Sad news from Iraq via the BBC.

The thing is, decent people know that this is an act perpetrated by criminals.

The Nepali government’s reaction was at least a little surprising, to me:

It condemned the murders as a “barbarian act of terrorism”, and pressed the international community to hunt down the killers.

This is a strong reaction from a country who stayed on the sidelines in Iraq, and whose foreign ministry prohibits Nepali citizens from going to the country. They are slipping into Iraq anyway, undoubtedly lured by relatively well-paying jobs. The people of Nepal apparently have no problem recognizing the atrocities as unrelated to American involvement, incidentally. ABC World News has just reported that violent demonstrations are occurring in Katmandu, Nepal’s capital. Unfortunately the protesters do not separate the extremists from mainstream Islam, and have attacked the city’s only mosque.

Call me a cynic, but I see the French hostage situation playing out like this: The kidnappers realize that if the French are slaughtered, they’ll lose an ally. However, they can’t really just let the reporters go simply because French diplomats say libérez nos compatriotes, s’il vous plaît… what these criminals are going to do instead is string the diplomats along. This is a way to save face, both for themselves (what kind of kidnapper simply releases their hostages?) and for the French (who can point out that diplomacy – once again – has saved the day). After a suitable time the reporters will be freed.

Now, understand that I hope that the cynic in me is correct. The hostage taking in Iraq is pointless and depressing, and I wish the best for any family affected by it. However, one part of me is afraid I’m going to be wrong.

That, tragically, may be the only way that the French – and others of their ilk – will ultimately understand the true nature of what they’re dealing with. The Iraqi insurgents have a deep-seated fear and hatred those who don’t share their particular ideological bent. Worse, they are willing to use whatever tools they have, from emotional but factually deficient appeals to well-meaning Iraqi citizens, to outright falsehood. This kind of hatred is something that no liberal I’ve met is willing to accept, even though they are typically well acquainted with it. After all, it doesn’t count if their hatred is directed toward people who deserve it, like Republicans, gun freaks, or the idiot that cut them off on the freeway on the way to work… right? Well, perhaps the French won’t really understand, after all.

Finally, from Iraq, this note via ABC:

Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi promised retribution. “The only solution with this unjust group is to make them face justice,” he angrily told the Arab-language Al-Arabiya television station.

One can only hope.

UPDATE: Ali also comments on the fate of hostages who have not yet been killed, particularly the French reporters. More from Instapundit, too.