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While there's hardly a shortage of things to criticize the State Department for, it's hard to argue that making exceptions to the "don't give money to ISIS" pol

While there's hardly a shortage of things to criticize the State Department for, it's hard to argue that making exceptions to the "don't give money to ISIS" policy for ransoms is a good idea. That just encourages more kidnappings.

karatestomp 6y ago
On the one hand, sure. On the other, if you're kidnapped for ransom by foreign terrorists or guerrillas (or even just hardened criminals without a political agenda) and no money or consideration at all is allowed to change hands, your odds of survival just went from "not ideal, but OK" to "terrible". Telling people they can't do that is basically telling them their loved one's already dead unless the murderous kidnappers respond well to "pretty please" and agree to take on the risk of a process to return the prisoner without even a token reward.
unhomedcoder 6y ago
that contradiction was my point. the US govt already covertly gave ISIS over a billion dollars--the splashiest way to provide Material Support of ISIS. meanwhile, giving ISIS $100,000 in ransom for a hostage is just too much. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/middleeast/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.amp.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/worl... if you doubt my claim that CIA gave ISIS over a billion dollars, that link proves it--they admit it themselves. honk honk is a meme that means "irony." as in the noise of a clown's nose being squeezed while someone tells you something that is clearly self-contradictory and requires you to ignore the evidence you see in front of you. i don't know what these quick-to-politicize-speech downvoters mean when they unpack a rather innocuous meme. memes are the Lingua Franca of the Internet. it doesnt matter where they originated, or who may have used them because after they are recycled a billion times all over forums, they lose whatever original meaning they had and become common slang. i don't care about being down voted and i don't care about pleasing tattletale censor Karen's.
- XMPPwocky 6y ago
  I'm not sure who you're replying to with the clown/meme thing? Might have the wrong comment. Regardless, I'm sorry if people calling you a clown (?) offended you- that's not too productive and doesn't help anything. They shouldn't do that.

karatestomp 6y ago

On the one hand, sure. On the other, if you're kidnapped for ransom by foreign terrorists or guerrillas (or even just hardened criminals without a political agenda) and no money or consideration at all is allowed to change hands, your odds of survival just went from "not ideal, but OK" to "terrible". Telling people they can't do that is basically telling them their loved one's already dead unless the murderous kidnappers respond well to "pretty please" and agree to take on the risk of a process to return the prisoner without even a token reward.

unhomedcoder 6y ago

that contradiction was my point. the US govt already covertly gave ISIS over a billion dollars--the splashiest way to provide Material Support of ISIS. meanwhile, giving ISIS $100,000 in ransom for a hostage is just too much. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/middleeast/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.amp.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/worl... if you doubt my claim that CIA gave ISIS over a billion dollars, that link proves it--they admit it themselves. honk honk is a meme that means "irony." as in the noise of a clown's nose being squeezed while someone tells you something that is clearly self-contradictory and requires you to ignore the evidence you see in front of you. i don't know what these quick-to-politicize-speech downvoters mean when they unpack a rather innocuous meme. memes are the Lingua Franca of the Internet. it doesnt matter where they originated, or who may have used them because after they are recycled a billion times all over forums, they lose whatever original meaning they had and become common slang. i don't care about being down voted and i don't care about pleasing tattletale censor Karen's.

XMPPwocky 6y ago
I'm not sure who you're replying to with the clown/meme thing? Might have the wrong comment. Regardless, I'm sorry if people calling you a clown (?) offended you- that's not too productive and doesn't help anything. They shouldn't do that.