Do we really need allies like these?

It's great that Italy is willing to send 3000 troops to Iraq. However, if they are going to be paying ransom money to terrorists, maybe it's time for them to withdraw their troops or for us to tell them thanks for the help but we can manage without you from now on. The terrorists now have more money to buy weapons to kill Iraqi civilians and our troops thanks to Italy.

According to the New York Post, Lucia Annunziata, former president of Italian state television RAI, said government sources estimate Italy has paid kidnappers nearly $15 million for hostages in the past year alone. Indeed, last September, Gustavo Selva, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs committee, confirmed that two Italian aid workers — who praised their kidnappers as "resisters"— were freed after the government paid at least $1 million in cash to their Iraqi captors.

The ransom of the red reporter