When Liberty is abducted - Who's the hostage?

Only those who cherish liberty know its value. The 21 Korean hostages holed up in Afghanistan cry for liberty, their family members are crying for their liberation, Taliban threatens to kill the hostages unless their mates are freed by the NATO forces, the Afghan government is attempting to establish security so that fellow citizens can enjoy liberty and the conscious global community does seek the liberty of each individual held hostage in no matter which land or which country.

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Freedom is as vital for 'being' today as it was when the French Revolution violently preached about it, over two centuries ago. If someone forcefully enters my house and asks me to tie my shoe laces the way he wants, at gunpoint, I'll make sure the laces end up as a hanging noose for him someday. Risking ones life does not matter in such a game.

So, the fact that freedom for one is slavery for another, dilutes its purpose altogether and it holds no importance, at least not for the 2 hostages already killed by the militants and at least 41 Afghan civilians kidnapped this year by Taliban - out of which 23 are killed and the rest are missing. Dead meat is free not to speak and the living are too busy in hollow lectures to get the much-desired freedom, which they don't deserve.

To tell the truth, Taliban clawing back from the brink to regain strength, surprises no one. What else could we expect from a stunted world leadership, apparently blinded by the 9/11 wreck, perhaps too weak and wild to handle the enflaming crisis.

Who's the hostage?

So, where do we draw the line, especially when justice is butchered? The other day four kidnapped Afghan judges were killed, and the Afghan government's negotiator developed cold feet and resigned after receiving threatening calls and finding an explosive mine in his front yard. We cannot call him a coward for he too needs liberation...to hell with the hostages. Who's the hostage then? The one held in captivity or the one who's holding the chains or the one haplessly watching the show or the one chained with fear, fearing that he might be next?

When US forces arrested Taliban Commander Daro Khan, it was reason enough for the abduction mastermind, Sub-commander Abdullah, to capture the South Korean missionaries. The primary objective of the Taliban is to secure the immediate release of its 115, prisoners, apparently being treated as hostages by the US led NATO forces. However, Taliban diluted their demand and agreed to swap the Korean missionaries for only eight prisoners and also sought the immediate withdrawal of the token 210 South Korean troops assisting NATO in Afghanistan. The Taliban have even agreed to hold talks with South Korean negotiators in Kabul, but only if UN ensures their safety. Any military action, which was being contemplated, would only jeopardize the lives of the hostages and escalate the crisis. The humanitarian appeals from across the globe have put pressure on the abductors for their unconditional release.

In such a crisis two solutions appear credible - one, swapping of prisoner and second, a monetary deal, if possible.

US in the line of fire

The anti-American sentiment in Seoul is on an all time high. The South Korean government is feeling frustrated and helpless as they do not have any power over the crisis - they can't directly go and convince the Taliban and can't force negotiators for a peaceful swap of terrorists against the hostages either. So, what else can they do, sit and blame the Americans for treating precious Korean lives as dirt. There is hardly any truth in the belief that Karzai can facilitate the swap or secure the release of the hostages if US builds pressure on the Afghan government. Why would they do so? They are not American citizens. Bush is investing money in the region; he wants results at any cost and he's getting what he wants too - perpetuation of war on terror gone wrong causing constant instability in the region.

Hamid Karzai - A puppet sans strings?

Hamid is not a wartime diplomat and truly has no control over the situation. Apparently, the pressure of US aid and military help is too much for him to handle.

Afghan government faced similar crisis last year, when Taliban abducted an Italian journalist and it all ended up with the release of five senior Taliban commanders. One out of them, Mansor Dadullah is behind most of the suicide bombings planned against the so-called peace keeping forces in Afghanistan. However, this time, Karzai is in no mood, at least pretending to show no flexibility, for he fears giving in to the demands would give a fillip to the kidnapping industry. The matter of fact is, the situation is not in his hands at all for it's US, who has to take the final call.

There has been a considerable increase in cases of kidnapping, suicide bombings and IEDs since NATO and US have added 50,000 more troops to handle the situation in Afghanistan. The government has already lost the confidence of the people. Perhaps, Karzai is not ready to come out of his cocoon. His government is not paying any attention whatsoever to the region beyond Kabul and the Taliban is taking full advantage of this incapacity, instigating the tribals against NATO and American forces. The insurgents are easily able to use civilians as human shields resulting in death of hundreds since the coalition forces arrived in 2001.

The defeat of purpose has triggered a major shift of animosity from the Taliban to the Americans. Karzai and Bush will conduct a 'strategy session' in Camp David near Washington today; however, there is little hope of any positive outcome.

Rise of the Taliban

The peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan under NATO has failed to deliver and has in turn helped the Taliban to regain power. They have emerged as a more intelligent guerrilla force against foreign troops. The group wants to restore strict Islamic rule in the country and the current maneuver proves that no one can defeat them in the ongoing psychological warfare. The record level production of poppy has fueled the illegal economy and helped the insurgents to gain power at a faster pace. They might not be well equipped to defeat the coalition forces; however, they're not far from Kabul. In recent years, the Taliban has come out of its old bases and have successfully made its presence felt in areas, even, very close to the capital. And if this time the Taliban capture Kabul, Afghanistan - being an exhausted nation, ravaged by war - it may not be able to revive back soon.

We all know that there can be no universal law to curb hostage crisis altogether, especially when the world order favors the stronger nations against the weaker ones. And the fact that this strikes global peace in the same manner, doesn't matter where it happens. The only way any country can handle it is by self-sufficiency and diplomacy. America's 'smoke it out' policy will only give birth to more kidnappers of peace.