A Boo-Hoo-er About Ex-Bev

Behold, a puff piece in the Globe and Mail about ex-Bev Giesbrecht, the shtoopid "revert" who wanted to hook up with bin Laden in Afghanistan, but who got waylaid by the Taliban who tried to ransom her, and who likely killed her (or in whose custody she reportedly died). The Globe scribbler, natch, passes no judgement on the folly of ex-Bev's quixotic adventure, but does appear to diss the government's failure to pony up the cash for her ransom:

Pakistan government officials tried to negotiate through intermediaries for the release of Ms. Giesbrecht, but Mr. Cooper [the "old friend" of the article's headline] said the ransom demand – which in March, 2009, was for $375,000 (U.S.) – kept changing, and no deal was ever made.

Then she fell silent.

Rahimullah Yusufzai, resident editor of the News International in Peshawar, Pakistan, told The Globe in an e-mail that he was involved in efforts to negotiate her freedom.

“Yes, I tried to secure her release and nearly succeeded, but nobody, I mean neither the Pakistani nor Canadian authorities were willing to pay the ransom amount. I spoke to her on the phone and [received] her last video messages and she was desperate and seriously ill. We still don’t have any confirmation that she is dead, but this is what is being presumed,” he said in a note.

Muhammad Saleem, deputy high commissioner with the Diplomatic Mission of Pakistan in Canada, said the media in Pakistan reported Ms. Giesbrecht’s death late last year, but nothing is official yet.

I wouldn't wish poor, dim ex-Bev's fate on anyone. That said, however, there's no way Canadian authorities should have met the Taliban demands--not unless they wanted to encourage a lot more kidnappings, that is.