Controversy surrounds James Loney's return.

Toronto -- A four-month hostage-taking crisis in Iraq, targeting a group of four men with the "militantly pacifist" Christian Peacemaker Teams organization, ended happily for three of them. The fourth, an American, was killed. However, controversy continues over the wisdom and efficacy of the endeavour in which they were involved.

James Loney of Toronto, Harmeet Singh Sooden of New Zealand (at first, said to be a Canadian) and Norman Kember of Britain, were rescued March 23, 2006, after a multi-national operation was launched that included Canadian special forces. At least 235 foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq during the past two years, with 40 of them being killed. A spokesperson for CPT's Baghdad office said that after it was all over, the three survivors were still convinced they had done the right thing in going to Iraq. CPT's co-director in Toronto said the group will keep sending members to Iraq if they're welcome and pose no danger to their Iraqi friends. A CPT statement after the hostages were freed blamed the "illegal occupation of Iraq" for the seizure of the hostages.

Numerous commentators in Canada have criticized what they see as the 200-member CPT's "misguided idealism." They noted the ingratitude shown toward the hostages' rescuers and the unnecessary danger to which CPT's representatives exposed both military personnel and civilians. The Globe and Mail's Margaret Wente referenced Loney's friend Ted Schmidt, a former editor of the Catholic New Times newspaper, who issued a "passionate denunciation of the occupation in Iraq and of the Catholic Church for not opposing it." Wente surmised: "In truth, the Peacemakers have no one to blame but themselves ... They weren't all that interested in abuses committed by Saddam (Hussein) or by rogue terrorists and Baathists against Iraqis or by Sunni and Shia militias against each other." She also pointed out that the media "spend a lot of time deploring the rigid dogmatism of the Christian right. They're much easier on the Christian left.... In fact, it's hard to tell who's more dogmatic" (Mar. 25, 2006).

Rex Murphy, writing in the same edition of the Globe, called for "a more ready acknowledgement of the rescuers and an equal willingness by someone in the Peacemakers to name the real villains of this sad episode." A Toronto Star editorial on March 25, while questioning the appropriateness of Peacemaker-like interventions in places like Iraq, noted that the hostages "may owe their lives to the very military forces they often criticize." Michael Coren, in the same day's Toronto Sun, remarked that "peacemakers" such as those with CPT "tend to be highly selective in where they choose to make peace; ... the fetish for nonviolence is in itself fundamentally non-Christian."

Charles Adler, in the same edition of the Sun, observed that "pacifists' loyalties seem skewed." Iraq's embassy to Canada was less diplomatic, labelling the CPT "phony pacifists" and "dupes for jihadism and fascism" who are on the side of anti-democratic forces in Iraq. The Sun's Peter Worthington, on March 27, also had harsh words, viewing the Peacemakers as "misguided ingrates" who cause more problems than they solve.

Criticisms also came in from the U.S., where the online FrontPageMagazine.com charged: "'Christian' group bites the hand that rescues it (Mar. 27, 2006)." An interesting aside to the episode was provided when it was reported that Loney's homosexuality was kept quiet during his captivity out of fear for his safety. His "partner," Dan Hunt, was seen greeting Loney at the Toronto airport upon the latter's return from Iraq (Globe, March 27). Loney, a Catholic by upbringing, has a long history of homosexual activism. He rejects his Church's moral teaching.