No NEgotiating with Terrorists

• Nixon did nothing about the terrorists or the hostages. He set the policy for the next several decades in America: "America does not negotiate with terrorists." Here is the result:

• Almost every President since Nixon has dealt with the dilemma of negotiating with terrorists. What is more important? The lives of the Americans, or making sure that the terrorists know that they cannot get their way by taking hostages? This is the fundamental dynamic that has made this kind of military decision so difficult. It will permeate all Middle East conflicts from the Iran Hostage crisis to the Hamas-Israeli war going on today.

RETURN to War on Terror Decisions