Having a wonderful time reminiscing about all my past travel (and other) adventures. Hope you’ll share them with me in my blog, “All Roads Led to Russia.”
The United Nations did. An event was held at UN headquarters in New York City yesterday to mark the 18th annual International Day of Democracy, highlighting how democratic participation can be transformed “From Voice to Action.” [un.org]
UN photo by Jean Marc Ferre
The UN website described the program as follows:
“In a time of shrinking civic space and rising disinformation, building trust, dialogue, and shared decision-making is more urgent than ever. Rooted in the principle of ‘We the Peoples,’ this event aims to show democracy as a living force for agency, hope, and cooperation.” [Id.]
Noble words in an increasingly ignoble world. But did anyone outside of the UN hear them? Where were the celebrations, the hoopla, the recognition that we give to Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Eat-an-Extra-Dessert-Day? (That last one was on September 4th — sorry you missed it.)
Most people probably haven’t heard of the International Day of Democracy; I confess that I hadn’t, until I happened to look at my online list of holidays yesterday (calendarr.com). And that is a sad commentary on the state of our world, at a time when democracy itself is at peril of being consigned to the trash heap of history.
It scares me, it angers me, and it makes me indescribably sad. How can we have allowed things to reach this stage?
Although it may sound like an idyllic holiday to you water lovers out there, riding the waves anywhere between the coasts of South America and the United States could get you blown to smithereens.
For the second time in two weeks, the U.S. government — on the orders of Donald Trump and under the direction of Secretary of Defense (or War) Pete Hegseth — has specifically targeted and brutally murdered, in international waters, persons they suspected of being drug dealers smuggling narcotics into the United States. They were not in U.S. territorial waters; there was no attempt made to intercept, arrest and charge them. They were just liquidated.
On the first occasion, when eleven people lost their lives, it was later noted that there was no conclusive evidence that they were actually members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization as suspected, or even that they were indeed headed for the U.S. coast. It was not provably self-defense, as claimed by the Trump administration to justify the offensive military action. When questioned by reporters, Hegseth said:
“We knew exactly who they were, exactly what they were doing, what they represented, and why they were going where they were going.” And when a reporter asked, “How did you know?” Hegseth replied:
“Why would I tell you that?” [Haley Britzky, CNN, September 15, 2025.]
Perhaps the better question is: Why wouldn’t he?
Pete Hegseth Press Conference
This time, the body count was “only” three. And this time, the administration had their explanations ready. In a Truth Social post yesterday morning, Donald Trump offered the following (the all-caps emphasis is, of course, his):
“This morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the US.
“These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US interests. The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this Strike.” [Id.]
He even posted a video of the boat in the sea before and as it exploded in a ball of orange flame.
Before the Strike . . .
As to whether these actions might be violations of international law, Trump later told reporters in the Oval Office:
“We have proof. All you have to do is look at the cargo that was, like, it’s spattered all over the ocean. Big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place.” [Danny Kemp, Barbara Agelvis and Patrick Fort, AFP, September 15, 2025.”
Either he forgot to mention — or the reporters judiciously chose not to write about — the floating body parts.
*. *. *
All reports indicate that the boats were in international waters, and not within the 12-mile U.S. territorial limit. Were these then acts of war — first strikes against citizens (whether criminals or not) of the sovereign nation of Venezuela? Or was it a case of 14 counts of cold-blooded murder? That is for the international authorities to determine.
But on a simpler and more personal level, let’s think about it this way:
You are at home. Your neighborhood watch just reported the presence of a suspicious-looking individual wandering around, seeming to be scoping out the various houses as he strolls from street to street. You have a family to protect: a spouse, children, pets. So you grab your legally-registered hunting rifle and head outdoors, finally spotting the stranger in the next block, headed in the general direction of your home. You don’t stop him, ask who he is or what he’s doing there. You don’t call the police to check him out. You — the self-appointed judge, jury and executioner — just hunt him down, take aim and pull the trigger, ending his life without a word.
He hadn’t tried to break into your home; he wasn’t anywhere near your property. You didn’t even know who he was . . . whether he was simply visiting a friend or relative in the neighborhood, or perhaps a potential homebuyer. Or even an annoying door-to-door salesman.
Did you have a right to take the law into your own hands and decide that this man was an imminent threat to you and your family?
Hell, no, you didn’t! And you would deserve the life sentence that awaited you after you were legally charged and tried for first-degree murder.
*. *. *
Even in the context of a much-needed war on drugs, there are legal boundaries that must be observed. The United States — my United States — does not go around slaughtering people on a presumption of guilt . . . or for any other reason. We wait until they are within our territorial jurisdiction, arrest them, and let the legal system govern the next steps. It’s called due process. And it is the American way.
It’s only about 40 miles long, and forms the border between NATO members Poland and Lithuania. It is sparsely populated, and as both countries are also part of Europe’s shared-visa Schengen Zone, has served as a vital connection between the northern Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and their southern allies.
But the small strip of land known as the Suwalki Gap — after the nearby Polish city of the same name — is a major headache for Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s strategic military enclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea coast is separated from the Russian “mainland” by Lithuania (a NATO member state) and Belarus (a Russian ally and host to substantial numbers of Russia’s military forces and armaments) . . . much as Alaska is separated from the U.S. “lower 48” by Canada.
The principal difference is that the U.S. and Canada are staunch allies, whereas Lithuania — in the wake of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and other Eastern European nations — has closed its borders with both Russia and Belarus, thereby cutting off Russia’s only land access (through Belarus) to Kaliningrad and its vital naval fleet. And Poland has likewise slammed shut its border with Belarus since last week’s Russian drone attack into Polish airspace.
That means that Russia’s only open route to its key territory is by sea . . . a longer and far more difficult journey if one’s purpose is to relocate substantial numbers of ground troops and military resources.
Russian Ships at Kaliningrad
So while it may not be as well known as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Gaza Strip, or Korea’s 38th Parallel, the Suwalki Gap is a point of both connection and division that is of vital importance to Russia in pursuance of its obvious territorial ambitions in Eastern Europe.
Though the Kremlin continues to deny those ambitions — something they manage to do with a straight face — their drone attacks on Poland, and the presence of a Russian drone hovering over Romanian territory for 50 minutes on September 14th, clearly belie their disclaimers.
Kaliningrad is strategically indispensable to supporting Russia’s military might; and both Poland and Lithuania — along with their shared strip of land at Suwalki — stand squarely in its path. I believe Suwalki is a name that will become much more familiar is the not-too-distant future.
Farid Mehralizada — an Azerbaijani journalist recently released from prison after being falsely charged with “smuggling” — told of the real reason for his arrest in May of 2024. While the security agents jumped him and placed a hood over his head, one of them whispered into his ear: “You talk too much.” [RFE/RL, September 9, 2025.]
Farid Mehralizada
Such arrests and imprisonments have become commonplace in today’s Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and other countries where it is illegal to speak out against the government, or even to discuss or read about subjects that are contrary to government policy. And detaining and imprisoning foreigners on such spurious charges has become de rigueur in those countries, where they are held for ransom to be paid by their governments, usually in the form of prisoner exchanges or return favors.
But in the 1980s, such incidents involving foreigners were unusual in the Soviet Union. In 1986, when American journalist Nicholas Daniloff was detained in retaliation for the arrest of Soviet spy Gennadi Zakharov in New York, the international outcry was unprecedented, and led to a rapid exchange of the two after less than two weeks of diplomatic negotiations.
For the most part, however, Americans were considered to be safe in the Soviet Union, as long as they didn’t do anything stupid. But in 1988, when a friend and I signed up with an organized tour group for a trip to the USSR, my mother — a lifelong champion worrier — was sure I would be kidnapped and held hostage. I never understood why she thought I would be of any value to the Russians; but I’m convinced she neither slept, ate, nor exhaled during the two weeks I was away.
I’m happy to report that she was wrong, and I returned home safely.
Then in 1993, I went to live and work in Moscow for several months — an experience about which I have written at some length. My mother had already passed away by then, so I didn’t have to worry about her worrying about me.
By that time, however, there was much for us Americans and other foreigners to be concerned about. It was the time of what they called “the Great Mafia Wars” in Russia, and people — foreigners included — frequently turned up dead, or disappeared completely.
I was in charge of the Moscow office of a U.S. humanitarian aid program, which was legally registered to operate in Russia and thus was on the radar of both the local Militia and the KGB. And both organizations had introduced themselves to me, making sure I knew they were always around. I tried not to dwell on it, but I was obviously easy prey if they had decided they needed another pawn for their political chess match.
But again, I was lucky. Maybe I had a guardian angel — probably my worry-wart mother — but whatever the reason, and despite taking a few risks (the details of which are best left unexplained), I survived and made it back home in one piece . . . one very exhausted, but exhilarated, piece.
I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. But when I think back to those months in the context of the recent proliferation of kidnappings and hostage-takings, I realize how easily I might have become one of the victims of a regime that knows no restrictions and places no value on human life.
And that realization, more than anything, has forged my emotional tie to the desperate people languishing in prisons and penal colonies throughout Russia, Belarus, and elsewhere, fighting to survive until the wheels of international diplomacy turn far enough to bring them home.
So, for those of you who may have wondered why I continue to post a weekly tribute to those hostages, it is both from my desire to keep the world focused on their plight, and an immense feeling of gratitude that I was lucky enough to escape the same fate.
Some may call it survivor’s guilt; I call it empathy. Whatever its name, and for what it’s worth, it’s the reason I have kept — and will continue to keep for as long as I am able — my weekly vigil on behalf of those less fortunate.
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but I suppose the United States first became a disposable society once the shortages and rationing of World War II were behind us, and we had plunged headlong into the peace, prosperity and technological advances of the 1950s and ‘60s.
Weary of having to repair and mend everything from automobiles to underwear in order to make them last so that our troops overseas could have tanks and parachutes, we just began throwing things away and replacing them with the latest and greatest innovations.
Living the American Dream – c. 1950s
Refrigerator making a funny noise? Don’t call a repairman; just order a new one . . . with a self-defrosting freezer. Car need a few new parts? Forget the mechanic and check out the latest model Chevy with the extra-long tail fins. Husband getting on your nerves? You might even turn him for a newer model. (Just kidding about that last one.)
And that mindset has taken such firm root in our society, that people now are beginning to think about doing the same thing to our planet: turning it in for a new, fresh, unspoiled land to . . . well . . . spoil.
Two of the world’s richest men — Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos — each with his own commercial space company, and a combined net worth of more than $630 billion, have seemingly never outgrown their adolescent “Flash Gordon” dreams of conquering outer space. And now they have the means to try to make those dreams a reality. Their visions differ only in the details.
Musk, as we know, is focused on Mars, where his mind’s eye sees actual settlements of people: Earthlings, relocating to become Martians. Actually living on the “Red Planet.” Starting from scratch, in an environment without buildings, or trees, or (as far as we know) potable water sources.
“Muskland“
Bezos, on the other hand, has a somewhat more credible idea. He envisions moving “heavy industry and polluting industry off Earth,” possibly onto spinning spaceborne laboratories where colonies of humans live and work full-time, reserving Earth for living and vacationing in one big, pollution-free national park. [Jackie Wattles, CNN, September 12, 2025.]
“Bezos Industrial Park”
Presumably, we would all have two homes — one near our workplace in space and one for relaxation on Earth — and commute, perhaps on weekends, in our Jetson-style spacemobiles to and from our spinning offices, shops, or factories.
I’m getting dizzy just thinking about it.
I realize these concepts are far from being realized, and that I most likely will not live long enough to see them take shape. But while I’m still among the living (here on Earth), I have a question for Messrs. Musk and Bezos:
What is stopping you from using your phenomenal wealth and technical resources to fix what’s wrong with the beautiful planet we already have?
Before it’s too late, why not work to save our natural resources, our animal life, our air and water and soil? Get rid of the world’s so-called leaders who are destroying everything that is good about this Earth, and elect people who love and respect our planet.
Take some lessons from the Inuit, the Maori, and other indigenous peoples who have retained their innate connections to the land.
Utilize more solar and wind energies, and less of the finite fossil fuels.
Stop manufacturing junk that no one needs, that only ends up in the trash heap of non-biodegradable remains.
Stop worrying about who’s liberal and who’s conservative, or whether your neighbor is gay or straight or trans. Start thinking instead about imposing huge fines against people who pollute our air and litter or damage our parks and beaches and rivers.
Start a new movement — one that inspires love and unity, instead of hate and division. You could call it MELA: Make Earth Livable Again.
Forget about Mars and rotating satellite workplaces. Come back down to Earth, and — like the patriots of the World War II era — fix the good things we already have.
In a good news / bad news week, a joint U.S.-Lithuanian effort brought about the release of 52 political hostages from several different countries being held in Belarusian prisons. As I happily reported three days ago, one of them was on my list of known hostages, Belarusian journalist Ihar Losik, whose name is now crossed out below. Welcome back to freedom, Ihar.
Ihar Losik
But Russia and Belarus are not the only countries holding innocent people hostage. In Azerbaijan last week, seven of the people on my list, who had all appealed their prison sentences, heard their appeals denied by the Baku Court of Serious Crimes.
Farid Mehralizada and six other journalists, whom I had nicknamed “The Azerbaijan 7,” had been sentenced on June 20th of this year to terms ranging from seven and a half to nine years. All had appealed; and — to no one’s surprise — all of their sentences were upheld.
When first detained on May 30, 2024, Mehralizada — a journalist working for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty — said that security agents jumped him, placed a hood over his head, and whispered into his ear, “You talk too much.” [RFE/RL, September 9, 2025.]
“Smuggling” was just an excuse for his nine-year sentence.
Photo courtesy of RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service
And so the injustice continues, with thousands of individuals, many of them foreigners, being held as living pawns in a political game of chess playing out among international adversaries. Their fates are being decided in secret negotiations held in far-flung capitals around the world . . . which means, at least, that they are not forgotten.
*. *. *
And yet, again, here are the ones I know of:
Immigrant Detainees in Russia:
Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Prisoners of War:
The People of Ukraine The Azov 12
Endangered Exiles:
Mikita Losik Yulia Navalnaya Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents
Ales Bialiatski Andrei Chapiuk Marya Kalesnikava Uladzimir Labkovich Ihar Losik Marfa Rabkova Valiantsin Stafanovic Yuras Zyankovich
In Russia:
David Barnes Gordon Black Antonina Favorskaya Konstantin Gabov Robert Gilman Stephen James Hubbard Sergey Karelin Timur Kishukov Vadim Kobzev Darya Kozyreva Artyom Kriger Michael Travis Leake Aleksei Liptser Grigory Melkonyants Nika Novak Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler) Igor Sergunin Dmitry Shatresov Robert Shonov Grigory Skvortsov Eugene Spector Laurent Vinatier Robert Romanov Woodland
*. *. *
As always, we wish you strength, courage and patience . . . and a swift return home.
The White House, Washington, D.C. – September 13, 1993
On September 13, 1993, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., then-President Bill Clinton witnessed one of the most historic events of his presidency: the signing of a treaty known as the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements.
The accord — signed by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and sealed by a handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat — provided for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho, and for the establishment of a Palestinian government to be given authority over much of the West Bank.
Each of the two leaders spoke of peace that day. Rabin, a former army general, told the world:
“We the soldiers who have returned from the battle stained with blood; we who have seen our relatives and friends killed before our eyes; we who have fought against you, the Palestinians; we say to you today in a loud and clear voice: Enough of blood and tears. Enough!”
And Arafat added:
“The battle for peace is the most difficult battle of our lives. It deserves our utmost efforts because the land of peace yearns for a just and comprehensive peace.” [“This Day In History, History.com, September 13, 2025.]
The Handshake
Eloquent, noble words from both sides, intended to put an end to countless years of brutal conflict.
In 1939, as Nazi Germany was gearing up to unleash six years of unimaginable horror upon the peoples of Europe, and Germany and the Soviet Union entered into a mutual non-aggression treaty known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill had this to say about Russia’s political stance:
“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interests.”
Sir Winston Churchill
And nearly seven years later, when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had long since been broken by Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, and the war had finally been won by the Allies — including the Soviet Union — Soviet Premier Josef Stalin gave a chilling speech on February 9, 1946, in which he declared that war between the East and West was inevitable.
On March 5, 1946, Churchill — by then no longer Prime Minister — spoke to students at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, at the invitation of President Truman, in which he uttered these immortal words:
“From Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”
Churchill at Westminster College – March 5, 1946
And that “iron curtain” — supposedly torn down along with the demolition of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 — is in danger of being rebuilt as Vladimir Putin continues his devastating march through Ukraine, and now threatens nearby nations of Eastern Europe and the Baltic region with a new concentration of Russian and Belarusian troops near the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
Known as “Zapad 2025” (“Zapad” being the Russian word for “West”), the four-day exercises have been described by Russian officials as “the final stage of this year’s joint training between the two countries’ armies,” and will include practice actions “at firing ranges in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation and in the Baltic Sea and the Barents Sea.” [Harry Cockburn, The Independent, September 12, 2025.]
Russian officials said that the war games will simulate a defense against an imaginary enemy attack. But Western analysts say that a principal aim of the exercises is to show the world that the Russian military is still powerful despite three and a half years of the losses incurred by its war in Ukraine and the impact of multi-national sanctions.
There is also concern that the drills may be a cover for other planned activities, as occurred in the last Zapad exercises in 2021, when Russia began moving troops into Belarus in preparation for its invasion of Ukraine in the following February. [Reid Standish, RFE/RL, September 12, 2025.]
Russian Troops at Opening Ceremonies of Zapad-2021
These long-planned exercises, which began yesterday, September 12th, were preceded two days earlier by a barrage of Russian drones that invaded Polish airspace, precipitating defensive military action on the part of NATO member Poland. There were no casualties, and only minimal structural damage was done; but Vladimir Putin’s purpose appears to have been to test NATO’s response to a crisis situation.
Also on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a regular briefing call:
“The channels of communication exist and are established; our negotiators are able to use them to communicate. However, at the moment, it’s fair to say things are more on pause than active interaction. It’s important not to wear rose-tinted glasses or expect that the negotiation process will deliver lightning-fast results. I want to remind you of President Trump’s own words: at first, he thought it could be settled quickly, but later realized it would take more time.”
Then he added, rather incongruously, that Russia “remains committed to pursuing peaceful dialogue.” [Lauren Kent and Darya Tarasova, CNN, September 12, 2025.]
Dmitry Peskov with Vladimir Putin: Cooking Up Something
While Poland’s European allies — and even far-away Japan — have rushed to its defense, Donald Trump has remained disturbingly quiet. With most of the real experts purged from the Pentagon and all other leadership posts in his administration, he is most likely in conference with his hand-picked team of inexperienced advisers, trying to figure out how to sell his claims of wanting to put an end to Putin’s aggression while also fulfilling his pathological need to continue mollifying Putin.
But it’s the weekend. Perhaps he’ll opt for another round of golf instead.
In the 1970 film “Tora! Tora! Tora!” Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is credited with issuing the following warning after his country’s attack on Pearl Harbor:
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (c. 1940)
Although there is no evidence that the real Admiral Yamamoto ever uttered those words, the phrase “wake a sleeping giant” has become a permanent part of the English lexicon.
And that may be precisely what Vladimir Putin has done this week in violating NATO territory by sending 19 drones deep into Poland’s airspace. It was not the first such incursion, but it was the most extensive . . . and threatening enough to cause Poland’s military for the first time to deploy aircraft to intercept them, shooting down at least three.
While most of Eastern Europe and the Baltics have already bolstered their defenses against the possibility of Russia’s war against Ukraine extending into their territories, this is the first incident of fire being returned by a NATO country. Poland immediately requested a UN Security Council session, which has been scheduled today at 19:00 GMT.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk – September 11, 2025
And even before that session could be held, several NATO nations leapt to Poland’s defense. Germany has said it would “intensify its engagement along Nato’s [sic] eastern border” and expand its policing of Poland’s airspace. And France’s President Macron has announced that his country would send three Rafale fighter jets to supplement Poland’s defenses, saying, “We will not yield to Russia’s growing intimidation.” [Laura Gozzi, BBC News, September 11, 2025.]
Additionally, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic have said they would send defenses to Poland; and Lithuania has offered to receive a German brigade. [Id.]
Sweden, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic all summoned the Russian ambassadors in their countries to protest the incident. [Id.]
If Putin’s intent was to test the will and the defense capabilities of the NATO countries bordering Ukraine, he may indeed have poked the giant a bit too hard . . . because it wasn’t asleep after all. And now it’s really pissed off.
Except, perhaps, for its right foot, which is anchored securely across the Atlantic Ocean in the United States, far from the fray. Because all that Donald Trump had to say to reporters was that he was “not happy” with the situation, and that the whole thing “could have been a mistake.” [RFE/RL, September 12, 2025.]
Right. That should have Putin shaking in his boots.
Aleksandr Lukashenko may have tried to pass it off as a humanitarian gesture on his part, but everyone knows that an amoral tyrant gives nothing away without expecting something in return. And now we know what it is.
U.S. Special Envoy John Coale and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko – September 11, 2025
In exchange for the release of 52 political prisoners yesterday, the United States has agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions on Belarusian airline Belavia, making it possible for them to obtain parts for their planes . . . among other things.
Those particular sanctions were imposed in 2021, after Belarusian flight controllers ordered a Ryanair jet traveling from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk, whereupon police arrested one of the passengers they knew was onboard: journalist Roman Protasevich.
In addition, Lukashenko and U.S. special envoy John Coale, in a meeting held yesterday in Minsk, discussed the possible reestablishment of trade relations between their two countries, including the reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Minsk “in the very near future.” [BBC News, September 11, 2025.]
And Donald Trump has indicated that a face-to-face meeting with Lukashenko — a close ally of Vladimir Putin — might also be in the works.
Lukashenko and Putin: Best Buddies
So it was never about humanitarian considerations; human lives mean nothing to people like Lukashenko. In any event, he still holds more than 1,000 additional prisoners to use as bait. And airplane parts are hardly even worth his consideration.
No . . . what Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin have both gained in the past few weeks is position. Together, they are back in the high-stakes games of international politics and trade — dealing with the United States as equals, and not the pariahs they have been since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago.
And Donald Trump, in his eagerness to exhibit his peacemaking skills to the world, has made it all too easy for them.
Not that we shouldn’t make every effort to get hostages released . . . of course, we should.
It just seems that it oughtn’t be so profitable for the bad guys.
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 