Do You Agree With Current Government Policy That We Should Not Pay Ransom To Terrorists Despite Other Countries Doing So?

[ladybirder]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/isis-hostage-threat-which-countries-pay-ransoms-to-release-their-citizens-9710129.html

Sorry I've moved this to News where I meant to put it originally.

[mccfluff]

i don't understand why anyone thinks the government (aka taxpayers) should pay for their ransom in the first place?

[Peter Pedant]

// Can I ask seriously why journalists go to these places? //

rather than sit in studios and yak ?

I think it is where the stories are, woof

[ladybirder]

Most of the ones I got to know when I worked just off Fleet Street spent most of their lives in the pub it seemed. I'm guessing being a war correspondent is the creme de la creme of journalism.

[woofgang]

So a story is worth dying horribly for?

[sandyRoe]

Any ransom paid to terrorists to secure the release of a hostage would only be a drop in the ocean compared to their other sources of income.
Ransom should be paid.

[sandyRoe]

Reputations are made in the cannon's mouth, woofgang.

[woofgang]

well but if someone chooses to go there for job advancement, which is what it boils down to, isn't that their choice? And if they choose to do it, knowing the risks, why should the government pay a ransom?

[youngmafbog]

//Any ransom paid to terrorists to secure the release of a hostage would only be a drop in the ocean compared to their other sources of income. //

And you proof of that statement is where?

For ISIS I dont think you will find it holds true. They tend not to deal in drugs and funding from other countries is not quite as much as you may think.

No I dont think we should pay, without a doubt it perpetuates the problem. In addition not all ransoms come to a happy end. However that is a very difficult call to make if it is your loved one.

[naomi24]

//Isil is the richest terrorist organisation in history. //

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11052919/How-Isil-is-funded-trained-and-operating-in-Iraq-and-Syria.html

[ladybirder]

Those who support paying ransom money should think again. Kidnapping is now a multi-million pound business, generating massive resources for terrorist groups. And the strategy backfires as it makes your own people targets. The French government is renowned for paying off terrorists – but last year there were more French citizens kidnapped than any other nationality.

[razza]

Dont pay,it will only swell terrorist coffers and then it will be an ongoing thing,kidnap,ransom,pay up.Dont pay and it will deter from next kidnap.