The kidnapping sprees that made international travel perilous for Americans back in the 1980s and 1990s have returned in force. Only this time, other governments are joining in taking American civilians prisoner on trumped-up charges and effectively holding them hostage for use in trades with Washington. This rarely ends well for any U.S. administration. Even though the official position of the United States has been, for decades, that America doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, it negotiates all the time. Usually the process takes place in secrecy, far from the view of the news media and often…
