Re: <nettime> Who seized Simona Torretta?

[marco deseriis <mdeseriis@tiscali.it>]

>>What we do know is this: if this hostage-taking ends in bloodshed,
> Washington,
>>Rome and their Iraqi surrogates will be quick to use the tragedy to
>>justify the
>>brutal occupation - an occupation that Simona Torretta, Simona Pari,
> Raad Ali
>>Abdul Azziz and Mahnouz Bassam risked their lives to oppose. And we will be
>>left wondering whether that was the plan all along.
>
>There have been something like 100 kidnappings in Iraq - why should this
>one stand out as any more brutal or politically influential than the
>others? Is it because they're "our" kind of people rather than Sri Lankan
>truck drivers or helicopter technicians from the U.S. midwest?


kidnapping (and eventually killing) members of an organization called "A 
bridge for..." has the same political value and symbolic impact of 
shooting down the Mostar bridge... it means setting on fire the middle 
land and telling to the last rational (and generous) people in this world 
that only option is brutal force and clash of civilizations. the message 
is simple: choose on which side of the line you want to stay.

this kidnapping had enormous political consequences in Italy: for the 
first time since the beginning of the war opposition forces in the 
Parliament gave a full mandate to the Italian government to liberate the 
hostages. Rifondazione Comunista (a political force who has a determining 
weight in the anti-war movement) decided to suspend its demand to retire 
the troops, in order to strengthen the government mediation.

this move is heating up the debate and deepening some divisions within the 
Italian left. on the other hand it is objectively reinforcing the 
government which otherwise had some difficulties to explain to the public 
why Italy is in Iraq. now we have a good reason to be there: to liberate 
the hostages from the evil terrorists !


>This article seems like a series of speculations and leading questions
>strung together without any convincing political narrative behind it.

no, i think there are only 2 options for this kidnapping: the one 
indicated in the article and the one of a kidnapping for money; the third 
option, pushed by mainstream media (the Islamic terrorists), is unlikely 
for various reasons. today a statement signed by Al Zarqawi's group denied 
any role in this story, after the allegations made last Saturday by the 
Iraqi deputy ministry of foreign affairs which said Zarqawi had "bought" 
the hostages from another group.

best,

snafu





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