Saved!

Three hostages taken by Islamic terrorists were released rescued by coalition forces earlier today. They were located by US and British forces in a house in Western Baghdad. No terrorists were present when the coalition forces made the rescue.

British officials in Baghdad said those freed were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men - members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams - were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox.

The body of Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., was found earlier this month.

Yet, the organization that the three belong to made absolutely no mention of who actually freed their members from captivity. Figures. Oh, but they blame the coalition forces for the situation in the first place:

"We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq. The occupation must end.

Considering that the US is not occupying Iraq, but instead there to provide assistance in building a new democratic Iraq, this is nothing but agitprop. These so called peace protestors could care less about the fate of Iraqis who had lived under Saddam's tyrannical regime.

It is great news that these hostages were rescued by the coalition forces and their families must be overjoyed at the prospects of being reunited with their loved ones. Too bad their experience being kidnapped, held for more than four months, and potentially witnessing one of their fellow victims murdered has done nothing to disabuse them of their notions of a heroic insurgency seeking to overthrow the coalition's efforts at building a democratic government in Iraq.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has more on the Christian Peacemaker Teams' media response to the rescue operation, which the CPT claims was a release. It was no such thing, as I clarify above. It took the hard work of the US and British forces to locate and rescue the hostages. The terrorists did not simply release their prisoners, which is precisely the kind of message that the CPT would like you to believe.

Others blogging: Sister Toldjah and Point Five (with their characteristic take on the situation).

UPDATE:
The following folks and websites are taking the CPT to task for their inane statement that doesn't even recognize that their members were actually rescued from their dire situation and not simply released: Gina Cobb, The Green Knight (who notes that Canadian military units participated as well - who knew?), Riehl World View, Secular Blasphemy, and Flopping Aces. Memeorandum rounds up the reaction.

And it took three hours to turn around intel gathered last night to mounting the operation. The soldiers who cared for these three rescued hostages said that they were overjoyed at their release. There's an understatement.

Jill Carroll is still being held hostage somewhere in Iraq. Her whereabouts are still not known.

UPDATE:
The CPT has belatedly issued an addendum at 9:00PM EST thanking the coalition forces that rescued the trio of hostages. You would think that you'd go out of your way to first thank the folks that saved you from the fate of one of your fellow hostages, Tom Fox. Alas, that was not to be.