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Original poster

Kenneth Bigley - finding this so, so distressing

122 replies

Tinker · 23/09/2004 19:07

Am finding myself thinking a lot about what this poor man and his family must be going through. Absolutely hideous terror. Really couldn't sleep last night, kept dwelling on it.

OP posts:
Socci · 08/10/2004 14:37

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Socci · 08/10/2004 14:40

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sunchowder · 08/10/2004 14:44

Hate to say it, but the Americans are greedy and want the money to do the repairs--I guess we also feel we are superior to the rest of the world. I swear these are not my views, just observations as I am an American!

Twinkie · 08/10/2004 14:46

Think them raising the Stars and Stripes when Bagdad fell said it all Sunchowder - that I am afraid I feel sealed their fate they went in as a conquering force rather than a liberating one!!

Marina · 08/10/2004 14:46

Jools, I guess some more specialised aspects such as engineering telecoms networks, power supply and the supply of safe clean drinking water has been so badly disrupted by the war and by the poor existing infrastructure, that some presence by qualified Westerners is needed.
Socci, I may have confused you. My mum is half Irish and half British (Scottish) so she could have either nationality. Only Britain and the Republic of Ireland issue passports, Scotland and Wales do not. But most Welsh and Scottish nationals would describe themselves as being from those countries as well as or instead of being British.

edam · 08/10/2004 14:47

You can have an Irish passport, Socci, as the Republic of Ireland is a country in its own right. You can't have a Scottish or Welsh passport as they are part of the UK. Northern Ireland is also part of the UK. Great Britain is England, Wales and Scotland but not Northern Ireland. Confused yet?

flea · 08/10/2004 14:48

In reply to Socci - last time I noticed Ireland was a seperate republic with NO connection to England : so why wouldn't it get its own passport?

edam · 08/10/2004 14:58

... but on the same theme, this week th EU printed a map of Europe but forgot to include Wales, and also managed to move Glasgow to Perthshire. So it's not only Socci who is confused!

JoolsToo · 08/10/2004 14:59

edam - you're JOKING! my gawd - let me out!

discoinferno · 08/10/2004 15:00

Why your interest in Ireland and their reasons for giving him a passport. He was entitled to it and the taoiseach along with the minister for foregin affairs were assisting his brother and family in any way possible to have him released. His own PM stayed rather quiet on the whole matter.

tiredemma · 08/10/2004 15:04

REUTERS news agency havejust confirmed that they have seen a video of him being killed.

Marina · 08/10/2004 15:07

Oh no tiredemma
Discoinferno, I think the interest was in why giving Mr Bigley any other nationality might actually secure his release. I think most of us would agree the Irish government's intervention was a welcome one, it's a shame it doesn't seem to have worked. But to be honest, I'm not sure anything would have. Awful news.

edam · 08/10/2004 15:11

Oh God, that's terrible news.
Discoinferno, no-one was criticising the Irish government, just interested in how citizenship works. As you say, Irish premier did far more for the poor man than TB.

spacemonkey · 08/10/2004 15:14

horrific

tiredemma · 08/10/2004 15:15

nothing would of saved him, his captors had no intention of releasing him, they used him as propaganda for themselves and for the british people to turn against tony blair for failing to give into their demands.
dont think that american forces bombing the groups followers in fallujah on an almost daily basis helped at all either.

Socci · 08/10/2004 15:24

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Socci · 08/10/2004 15:26

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Twinkie · 08/10/2004 15:38

It is terrible but I can't get out of my mind that this man chose to go and work in a war zone when people had already been kidnapped and executed for something as inconsequential as money!!

I am terribly sad for his family of course and no one deserves this and to me TB should have tried harder (he speaks to the bloody Irish Terrorists!!) but what do you do start giving in to these factions and then they do it even more??

JoolsToo · 08/10/2004 15:54

Twinkie - agree with that.

Twinkie · 08/10/2004 15:57

You agree with everything I say!!! [Grin] (thats why I like you so much!!)

JoolsToo · 08/10/2004 15:59

Ha! - a fan club of one !

kkgirl · 08/10/2004 17:20

The thought of this makes me feel sick. I am thinking of his poor mother, who is frail and not very well, and it is so horrific.
The whole Iraq situation is terrible anyway, the Americans have lost so many people as well.
Keep hoping its not true, but as Tiredemma says it was a no win situation really.

Uhu · 08/10/2004 17:38

Tragic news but at the end of the day he chose to work there and he chose to live outside the safe zone. TB did the right thing in not negotiating with these barbarians because it would open the floodgates for other groups. As for TB speaking to Irish terrorists, that is totally different. They are not holding hostages and they are in engaging in productive dialogue to try to find mutual grounds to end the problems. One positive thing to come out of the Sept 11th atrocity is that Americans experienced first hand the impact of terrorism. Now the IRA's main funding source has hopefully dried up. That's why they have to negotiate a peace deal.

The terrorists in Iraq are not interesting in dialogue; they just want to terrorise the world through murdering innocent people of any nationality.

Socci · 08/10/2004 17:43

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blossomhill · 08/10/2004 18:30

I am so,so,so sad that this has happened. I burst into tears when I heard the news as I seriously hoped he would be okay (stupidly). These people that we are dealing with are the scum of the earth and that is mildly put to how I really feel.
Just what kind of world have I brought my children into?