A Hostage Taken, a Ransom Paid (Again)
THE words, as always, come easier than the resolve. “We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman told reporters on Thursday. “We don’t advise others to do so as well.”
He was denouncing the swap Italy made last week with the Taliban: five Taliban prisoners held in Afghan jails for an Italian reporter kidnapped in southern Afghanistan. The trade, officials around the globe warned, was wrong all around: It rewarded terror and encouraged more abductions.
But steely conviction often melts away where hostages are concerned, and not just for Italy, which famously refused to negotiate in 1978 for the life of its kidnapped former prime minister, Aldo Moro, who was then killed by his abductors.
The reason is that kidnapping, as old as war itself, entangles the personal and the political, with real harm possible for hostage and politician alike. Now the problem spots are Iraq and Afghanistan, where soldiers roam the country along with less-protected reporters, aid workers, diplomats, builders and high-priced private security guards.
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He was denouncing the swap Italy made last week with the Taliban: five Taliban prisoners held in Afghan jails for an Italian reporter kidnapped in southern Afghanistan. The trade, officials around the globe warned, was wrong all around: It rewarded terror and encouraged more abductions.
But steely conviction often melts away where hostages are concerned, and not just for Italy, which famously refused to negotiate in 1978 for the life of its kidnapped former prime minister, Aldo Moro, who was then killed by his abductors.
The reason is that kidnapping, as old as war itself, entangles the personal and the political, with real harm possible for hostage and politician alike. Now the problem spots are Iraq and Afghanistan, where soldiers roam the country along with less-protected reporters, aid workers, diplomats, builders and high-priced private security guards.