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Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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Hi there,

I recently released a fictional story (Web of Betrayal by Peter S. Berman) that dealt with the subject of negotiating with terrorists holding hostages. The current policy of the US government, the refusal to negotiate (at least publicly) has once again surfaced with the current rash of beheadings by ISIL. The premise behind the current policy is that once we openly negotiate, we dramatically increase the likelihood that others will be held hostage to achieve a big payout. A good example of this is the piracy occurring off the coasts of Sudan and western Africa where holding cargo ships and their hapless crews has become a thriving industry. Some people say that the responsibility for not being taken hostage lies with the victim, that they shouldn't place themselves in harms way. But what about those people who go to troubled lands to help the poor and impoverished? Or reporters trying to uncover and report the facts about government corruption in Mexico, etc. Is it fair to categorize what happens to them as an occupational hazard? The flip side of the coin is that our government is the only entity powerful enough to come to the assistance of these victims. So if we can't rely on the government to do something to help in these situations, must we just accept the consequences of inaction?

I'm posing these questions because I sometimes feel that my own opinion about the subject is somewhat jaded since I have spent my entire career in law enforcement. I've experienced first hand threats to myself and my family, and I've also experienced the first hand the response of my government in a related situation. But I'm interested in knowing how others feel about the policy of no negotiation. Our President has currently ordered a review of the policy, but since there's very little public discussion on the topic, how do you feel about it?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.... Peter Berman
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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You're right, we don't negotiate with terrorists, because once we start, we encourage them to do whatever it is they've decided to negotiate over.

You'll note that the first person ISIS beheaded was, in fact, a reporter, so in the realm of completely American thinking that reporters are somehow outside the fray - the terrorists don't see it that way.

If you want an excellent example which runs parallel to this: in World War II, we bombed civilians. We didn't just bomb them, we carpet bombed them. We attacked with zero regard to the welfare of anyone, so long as the target met objective requirements.

In VietNam we came off of this. If we hit civilians in VietNam, it was front page news, and a policy decision was made both by the US and our allies that we would do everything within our power to avoid human casualties.

Our enemies now routinely use human shields. Hamas locates its artillery exclusively in Palestinian neighborhoods and if ISIS is to be believed, they've packed the dam upstream of Bagdad with civilians as well as with C4, so that if we attack it we'll have to either mow down the civilians to get to the charges, or we'll have to take the whole thing out and drown the city of Bagdad.

When Israel attacks Palestine, it actually has a phone system which warns the civilians to run away, and gives them time to do so, meaning that their attacks are significantly less effective.

How would you like to be one of these people who gets roped into living in a dam or who looks out of their front window to see a scud launcher? What must their life be like to live with this every day, and do you think that the terrorists have any compassion for them?

When you make consideration in time of conflict for non-combatants, you worsen their state. It's as simple as that - it's a damn shame when a family of tourists is slaughtered by some psychopath in the name of Allah, but it's MUCH worse when they realize they can get millions for those families, and grab them whenever they can
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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Thanks Robert. I enjoyed reading your response. I agree with you that negotiating with terrorists only makes things much worse, particularly when they do not represent a nation state. Thanks for the insight and for responding.
Peter
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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Peter, I see it useful as a tactical tool, to stall or to deceive the terros until overwhelming force can be unleashed on them. Strategically, it's a very bad idea as it would give them enormous leverage.

There's a hostage-taking situation in the novella I've just written, here's what one of the characters has to say about the matter. :)
“Well, if the terrorists realized that, they’re here to stay. Adelle!” he called, “I hope you’re listening to this too. So, first thing: everyone in that building, consider them dead! Okay?”
“But...”
“Don’t interrupt me. The first rule of dealing with terrorists is: you don’t negotiate with them! If you let them control you by holding a sword over someone’s head, then they basically have you too. Someone in that building may survive, but we must regard them as dead already. That way they actually might have a slight chance. Second: I need the following... a source of fire. Some bricks, or stones, or any small objects that can be thrown. Plastic bags. And some lamp oil wouldn’t hurt... that stuff we burn in Tikki lamps. Got it? Fire, projectiles, plastic bags, fuel... how fast can we get all this stuff, if you mobilize Adelle and whoever else you have?”
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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But once you use it as a negotiating ploy you lose all credibility for the future when the next situation occurs.
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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The Wizard said ...in World War II, we bombed civilians. We didn't just bomb them, we carpet bombed them. We attacked with zero regard to the welfare of anyone, so long as the target met objective requirements.
Would you call that terrorism?

The fact is, we negotiate with terrorists all the time. Reagan called Russia "The Evil Empire", yet he had a red telephone sitting on his desk that was directly connected to President Gorbachev. Presidential candidate Reagan also negotiated with Iranian terrorists to DELAY the release of U.S. hostages until he took office and they were indeed released on Reagan's inauguration day. (Right wingers will tell you that is because the Iranians were terrified by the size of Reagan's brass testicles.)

Should we continue negotiations with Iran, part of President Bush's "Axis of Evil", on their nuclear capabilities or should we summarily carpet-nuke them into a sheet of glass?
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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Landroid: we ARE negotiating with Iran, and they clearly see it as a sign of weakness. They're progressing on with their plans and could care less what we ask or say

We're going to have to hit them - there's no other way. We just lack a President with the sack to do it
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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Received message: carpet-nuking, there's no other way. :P

Obviously President Bush also lacked that sack. Hey, there's a Presidential election coming up! Let's see which candidate runs with a foreign policy slogan like "America will nuke Iranians into the stone age to prevent them from terror-nuking anyone else! It will be surgical radiation therapy from a distance, therefore nothing can go wrong." Will American voters have the sack to demand such a candidate and the intelligence to vote for the only reasonable action?

You brought this up: No comment on whether the Allies committed terrorism during carpet bombing in WWII?
No comment on Reagan negotiating to delay the release of hostages?
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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First of all, you can't nuke anyone and you don't want to, even if you could.

Second, their position is that we all need to convert to Islam or die. What's your counter negotiation to that? Maybe, they can kill just some of us, and then the rest will convert?

Maybe you want to let them blow Israel off of the map, and be satisfied with that?

You can't negotiate with someone whose goal is to kill you
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Re: Negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages?

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My understanding is non-nuclear bunker-busting bombs didn't fare too well in Iraq, so tactical nukes would probably be required against hardened facilities in Iran. What could possibly go wrong? I think we can agree no Presidential candidate will advocate such a preemptive course of action and voters will not support it.

You seem to forget Islam has already had nuclear weapons for over 16 years and has the fastest growing stockpile. No rain of death.
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