> In 2017 Qatar reportedly paid $1 billion to an al-Qaeda affiliate and Iran to win the release of a royal hunting party.
These numbers are wild. Why doesn't this happen more often in the US?
These numbers are wild. Why doesn't this happen more often in the US?
Among other things this destroys the infrastructure and well of expertise that sophisticated businesses require to function. If you could get a billion in cash, what would you DO with it? Your infinitely resourced adversary has every financial institution and bank teller in the country trained to detect you. If you are a sophisticated criminal organization and can launder millions, why sell the laundry to a kidnapper? Sell it to someone who will not get everyone involved burned to the ground.
Not sure if it was just cash or "we know where your mum lives be terrible if anything happed to that street".
I was totally expecting that line to be:
> we know where your mum lives and she'll be very angry when we tell her what you're up to
"Four Soviet diplomats were kidnapped in September 1985 by a fundamentalist group called the Islamic Liberation Organization. Russia quickly dispatched its Alpha group, tasked with counter-terrorism hostage-rescue operations, to Beirut. Once the team learned that Arkady Katkov, a consular attaché and one of the four hostages, was killed, they responded quickly by tracking down and locating one of the kidnappers’ leaders (or relative it’s not clear). In order to send a clear message to the terrorists, Alpha group members castrated the hostage, cut him down into pieces and sent him to the hostage takers. They also threatened to kill more of the kidnappers’ relatives if the Soviet diplomats were not free."
https://blogbaladi.com/how-russia-responded-to-the-kidnappin...
And that's a good thing.