Negotiation station

How do we win the war on terror? That is obviously a complicated question without many obvious answers. However, there are some things we cannot do in the fight against terrorism. One of those is negotiate with the enemy. Some say we should engage our enemies in dialogue and try to use diplomacy. One classic example where people have been suggesting this line of thought is the case of Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves.\nThese men were civilian employees on a counter-narcotics mission for the Defense Department in Colombia. In February 2003, their plane went down, and they were taken hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, otherwise known as FARC. They have remained in custody of FARC since that time.\nRecently, relatives of some of the men have come out in favor of negotiations with FARC guerillas. Lynn Stansell said President Bush’s policy of not negotiating with terrorists has put the country in a mess and questioned how any kind of political or humanitarian exchange could take place if we do not talk to these people. \nFirst, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the families of these men. What has happened in this case is a tragedy. However, negotiating is simply not the answer. Let’s remind ourselves of what kind of group FARC is. \nAccording to the Council on Foreign Relations, FARC is responsible for most ransom kidnappings in Colombia. They are known to regularly kidnap tourists, government officials and landowners. Furthermore, the group receives between $200 million and $400 million each year from the illegal drug trade.\nThe fact is that these people are terrorist monsters. They are, for all intents and purposes, Pablo Escobar’s successors. They deal drugs, kidnap people and kill whomever they want. People such as these will never agree to negotiations, and we can never negotiate with them. \nYet even in the face of our well-known enemies, some people say we should negotiate.\nProfessor Douglas Borer of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., published an op-ed column last year in which he stated the U.S. should negotiate with Osama bin Laden. No, I am not making that up. Someone out there actually thinks we should negotiate with the greatest terrorist in modern history. As evidence of his “theory” that negotiations would work, he mentions Yitzhak Rabin’s peace agreement with Yasser Arafat.\nOh, yes. That worked out wonderfully. \nProfessor Borer was wrong when he said we can negotiate with bin Laden or anyone in the al-Qaida network. It would not work and would instead open up America to greater attacks. \nWhether talking about Osama bin Laden, Yasser Arafat or FARC, the fact is those who have killed before have gotten a taste for blood that is not going to be satisfied by sitting down and talking through things. \nSome individuals are too dangerous to be left alive. The bottom line is that the only negotiations that would work with these terrorists are ones that would reciprocate their violent tactics.