them and prayed for their release."

"Their heads are swirling," she said.

The rescue Thursday of the Canadians and a British hostage was a "textbook operation from start to finish," Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Friday.

Loney, Sooden, and Norman Kember, 74, of London, were abducted at gunpoint on the streets of Baghdad on Nov. 26. The bullet-riddled body of a fourth hostage, American Tom Fox, was found on the streets of Baghdad two weeks ago.

All four were in Iraq working for Christian Peacemaker Teams.

The hostages were rescued by coalition forces and a source has told The Canadian Press that members of Canada's special forces, known as JTF-2, played a role. However, MacKay would not provide any information about the role of the Canadian military in the hostage rescue.

"We don't get into the discussion around tactical or operations details," he said.

"It was an international effort, there were obviously several governments involved (and) Canadian officials were involved throughout the process."

Peter Van Loan, parliamentary secretary to MacKay, said on Thursday that Canada's involvement on the ground "included some Canadian forces in a very limited way, but that was focused on this rescue operation."

MacKay said he was delighted to have made the phone calls to tell the hostages' families of their rescue.

"It was absolutely the best call that I've made in my short time in office," MacKay said. "Hearing the pure joy in their voices - this was a very tense and trying ordeal for them - it's truly a miraculous story."

linkage: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/na...9a616f&k=96983

After praising the international rescue operation, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay urged Canadians not to "put their lives at risk."

Appearing on AM Friday, MacKay said: "I can understand the motivation and the will to do good, but ... we would always prefer that Canadians not go to places where hostage taking is at play."

Officials have revealed few details of the rescue effort, but it is known that none of the captors were present, no shots were fired and no-one was injured.

Although not officially acknowledged by Ottawa, the Canadian military's elite JTF2, a special forces unit, joined British and U.S. troops in the mission.

U.S. Army Gen. Rick Lynch said in Baghdad that coalition forces were tipped off to where the hostages were by someone captured Wednesday night.

The rescue in an empty house northwest of the capital at about 8 a.m. local time Thursday occurred within three hours of that tip, Lynch said.

In Toronto, the co-director of Christian Peacemaker Teams expressed delight the three had been released without violence. "There were indeed no gunshots fired," Doug Pritchard told reporters Thursday.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in London that rescue planning had been in the works for "weeks and weeks."

The four men were abducted on Nov. 26 by a previously unknown group calling itself the 'Swords of Righteousness Brigade'.

The group had issued threats to kill the men if the U.S. and Iraqi authorities did not meet their demand of releasing all Iraqi prisoners.

linkage:
http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/A...ostages_060324

**vidcc** · 03-25-2006, 01:23 AM

I haven't read or seen much on the news about this, other than them being rescued.(not been able to watch much tv the last couple days) I have read a lot of criticism about ingratitude for their rescuers. Like this

Still It is very good news and the only important thing is they are safe and well.

**j2k4** · 03-25-2006, 01:50 AM

Glad they're well (even though one was lost; an American, I think), but I wonder how much time these people spend protesting conflicts that do not involve the U.S.?

Seriously.

I mean, where were they when Saddam was in power?

Were they in Somalia?

Rwanda?

Are they in the Sudan?

**lynx** · 03-25-2006, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by j2k4

Glad they're well (even though one was lost; an American, I think), but I wonder how much time these people spend protesting conflicts that do not involve the U.S.?

Seriously.

I mean, where were they when Saddam was in power?

Were they in Somalia?

Rwanda?

Are they in the Sudan?

What gives you the idea they were protesting? Oh, sorry, Fox News no doubt.

They were actually there attempting to provide relief aid, is that concept beyond you or did you simply feel an overwhelming need to provide another inappropriate and inaccurate political comment?

**Carcinus** · 03-25-2006, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by lynx

Originally Posted by j2k4

Glad they're well (even though one was lost; an American, I think), but I wonder how much time these people spend protesting conflicts that do not involve the U.S.?

Seriously.

I mean, where were they when Saddam was in power?

Were they in Somalia?

Rwanda?

Are they in the Sudan?

What gives you the idea they were protesting? Oh, sorry, Fox News no doubt.

They were actually there attempting to provide relief aid, is that concept beyond you or did you simply feel an overwhelming need to provide another inappropriate and inaccurate political comment?

The hostages were part of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, aiming to promote peace in regions of conflict by spreading the word of god. How on earth they expected to not attract trouble by doing this in Iraq is beyond me. I heard a spokewomen on the radio defending their presence in the area. She said a lot about believing they were doing good and reducing violent conflict, but was unable to quantify this with figures or examples.

Christian Peacemaker are not a relief organisation. As far as I am aware they do not provide aid to the people of Iraq, other than promoting the word of a christian god in a predominately muslim society. Their motto is "Committed to reducing violence by getting in the way".

Norman Kember went to Iraq with CPT to "provide a Christian British solidarity" and to promote peace. I have no argument with promoting peace but I think the actions of this organisation are naive and foolhardy in the extreme. They end up risking the lives of the people who protect/rescue them and do no real good faffing about in a warzone talking about God and getting in the way. They now say that any future military aid in similar situations is unwelcome. Gratitude or what. They'd do better spreading their message from afar and leaving the real, valuable, and responsible aid organisations to it.

http://cpt.org/index.html

**j2k4** · 03-25-2006, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by Carcinus

Originally Posted by lynx

What gives you the idea they were protesting? Oh, sorry, Fox News no doubt.

They were actually there attempting to provide relief aid, is that concept beyond you or did you simply feel an overwhelming need to provide another inappropriate and inaccurate political comment?

The hostages were part of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, aiming to promote peace in regions of conflict by spreading the word of god. How on earth they expected to not attract trouble by doing this in Iraq is beyond me. I heard a spokewomen on the radio defending their presence in the area. She said a lot about believing they were doing good and reducing violent conflict, but was unable to quantify this with figures or examples.

Christian Peacemaker are not a relief organisation. As far as I am aware they do not provide aid to the people of Iraq, other than promoting the word of a christian god in a predominately muslim society. Their motto is "Committed to reducing violence by getting in the way".

Norman Kember went to Iraq with CPT to "provide a Christian British solidarity" and to promote peace. I have no argument with promoting peace but I think the actions of this organisation are naive and foolhardy in the extreme. They end up risking the lives of the people who protect/rescue them and do no real good faffing about in a warzone talking about God and getting in the way. They now say that any future military aid in similar situations is unwelcome. Gratitude or what. They'd do better spreading their message from afar and leaving the real, valuable, and responsible aid organisations to it.

http://cpt.org/index.html

Thank you for that clarification, Carcinus.

lynx-

I won't fuck about with your stated preference for exchanging PMs when dealing with such conflicts as you apparently continue to have with me.

Once again, you choose to make distinctly un-mod-like noises when you post in response to my posting.

I am, in general, a huge fan of the moderating team here, and I remain tremendously impressed with your knowledge of computors and willingness to share same.

But as a moderator, you suck.

Somebody quote this before it and everything else I've ever posted here disappears again, please?

**JPaul** · 03-25-2006, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by j2k4

Originally Posted by Carcinus

The hostages were part of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, aiming to promote peace in regions of conflict by spreading the word of god. How on earth they expected to not attract trouble by doing this in Iraq is beyond me. I heard a spokewomen on the radio defending their presence in the area. She said a lot about believing they were doing good and reducing violent conflict, but was unable to quantify this with figures or examples.

Christian Peacemaker are not a relief organisation. As far as I am aware they do not provide aid to the people of Iraq, other than promoting the word of a christian god in a predominately muslim society. Their motto is "Committed to reducing violence by getting in the way".

Norman Kember went to Iraq with CPT to "provide a Christian British solidarity" and to promote peace. I have no argument with promoting peace but I think the actions of this organisation are naive and foolhardy in the extreme. They end up risking the lives of the people who protect/rescue them and do no real good faffing about in a warzone talking about God and getting in the way. They now say that any future military aid in similar situations is unwelcome. Gratitude or what. They'd do better spreading their message from afar and leaving the real, valuable, and responsible aid organisations to it.

http://cpt.org/index.html

Thank you for that clarification, Carcinus.

lynx-

I won't fuck about with your stated preference for exchanging PMs when dealing with such conflicts as you apparently continue to have with me.

Once again, you choose to make distinctly un-mod-like noises when you post in response to my posting.

I am, in general, a huge fan of the moderating team here, and I remain tremendously impressed with your knowledge of computors and willingness to share same.

But as a moderator, you suck.

Somebody quote this before it and everything else I've ever posted here disappears again, please?

Why on Earth would it disappear. Is there an error in the database.