re: #214 CuriousLurker

Yep, I left it out because it has no bearing on the fact that their >goals are different. They can live next door to each other, train together, go to the mosque together on Fridays, whatever—it doesn’t mean their goals are the same, which is exactly the point gdf was making.

Yes, I understand the distinction between the two groups and I also understand the case in favor of the swap. However, you should be able to understand that not everybody is going to agree with this. The case against making payments or prisoner releases with terrorist groups (Yes, Obama agrees they are a terrorist group) is that encourages hostage taking with rewards. I think most nations have official policies against paying ransoms and releasing prisoners in exchange for hostages but it does happen. Not everybody is going to agree about this.