warren weinstein held by al-qaeda

This may not be news to anyone who has been following the Warren Weinstein case in my blog, but it was news to me. (thank you, wonderful local newspaper, the Oregonian!). My mother actually alerted me. In an audio message released December 1, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri claims that they are holding Weinstein. They claim he has not been tortured. While they have provided no concrete proof that he is alive, signs point to the validity of this situation. Zawahiri links Weinsteins release to demands that that the US stop airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, and the release of Al Qaeda and Taliban supporters around the world.
While the US should not be bullied into giving inordinate concessions (which of course is what the strategy of kidnapping is all about), it would behoove Obama to take note of some of Zawahiri’s statements. We shouldn’t be doing drone strikes–anywhere. It is such a cowardly thing to shoot off a missile from somewhere in Nevada and have it land and kill people in the Middle East. Maybe we’ve gotten a few terrorists, but there’s been way too much collateral damage. Plus, these drone strikes allow us to fight shadow wars in countries who we are allegedly not at war with (Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and– aren’t we “helping” Afghanistan, not fighting them? Or have we taken sides in an ambiguous civil war?).
And while we should not free all Al Qaeda and Taliban supporters we should release all the ones that have not been specifically charged with the crime and try those who have been accused of a crime expeditiously in US courts. Think of all the suffering Warren Weinstein’s family is going through. What about the families of men that have been imprisoned at Guantanamo or extradited to other countries–in some cases fir over ten years– many with very tenuous ties to terrorist organizations and no proof that they were involved in a terrorist plot? Aren’t they suffering too?
What goes around comes around. When Obama ran for President he spoke of being a responsible world citizen. Here is a chance for him to actually follow through on his word.

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