posted March 23, 2006 07:38 PM            

Not a word of thanks either for the Iraqi citizen who tipped off the military to where they were being held.

Were it up to me, next time these jerks would be on their own. Up theirs!

Statement By Loney Family

"Oh, what a joyful day this is!

"We have just learned that James is coming home. He has been released unharmed, with his companions Harmeet and Norman.

"We would like to thank everyone for their support and prayers. At this time, we would also like to express our deepest sympathy to the family of Tom Fox.

"Please let us rejoice in this family moment as we prepare for the days to come."

Statement By Christian Peacemaker Teams

“Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved ones and community.

"Together we have endured uncertainty, hope, fear, grief and now joy during the four months since they were abducted in Baghdad.

“We rejoice in the return of Harmeet Sooden. He has been willing to put his life on the line to promote justice in Iraq and Palestine as a young man newly committed to active peacemaking.

“We rejoice in the return of Jim Loney. He has cared for the marginalized and oppressed since childhood, and his gentle, passionate spirit has been an inspiration to people near and far.

“We rejoice in the return of Norman Kember. He is a faithful man, an elder and mentor to many in his 50 years of peacemaking, a man prepared to pay the cost.

“We remember with tears Tom Fox, whose body was found in Baghdad on March 9, 2006, after three months of captivity with his fellow peacemakers. We had longed for the day when all four men would be released together.

"Our gladness today is made bittersweet by the fact that Tom is not alive to join in the celebration. However, we are confident that his spirit is very much present in each reunion.

“Harmeet, Jim and Norman and Tom were in Iraq to learn of the struggles facing the people in that country. They went, motivated by a passion for justice and peace to live out a nonviolent alternative in a nation wracked by armed conflict.

"They knew that their only protection was in the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers.

"We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq. The occupation must end.

“Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow to their families.

"In the spirit of the prophetic nonviolence that motivated Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom to go to Iraq, we refuse to yield to a spirit of vengeance.

“We give thanks for the compassionate God who granted our friends courage and who sustained their spirits over the past months.

"We pray for strength and courage for ourselves so that, together, we can continue the nonviolent struggle for justice and peace.

“Throughout these difficult months, we have been heartened by messages of concern for our four colleagues from all over the world. We have been especially moved by the gracious outpouring of support from Muslim brothers and sisters in the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

"That support continues to come to us day after day.

“We pray that Christians throughout the world will, in the same spirit, call for justice and for respect for the human rights of the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained illegally by the U.S. and British forces occupying Iraq.

“During these past months, we have tasted of the pain that has been the daily bread of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Why have our loved ones been taken? Where are they being held? Under what conditions? How are they? Will they be released? When?

“With Tom’s death, we felt the grief of losing a beloved friend. Today, we rejoice in the release of our friends Harmeet, Jim and Norman. We continue to pray for a swift and joyful homecoming for the many Iraqis and internationals who long to be reunited with their families.

"We renew our commitment to work for an end to the war and the occupation of Iraq as a way to continue the witness of Tom Fox. We trust in God’s compassionate love to show us the way.

“Living through the many emotions of this day, we remain committed to the words of Jim Loney, who wrote:

"With God’s abiding kindness, we will love even our enemies.
With the love of Christ, we will resist all evil.
With God’s unending faithfulness, we will work to build the beloved community."

posted March 23, 2006 08:02 PM            

I believe their take would be that if America wasn't there, they wouldn't have to be there opposing America; so it's America's fault they were kidnapped...no thanks for being rescued necessary.

posted March 23, 2006 09:44 PM              

Chock full of GOD, and empty of gratitude.

posted March 25, 2006 01:23 AM            

From the CPT.org site:

Addenda
23 March 2006, 9 p.m. ET

We have been so overwhelmed and overjoyed to have Jim, Harmeet and Norman freed, that we have not adequately thanked the people involved with freeing them, nor remembered those still in captivity. So we offer these paragraphs as the first of several addenda:

We are grateful to the soldiers who risked their lives to free Jim, Norman and Harmeet. As peacemakers who hold firm to our commitment to nonviolence, we are also deeply grateful that they fired no shots to free our colleagues. We are thankful to all the people who gave of themselves sacrificially to free Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom over the last four months, and those supporters who prayed and wept for our brothers in captivity, for their loved ones and for us, their co-workers.

We will continue to lift Jill Carroll up in our prayers for her safe return. In addition, we will continue to advocate for the human rights of Iraqi detainees and assert their right to due process in a just legal system.

Better late then never I guess….

2nd Update:

…though maybe this had something to do with it:

From Freedom Folks bloggers via Michelle Malkin, this was posted after attending a celebration about the hostages rescue:

We ended up having a long talk with Sara, who is part of CPT. She said that the phones had been ringing off the hook today with people calling to express their anger over the lack of acknowledgement of the troops’ role in freeing the CPT workers. May I just say HUZZAH?

Well I already figured their "apology addenda" was in response to the blogstorm, but it’s nice confirmation. They haven’t gone too far in concessions though, it is also reported that:

…'’every speaker continued to use the word "released" and the best they could bring themselves to say about the troops who saved their people’s lives was "thank god it happened non-violently."

Well, I won’t say too little too late or anything like that, but it is sadly unsurprising that gratitude is still taking a back seat to their rhetoric.

************

I should file this under ungrateful idiots. Read on to see why.

U.S., British Troops Rescue Iraq Hostages

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — U.S. and British troops Thursday freed three Christian peace activists in rural Iraq without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman, said the hostages were being held by a "kidnapping cell" in a house, and the operation to free the Canadian and British captives was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier.

"They were bound, they were together, there were no kidnappers in the areas," Lynch told a news briefing.

…

The freed hostages were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men - members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams - were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox.

The body of Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., was found earlier this month.

With all the hostages that have been killed by the insurgents, one would expect that the group who represents these rescued peace activists would be at least moderately grateful. Considering one of their number had already been killed, the possibility that they were living on borrowed time is fairly good.

Instead, the group, Christian Peacemaker Teams, issued a page long statement that rejoiced in their return, expressed sorrow for the fallen member, and then turned on the US and their allies.

Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released (emphasis added) in Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved ones and community. Together we have endured uncertainty, hope, fear, grief and now joy during the four months since they were abducted in Baghdad.

Released? Excuse me? WTH? Since when is an armed raid to rescue you the same as being released? This is just stupid. Talk about denial of facts…

They continue…

…We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq. The occupation must end.

…

…We pray that Christians throughout the world will, in the same spirit, call for justice and for respect for the human rights of the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained illegally by the U.S. and British forces occupying Iraq.

Here is what I consider the most outrageous statement:

We renew our commitment to work for an end to the war and the occupation of Iraq as a way to continue the witness of Tom Fox. We trust in God’s compassionate love to show us the way.

So if I read this right, they are happy their folks are released, ****** at the people who rescued them, hold the death of one of their own to be the rally cry and want to make him the martyr to support the cause of the ******** that killed him?

What they hell is up with that?

I am at a loss to understand the motivations of people like this some times. I would never have thought people could be that twisted in their ideology.

Sure, no one is asking you to kiss the military’s collective ass, but a simple thank you to the fact that that same military just saved the lives of 3 of your people is simple courtesy. I make my kids say thank you for much less.

The military could just wash their hands of the captives, but instead they made an effort to free them. They keep rescuing these ungrateful people a priority even though they know they will be spit on metaphorically after the fact.

Say what you want, but if I have to pick the group who is operating with moral authority, well to me it’s a no brainer….

So since the CPT won’t say it I will:

Thank you US and British soldiers for your efforts to rescue these hostages.

Well done.
http://leaningstraightup.com/2006/03/23/they-could-have-at-least-said-thank-you/