A Consideration
A consideration: it's easy to say the U.S. won't pay ransom to release a prisoner from terrorists, but what if the prisoner was your son?
— Larry King (@kingsthings) August 21, 2014
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If the no-negotiation/no-ransom rule were a hard and fast rule, clearly stated up front by my government before my child or loved one chose to put their life at risk, then I wouldn't expect any special treatment. However, I would try to beg, cajole, public shame my government into taking making an exception — because I would have to try.
The only real problem comes when it turns out that the "hard and fast" rules are actually rather ad hoc and riddled with loopholes and greasable skids. Not that I'm saying that this was the case here. As always, the problem starts when it turns out that some animals are more equal than others.
edit: It's easy to tell the American public via news media that the US won't pay ransom to release a prisoner from terrorists, but the US has paid ransom to release prisoners from terrorists.
What if Hitler? Like when the reporter asked Dukakis if he would support the death penalty if someone killed his kid. Dumb.
If it was Larry King who was imprisoned I'd pay them to keep him.
