In a stunning turn of events, Jordan’s government has indicated it is willing to swap an imprisoned female terrorist for one of the country's own fighter pilots captured by the Islamic State after he crashed.
A debate is now ensuing on whether the United States started a precedent of cutting deals with terrorist organizations when they traded the "Taliban Five" for Bowe Bergdahl last summer.
"We traded five senior ranking Taliban commanders for Bergdahl, and now we've kind of set this precedent," former Navy SEAL Dan O'Shea said. "The U.S. has a hard time to tell other countries to stick by our no concessions policy when we violated a policy in place for many, many years. So I see this as a challenging development and another slippery slide on the dangerous slope of making acquiescence to the demands of terrorist groups. You can expect more of this to follow."
Mohammed al-Momani, Jordan’s minister for media affairs, released a statement saying that Jordan "is ready to release the Iraqi prisoner, Sajida al-Rishawi, if the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, is released unharmed.'' Al-Rishawi was convicted for her failed attempted suicide in 2005.
While the peaceful release of IS prisoners is certainly a desired outcome by all, experts have said that by swapping prisoners, nations are now recognizing the legitimacy of IS. The terrorist group has been flexing their power.
"This is very dangerous. It now is giving a reinforcement to the idea they have established an Islamic caliphate. So this is a very, very challenging development and it does not bode well for future situations," O’Shea said.
Instead of being a criminal organization condemned by the world, IS now has a seat at the negotiating table, given the respect of a nation state.