The good news is, a hostage has been released:
The United States has expressed joyand relief over the release of Filipino hostage Angelo de la Cruz from his Iraqi captors.
“Our thoughts and prayers have been with Angelo de la Cruz, hisfamily, and the Philippines throughout this ordeal. We are glad tohear President (Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo’s announcement that he has been released. We condemn the targeting of innocent civilians such as Angelo de la Cruz,” the ABS-CBN news channel Wednesday quoted the US Embassy in Manila as saying in a statement.
And we should be happy — a man many thought was already dead, is safe.
The bad news is, his freedom was purchased at the price of six million dollars, and the castration of Manila’s foreign policy. Which makes it certain that de la Cruz’s life will cost the lives of untold others in the near future.
We learned that lesson the hard (read: “stupid”) way with President Reagan’s arms deal with Iran’s mullahs. But Gloria Arroyo chose not to learn from our mistakes, and now the lives of Filippino foreign workers everywhere are at increased risk.
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