Singer continues political focus

Food for thought. I'm a wimp, but I do believe that blackmailers and kidnappers should never be rewarded and that there should never be negotiation or deals made with them. The encouragement given to future terrorists of this kind places far too many people in harm's way.

I know who I do not want arguing my case for me:

Peter Singer, founder of PETA and consistent utilitarian (even if the greater good includes infanticide and beastiality and the conclusion that it is perfectly all right to utilize new-born infants, any way the parents see fit), has been an outspoken political opponent of the Bush Administration. He wrote a book (if, then reasoning with all the "ifs" being chosen arbitrarily by the author in order to reach his own conclusions) released before the last election, calling Bush the The President of Good and Evil.

Singer's column in today's LA Times (free registration required) concerns the unfortunate terrorist kidnapping of Jill Carroll, the reporter for the Christian Science Monitor. While Singer states that,

It certainly seems likely that things would've been better if, right from the start of the wave of Colombian kidnappings, no one had paid a ransom; the kidnappers would have realized there was nothing to be gained.

he goes on to suggest that the trade should be made, after commenting on what the President might think, if his own daughters were kidnapped.

The kidnapper's demands, if indeed they are limited to the release of the five female prisoners being held by the military in Iraq, seem relatively modest, a small price to pay for saving the life of a young woman.

As far as we know, none of these female prisoners is a significant insurgent leader or someone whose release would pose a major threat. What's more, the U.S. released five other women on Jan. 26 (although it was careful to say that the release had nothing to do with the kidnappers' demands).

A spokesperson said the U.S. military and the Iraqi government had "processed the women's cases according to normal procedures and determined they did not need to be held any longer." Perhaps if the proceedings on the remaining five cases were accelerated, it might turn out that they do not need to be held any longer either. It would be a terrible irony if that conclusion were reached after Carroll had been executed.

It is not obvious to me that it would be wrong to release the female prisoners. It may well be the right thing to do, quite independently of the pressing moral requirement that we do everything possible to save Carroll's life.