john9001, I think yer thinking of the wrong hostages. The arms for hostages deal wasn't for the hostages that Iran held under the Carter admin that were released the day of Reagan's innaugeration (very questionable..there's some pretty good evidence that these hostages were held far longer than originally intended just so Reagan's election looked a little more certain. Bush himself had on more than one occasion visited with Iranian officials in France during Reagan's campaign). "Arms for hostages" (1986) was a different matter completely... and involved the sale of arms to Iran to secure the release of Americans held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.
It was actually 3-prongued... Securing the release, raising money for contras and an attempt steer Iran's foreign policy in a pro-western direction.
"We do not negotiate with terrorists" got turned into "I don't recall" pretty damn quick.
Anyway... War has been officially declared now. I reckon that the rules of any war be applied... and that is hostages be viewed as prisoners of war. You do not and cannot negotiate for their release. If they are murdered, there will be hell to pay. However, no concessions should be made to secure their release.
[ 09-28-2001: Message edited by: Nash ]
