Hard Hearted?

I am terribly sorry for the families of the journalists who were beheaded and for the aid worker who was beheaded. I am terribly sorry for the young man who will spend the next part of his life as a prisoner of the North Koreans. I really am. But, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING WHEN THEY WENT THERE?? One of the journalists had previously been taken prisoner and was fortunate enough to be released and yet he chose to go to Syria. Didn't anyone tell them that when you go to places where really nasty people are either running amok or running the entire country, really bad things really do happen and can happen to you??

(And while beheading is repugnant to us, our good buddies in Saudi Arabia do it frequently. According to a Washington Post article, the Saudis beheaded 8 people last month. Rather ironic that Saudi Arabia is our ally in fighting ISIL.)

But before thinking the journalists, aide worker, and North Korea wannabe stupid, perhaps it would be well to consider the United States muddling deeper into Syria/Iraq/ISIL. We've been arming, training, and providing intelligence to the Afghans, the Libyans, the Iraqis, the Somalis, the Yemenis, and God/Allah knows who else and we see how well that has turned out. (Good thing there are no problems here within our own country that need tending to.) So perhaps the question should be WHAT ARE WE THINKING??  Obviously we haven't learned anything.