Three Americans kidnapped in Baghdad
According to the Associated Press, three Americans were kidnapped from a dinner with their interpreter. Iraqi government officials say that they were then taken to Sadr City.
A local policeman in Dora said the individuals were taken from their car on Saturday along a highway in southwest Dora while driving to Baghdad International Airport. The two differing accounts of the events could not immediately be reconciled. The policeman spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the press.
The U.S. Embassy confirmed Sunday that “several” Americans have gone missing in Iraq, after local media reported that three Americans had been kidnapped in the Iraqi capital.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Scott Bolz said, “We are working in full cooperation with Iraqi authorities to locate the missing Americans.”
Bolz did not identify the missing Americans or say what they were doing in Iraq.
The Iraqis are saying that they don’t know who captured the Americans;
There were no immediate claims of responsibility. Kidnappings in Iraq have been carried out by the Islamic State group, Shiite militias and criminal gangs often demanding ransom payments or seeking to resolve workplace disputes.
Following the IS takeover of Iraq’s second largest city Mosul and large swaths of territory in the country’s north and west, Iraq has witnessed a deterioration in security as government forces were sent to front lines and Shiite militias were empowered to aid in the fight following the collapse of the Iraqi military.
That’s the problem with only a small presence of Americans in Iraq – security of the troops depends largely on locals.
Category: Terror War
and the mess we call Iraq continues
They are pretty quick calling people Americans! They said these guys were Iraqis that somehow got American citizenship..then what the hell are they doing back over there? imho they are still IRAQIS
“That’s the problem with only a small presence of Americans in Iraq – security of the troops depends largely on locals.”
Yeah, and we saw how well that worked out at a consulate in Benghazi.
Is B. Hussein 0bama himself going to read something from his teleprompter about this after he gets back from the golf course?
A spokesman for Baghdad’s Joint Operations Command told The Washington Post that the three citizens were Iraqis who had acquired U.S. citizenship. A Baghdad police official said they worked as contractors at Baghdad International Airport, but did not say which country employed them.
Why would they go back to that shithole if they acquired US Citizenship? Sometimes it’s better to let it burn than to try and fight the blaze with a bucket.
Gosh, I wonder if Iran is involved with this. Nah, they’re our friends now. John Kerry said so and he would never, never lie or disrespect the United States of America. Things are going great. Paging Dr. Lars.
Sadr City = Shiite Central.
Looks like the Iranians have acquired themselves some fresh bargaining chips to replace the ones they let go over the weekend. (Somehow the Iranians seem to have gotten it into their heads that taking Americans hostage is an effective way to extract concessions from the USG; I have no clue how they may have gotten that idea…)
This “smart diplomacy” thing is working out great!
truth is always stranger then fiction… great insight on what may turn out to be the truth
“Suspicious apartment” usually means Bordello or Ho house.
Holden
Jeez, can’t we just NUKE these guys already?
Or at least MOAB the hell out of them?!?!
When I went back to Iraq as a contractor, We had a couple of Iraqis who had worked previously as Iraqi subs to our company, got green cards to the states, and came right back to work as full time company employees making about 1000x more money haha. In my opinion they gamed the system and won haha. At least they were willing to work hard for their new life in the states.