John Rosenthal has some interesting thoughts on the price Germany might have paid for archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, who was taken hostage in Iraq last November.
Update 1: Site is not accessible (Sat., 7.30am Berlin time). Hope access will be restored later today...
Update 2: Site is up again.
Can't seem to access that website
Posted by: Dan Kauffman | January 14, 2006 at 05:45 AM
5 mio $ are 4.14 mio €, obviously the terrorists prefer U.S. currency rather than our own.
How boring to demand money though, why don't they make some fun demand, such as turning Erichs Lampenladen into a mosque?
Posted by: FranzisM | January 19, 2006 at 12:10 AM
FransZ,
Since The Frau "forcefully" stated that Germany would not be blackmailed, one can only assume this money was a donation by the people of Germany for a new culture center to promote better understanding between the German people and "Regime Opponents" in Iraq.
We all know Halliburton, the prime contractor in Iraq, would prefer to deal in dollars and not euros.
I am sure the DNC is waiting for their check from the Germany government also as they too are "Regime Opponents".
Posted by: joe | January 19, 2006 at 04:19 AM
@joeHB - Don't ask me who paid, I can't time-travel into future investigations. Time will tell.
The present problem is, when Germany paid ransom to Abu Sayyaf some years ago the hostages made enough money on TV shows to sue them to pay the expenses. Unfortunately this is not possible with Susanne Osthoff.
If the DNC should take German(y) hostage(s), that might indeed be a juicy scenario. But we had that situation before and got out for the price of an admission ticket.
Posted by: FranzisM | January 19, 2006 at 09:05 PM
FranZ
Well we sure know it was not "Old Martin" who paid.
He would have surely told us if he did.
Posted by: joe | January 20, 2006 at 01:02 PM
@joeHB - So now you put your own nicknames into scarequotes? In everything he says, the spokesman of our diplomats, like everybody else, has to go along with the nightmares of Michel Foucault, until we put them back into the grave of the notorious son of Poitiers. Invitations for a funeral have been offered.
Posted by: FranzisM | January 20, 2006 at 04:29 PM
FranZ,
You mean "Old Martin" is not the defintive word in truth?
Or is it the truth as he knows it from the Berlin position? Which of course does not make it true, it is just what Berlin would like everyone to believe because they believe it themselves.
Using this logic it has to be true because "Old Martin" said it.
Posted by: joe | January 20, 2006 at 04:43 PM
@joeHB - I told you before that there is some doubt left, and that the best remedy are your own sources.
Posted by: FranzisM | January 20, 2006 at 07:31 PM