President Bush apologized to China to secure U.S. airmen held captive

Rss@dailykos.com (jon Perr) · Friday, January 15, 2016, 10:12 pm

Years from now, Americans will look back at the Iranian hostage crisis that wasn't. One day after 10 American sailors were captured by Iranian patrols after their boats inadvertently drifted into Tehran's territorial waters, our servicemen and their equipment are back in U.S. hands.

But the diplomatic thaw and rapid action by Secretary of State John Kerry that allowed both sides to avoid a confrontation is still too much for President Obama's Republican critics to handle. The usual suspects denounced the White House for images of "America on its knees," for its "apology" to Tehran and because "even Jimmy Carter never got around to thanking the Iranians for taking such good care of their US hostages."

The Republicans and their amen corner might want to rethink their strategy. After all, Ronald Reagan—the American president who actually negotiated with terrorists—tried and failed to secure the release of western hostages held by Iranian proxies even after sending the mullahs in Tehran a cake, a Bible and $500 million in U.S. weapons.

And as it turns out, after the collision of an American spy plane with a Chinese fighter jet in international airspace on April 1, 2001, President Bush told Beijing the United States was "very sorry" for the loss of their pilot and for our airmen landing on Hainan Island.

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