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A HOSTAGE SWAP? Via Andrew Sullivan, Harper's Magazine contributor Scott Horton asked yesterday if there was some kind of background deal linking the release of the 15 British marines and sailors captured by Iran to the release of an Iranian diplomat by U.S. forces in Iraq. Today comes this report from Eli Lake of The New York Sun, which adds fuel to Horton's suspicions:
The Iranian diplomat released Tuesday preceding the announcement that Iran would free the 15 British sailors it had taken hostage was being held in a joint Iraqi and American facility, and was released in part because of a decision at the highest levels of the American government.An editorial from the exceptionally pro-Cheney Sun, titled "Quid Pro Quo," also picks up on this interesting exchange:The decision to release Jalal Sharafi on Tuesday was made at the White House, according to an administration official who asked to be anonymous because of the sensitivity of the information. The release took place over the objections of some commanders in the field...
The release of Iranian nationals detained by America was one of the primary Iranian demands during the negotiations.
On Tuesday Iraq and America freed an Iranian "diplomat" they had been holding, and the next day Iran turned around and announced it would release the 15 royal marines it had been holding hostage. Whether there was a connection was the question on everyone's mind yesterday. Ann Compton of ABC News put it directly to Vice President Cheney in an interview touching on the royal marines. "Do you think there was any quid pro quo for their release?" she asked. "I don't know," Mr. Cheney responded. It was an interesting response, given that Mr. Cheney presumably has access to a lot of information about this sort of thing and that if he had wanted to deny flatly that there had been a quid pro quo, he could have answered, "no."I seriously doubt the Sun would have flagged this passage if it had any reason to think an exchange didn't happen.
--Garance Franke-Ruta
