Israel completed a prisoner swap with Hezbollah yesterday, freeing 400 terrorists in exchange for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three dead Israeli soldiers. What was Israel thinking?
In the weeks and months to come, many of the freed terrorists will recommence exactly those activities for which they were captured and held in the first place. Innocents will die- the casualties possibly outnumbering the one living and three dead that Israel netted in the swap.
More disturbing is the precedent established yesterday. An article in the Washington Post this morning quoted Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas, as saying, "his group is making every effort to seize Israeli soldiers as bargaining chips for the release of Palestinians in Israeli jails."
The maxim is old, but not tired: Do not negotiate with terrorists!
Posted by publius at January 30, 2004 05:17 PM