>Several senior diplomats involved in past negotiations have described the decision to ransom their citizens as an agonizing calculation: accede to the terroris

>Several senior diplomats involved in past negotiations have described the decision to ransom their citizens as an agonizing calculation: accede to the terrorists’ demand, or allow innocent people to be killed, often in a gruesome, public way? At least if they're killed in a gruesome, public way, their killers are outed as the barbarian savages that they are. This may be a widely-known thing in the West, but not everyone has gotten the message. And if you're going to pay the ransom, don't deny it later. If you deny it, you're leaving the kidnappers with absolutely no downside - people don't even have to know how these organizations are funded.