ISIS threatens to kill two Japanese hostages unless they get $200 million for ransom. NBC/AP

A still from the ISIS video showing the two hostages. NBC/AP

ISIS is threatening to execute two Japanese hostages unless Japan pays a ransom of $200 million for their release. NBC/AP. Japan was given 72 hours after the release of the video to pay the ransom for the two men. The ransom amount matches the amount of money Japan has pledged in non-military assistance in the fight against ISIS. The hostages have been identified as Kenji Goto, a freelance reporter, and Haruna Yukawa, a suspected mercenary. Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe has demanded the release of the two hostages. ISIS still holds two other known hostages, a British citizen named John Cantlie and a unnamed 26 year old female. 

My Comment:

I've covered the case of Haruna Yukawa on this blog before. The details of his story are unbelievable. In short, he was a man that desperately needed help but ended up in Syria instead as a journalist/mercenary. I'm hoping that he survives just so he can tell his story, in his own words. From what I understand Japan is fairly embarrassed by Yukawa but despite that they will try and save him. I don't know anything about Goto, but I do know that he doesn't deserve his fate either. You could make the case that Yukawa, at the very least, was demonstrating very poor judgement, and at worst, was an illegal mercenary, but Goto was just a man trying to cover what was happening. Neither of them deserve to be executed though. That goes without saying. 

Will Abe and the Japanese government pay for the release of these two men? I don't know enough about Abe to say for sure. I don't want him to pay, even if it could save the life of these two men. $200 million is a massive amount of money and could be used to directly fund military operations in Syria and Iraq or terrorist attacks across the globe. Still, I can at least understand the thought process if they do pay the ransom. Nobody wants to see their citizens executed. 

If Yukawa and Goto are executed, and again, I really hope they aren't, I wonder what the Japanese people will think of it? Japan is officially a pacifist nation, but recently, thanks to pressure from China and North Korea, they have been moving away from it. I'm sure Japan has lost citizens to Islamic terror before, but as far as I know they have never been targeted in this way. Will it cause the Japanese to clamor for a more aggressive global stance or will they demand the end to involvement in the Middle East? Hopefully we won't have to find out...