Their actions have directly jeopardized US servicemen both directly and indirectly.

Spain and the Phillipines and their capitulation to terrorists demands have set a dangerous precedent but the blood of thousands of Iraqis is already on Chirac's and Schroeder's hands from previous events - all prior to Bush's decision to remove Saddam. Saddam received warnings prior to US attacks. I'll leave it to your imagination to figure who might've had reason to warn him.

Just wait for it. Naturally, you didn't hear it here first.

It will make the UN oil for food scandal appear like the policeman's ball.

The French could save these Journalists and go after those that are responsible for taking them. We don't advertise it, but the US offers assistance as well and they summarily refuse it.

So we have extraction teams sitting around twiddling their thumbs so that Chirac can get the political benefit of blaming the French casualties on Bush's war.

That sickens me the most.

The responses of reactionary folks like RL or Daniel are merely typical saddening examples of why Chirac and the terrorists are enabled to do what they do. They don't think. They react. Fear. Outrage. Condemnation. That's just part of the problem. These emotions offer no solutions. Solutions require thinking and then action.

Reaction and political exploitation is what gets innocent folks killed.

Al jazeera exploits them, France will exploit them and yet it will all be blamed on George Bush - the only leader of these nations who really wants to save them. Then the RLs and Daniels of the world can react to the news--their own valuable role in the scheme of these things.