Iraq’s hostage industry booms

If hostages taken in Iraq seem nearly all civilian, it may be that insurgents prefer to shoot or bomb soldiers on sight. Yet such is the premium on hostages that even a single one can seem to force the hand of both people and government. 

IN calling official efforts to save the life of an expatriate citizen “a wrong signal,” the US underscored the symbolism of the abduction and threatened execution of Angelo de la Cruz.