Yes Virgina, The United States Does Negotiate with Terrorists

The recent controversy surrounding the release of Taliban captive, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal, has brought an issue that needs to be addressed in this country.  This issue is one that the United States “does not negotiate with terrorists.”    This issue has been brought up because President Barack Obama signed off on a deal with the Taliban, mediated through the government of Qatar, where the United States would trade five Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Sgt. Bergdhal.  Many citizens, pundits, and politicians are upset with President Obama because the United States “does not negotiate with terrorists.”

Many people believe that if the United States negotiates with terrorists then our country will be in a more difficult position down the line.  If terrorists and/or rogue regimes know that you are willing to negotiate with them for the release of soldiers or any American citizen, for that matter, then you will see more instances of hostage taking around the globe.  It is a legitimate concern; however, the hypocrisy of politicians running around telling the nation that the United States does not negotiate with terrorists is laughable.  Politicians like Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have been appearing on media outlets detailing their concerns with this deal.  One of the points these men keep making is that the United States is going down a slippery-slope in that the United States is negotiating with terrorists:

Rep. Chaffetz – “It’s [negotiating with terrorists] a massive chance in public policy.”
Sen. Cruz – “Yes, U.S. policy has changed. Now we make deals with terrorists.”

The concerns are understandable.  There should be a serious debate on the merits of negotiating with terrorists and/or rogue regimes.  What is not helpful in the debate is the insinuation that the United States does not or has never negotiated with terrorists.  The truth is quite the opposite.  In reporting on Sen. Cruz’s remarks, PolitiFact found that the United States has negotiated with terrorists and rogue regimes in these instances:

• After the North Koreans captured the U.S.S. Pueblo in 1968, President Lyndon Johnson apologized for spying as part of negotiations to secure the release of 83 American prisoners.
• In 1970, President Richard Nixon pressured Israel, Switzerland, West Germany and Britain to release Palestinian prisoners after two airlines were hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
• During the Iran hostage crisis of 1979 to 1981, President Jimmy Carter agreed to unfreeze $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets after more than a year of negotiations with the Iranian revolutionaries.
• In perhaps the most famous swap, after seven Americans were captured in Beirut, Lebanon, President Ronald Reagan agreed to send missiles to Iran in what became known as the Iran-Contra scandal.
• President Bill Clinton’s administration sat down with Hamas in attempts to negotiate peace with Israel. His administration also worked directly with the Taliban nearly two decades ago on several occasions to see if the group would hand over Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders.

Those examples were located in one short article.  After doing some more research, I found that the Bush administration made deals with Sunni insurgents during the Iraq War.  President Bill Clinton also met with Gerry Adams, leader of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) when the IRA was on the State Department’s terror list.

The United States has a rich history of negotiating with terrorists and rogue regimes.  This outrage that has been playing out on the right is disingenuous to say the least.  Again, if we want to discuss and debate the merits of negotiation tactics, fine, let’s do it.  But, I believe anyone in the government (and that goes for Republicans and Democrats) that claim that the United States does not negotiate with terrorists are being blatantly misleading.

Enough of this partisan garbage!  As I hope you have gathered from me, I am trying to bring the truth to light because politicians (and the media) are out there trying to divide and conquer the American public.  They are not worried about the truth; they are worried about their power and their agenda.  We need to call out anyone that is being untruthful because they are the ones in control, setting the agenda.  If we do not call out these people then they will continue to deceive us and we will never get to the heart of the matter.  We do not get to the heart of matter because we are arguing over “we do” or “we do not” negotiate with terrorists.  The people in power want to keep us distracted so they can go about their business how they want to.  Enough of the phoniness that comes out of Washington and the news media, our government will and has always negotiated with terrorists.

The questions that we should be discussing are:  Should negotiating with groups deemed terrorist organizations by the government be banned?  If we do ban negotiation tactics, how will that impact future hostage situations?

We need to focus on the issue at hand, and not fall for cheap bling words that are meant to get a rise out of the American people and distract us from the more pressing issues we face, which is a dysfunctional Washington that does not have our best interests at heart.   They are playing a game of chess with our lives and they are getting ready to say the word “checkmate” while we fight like little kids in the playground far from where the chess game is taking place.