By Dan Murphy
On Dec. 20, the American people, and the Christian community in the United States, received good news, that all 17 American hostages, who served as missionaries in Haiti were heading back to the USA after being held for two months by a Haitian gang.
Five of the 17 hostages were released before Dec. 20. But some reports claim that the remaining 12 hostages “escaped” their captivity and walked to freedom. And we still don’t know the real truth about what happened.
Did the Haitian Gang Leader let the remaining hostages walk away after receiving a secret ransom payment? Would he allow the remaining 12 to be freed without any payment?
And finally, where was the mightly US Military, who usually, if a period of time has elapsed and negotiations have failed, the special forces or Navy Seals comes in to rescue Americans taken hostage abroad. This time it didn’t happen. Why?
Where is the journalistic investigations into why innocent men, woman and young children were allowed to remain capitive in a Haitian country with no real government that is sprialing out of control and is currently under control of a few Haitian gangs?
On Dec. 20, the Miami Herald Editorial Board posed the only question on the matter that we could find. “Whether or not 12 captured North American missionaries escaped or were intentionally let go by their Haitian captors after a hefty ransom was allegedly paid is up for discussion days after their release. But one thing appears to be clear: the cavalry, namely the U.S. government, did not rescue the American and Canadian missionaries kidnapped two months ago by a powerful Haitian gang. Hard to believe….the release of the missionaries seems to have surprised the FBI agents, who had been in Haiti since the abduction offering guidance to Haitian authorities as the gang negotiated with relatives of those held captives. The missionaries were found wandering on a mountain with no obvious help from the outside. More telling is the abduction of the American citizens in the group in the first place. American victims have always been off-limits to Haitian gangs, and it appears that is no longer the case.
Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere, recently implied to journalists that Haiti’s problems do not require outside intervention. “I think there’s broad agreement that the security situation in Haiti is a policing challenge, and it’s not a military challenge,” Nichols told reporters. Great. As we said, the cavalry is not coming to Haiti,” writes the Editorial Board of the Miami Herald.
Christian Aid Ministries made the announcement that the remainign 12 hostages, a married couple, a 10-month-old baby, a 3-year-old child, a 14-year-old girl, a 15- year-old boy, four single men and two single women, were released and in relatively good health.
On October 16, this group were helping the poor and traveling when they were stopped and taken hostage. Two hostages were freed on Nov,. 20 and another three were released on Dec. 5.
According to the report given by Christian Aid Ministries, the remaining hostages prayed and decided that the time was now to escape. But several guards were keeping watch on the group, and were making sure that they had water, and food.
The group walked 10 miles through gang territory in Haiti without getting re-apprehended. A Good Samaritan made the phone call that brought them to the FBI. None of the hostages were physically abused.
But for many, the details don’t end up, even though the final outcome was Great! Help us solve this mystery, email us at news@yonkerstimes.com.
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