Liberal Talk Radio

Far, far be it from me to judge the idealism of peace activists risking their lives to make places like Iraq a better place — not to mention contemplating the particular terror of being kidnapped by machete-wielding kooks — but I have to say there is a big disconnect in play when the organization you’re working for blames the occupiers and not the terrorists for the predicament you’re in:

Also on Tuesday, the aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams confirmed that four of its workers had been taken hostage on Saturday in a neighborhood in western Baghdad. The group posted their identities on its Web site: Norman Kember, 74, from London; Tom Fox, 54, from Clearbrook, Va.; James Loney, 41, from Toronto; and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, also a Canadian.

The Christian peace group said today that the policies of the United States and British governments were ultimately to blame for the kidnapping. “We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and the U.K. governments due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people,” the group said in a statement posted on its Web site.

I’m assuming these people are going to be extricated or released somehow, but on the off chance they won’t be — what in Sam Hill are these evildoers thinking? Apparently, it’s a new sort of Salem, where no matter how you cut it, you’re still a witch, except the witches here are “spies”:

The Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera showed a video showing the four men and displaying a passport with Mr. Kember’s name. On the video, the kidnappers, who said they represented a militant group called Swords of Truth, accused their captives of being “spies of the occupying forces.” Al Jazeera did not say whether the group had made any demands or had threatened to execute the foreigners.