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I think they're getting a little fed up
Monday, March 21, 2005 (13:46:04)
Posted by watts
While I'm not over there anymore, I still follow the news on the other side of the pond. I have a colleague over there now with the 278th RCT in the vicinity of Samarra and am participating in the local American Legion (Post 159) Family Support group with my wife. They are now reaching out to the 56th BCT family members...here locally we have members of 4th Tank in southern Iraq.
Anyway, here's the little story I found. First some background:
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That evening I spent as I do an increasing number - sitting with a couple of Iraqi officers - a Colonel and a General - Hassan and Ashraf - in their shared apartment, knocking back strong Arak while watching scantily-clad girls on Arabic music videos. Ashraf, especially, is a character. Wounded eleven times before winning his disability discharge from the old Iraqi Army, he's now back into government service. After a few hard drinks he'll strip down to his underwear and display his various scars. "This one from mortar. This one from AK. This one from sniper. This one from tank shell." The latter is a particularly gruesome long mark, stretching up his inner thigh up to a point that I was glad he had left covered. Anyway, we had a good night, went through a bottle or so of the hard stuff, and I taught them about the American A-B-C-D bra-size system, using examples from the TV.
The next morning - this morning - the colonel came into my office. He looked out of sorts, but then I wasn't feeling too great either.
"How are you," I asked him.
"Not good." He said. Before I could make some joke about Arak, he continued "General Ashraf's son, he has been kidnapped."
"Oh, no. What happened?"
He went through the story of how the boy had been scooped into a car this morning while walking along the road. Now the kidnappers were calling. They wanted the General to quit his job, and to pay several hundred thousand dollars, or his son would be killed.
The colonel and the general are very close, and the colonel wasn't taking it well. "I feel like I have been kicked in the head," he said to me. I could only imagine how Ashraf must be taking it. Last week another guy I work with had his nephew kidnapped, and the kidnappers held up the phone to his screams as they tortured the kid. Now it was Ashraf , a close friend, and a really decent human being, who was having all his fears come to pass.
Colonel Hassan spent the day on the phone, calling Ashraf to reassure him and help him, and then frantically calling home to make sure that his wife and young son were ok. "Leave, leave Baghdad, go," I heard him say. Then he hung up the phone and called them back. "No, wait for me to come home. Lock the door. Don't go anywhere."
The kidnappers called Ashraf sporadically with various demands, and various threats to kill his son. At this time, he is still in their hands. My thoughts and prayers are with him and Ashraf.
Hassan said to me, "I have not eaten all day. I am not hungry. But I swear to God, if I find where these people are, I will bring all my forces with me, but I will leave them outside, and will go in alone and kill all these people." |
Here's the conclusion:
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As I mentioned in my last post, my friend General Ashraf's son was kidnapped and held for ransom, with constant threats to his life and his health. The kidnappers called regularly with threats and ultimatums. Ashraf, in turn, called his friend Colonel Hassan often, and as I passed by on one occasion I could hear his sobs on the other end of the phone.
One time the kidnappers called up, and said "We want more money or we will kill your son."
Ashraf pleaded: "Please, I'm not a rich man, I don't have much money. You can take everything I have, just give me back my son."
"No. What you have is not enough. If you don't get more, we will take your son to Ramadi and videotape his beheading."
"Fine. Take my son to Ramadi. Cut of his head. I will take all the money I have collected for his ransom and use it to throw a big party after his funeral."
This bold reply caught the kidnappers off guard. There was a pause, then "uh, we'll call you back later."
Two days later Ashraf's son was released.
As found on http://ishouldhavestayedhome.blogspot.com/. |
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