TRIBALISM 233not true, that is a chicken shit answer. They CAN do something if they
choose to do the right thing. While I was there [in Iraq] in ’04 we rescued
a number of Iraqis who had been snatched, and killed a lot of kidnappers
in the process, but the default ‘We can’t’ is the answer of choice today. The
Kurds will turn up something.”
Unfortunately, the Kurds never did turn up anything. Our Baghdad
manager Ali Baba, the former Iraqi Army sergeant who was fond of beating
tardy employees, was originally from Mosul. He called his cousin Hatem,
also a Sunni who still lived in Mosul, and asked him to look into what
had happened. Hatem carefully wandered into the neighborhood where
the kidnapping had taken place. He discreetly asked around and made
contact with some “intermediaries,” quickly ascertaining that Omar was
kidnapped by AQI and not by organized criminals (although both groups
ran a lucrative kidnap and ransom business). Trying to reduce both the risk
to Omar and the expected ransom demand, Hatem told the AQI interme-
diaries that Omar was a Sunni and nothing but a poor worker. Hatem left
his neighborhood recon mission with the impression that Omar was prob-
ably still alive. Hatem was not snatched himself since he was a Sunni from
Mosul, he had no connection to Kurdistan, and the bad guys would need
someone to handle the expected ransom payment.
Four days after the kidnapping, Omar’s family in Baghdad received a
phone call from the terrorists. They asked angrily why Omar collaborated
with Kurds and Shi’ites, then demanded $50,000 to be paid immediately.
If we did not come up with the money, they said they would cut off Omar’s
head the next day. In Iraq, this was not an idle threat.
We knew that AQI kidnappers typically adhered to a “rate card” when
demanding ransom. A taxi driver was worth $5,000, a teacher $10,000, and
so on. Asking $50,000 for a driver indicated they had some reason to believe
he could come up with that much money. It turned out that Omar’s family,
extremely upset and (not unfairly) blaming Babylon Inc. for his kidnapping,
told the bad guys we would pay whatever they demanded if they would just
release Omar alive. Our manager Ali Baba was able to speak to the terror-
ists, and he played the Sunni card: “I am from Mosul too. If you want to kill
Shi’ites, come to Baghdad where we need you. Omar is a poor Sunni, so let
him go.” Their hostile response was the same they gave to Omar’s family:
why would a Sunni company in Baghdad hire Shi’ites (Hassan and Sadiq)