Are Hostages Paying the Cost of US Policy on Ransoms?

Unlike many European countries, the United States refuses to negotiate with terrorists over ransoms to free hostages. The rationale: it encourages more kidnappings. Now new evidence is surfacing that this policy can potentially discourage investigations into terrorists whereabouts. With its "no concessions to terrorist policy" is the US losing rescue opportunities? New York Times foreign correspondent Rukmini Callimachi has been tracking this, her story on the cost of the US ban on paying for hostages ran in yesterday's paper.
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