Negotiations with terrorists legitimize the terrorists at the expense of the reformists and real freedom fighters.

• This is true, for example, in Iran, which supports terrorist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas. Negotiating with their leaders undermines the reformists in Iran who see their leaders as having stolen the elections.

• Another example was the international community allowing Hamas, which has vowed to destroy Israel, to participate in elections for the Palestinian Authority. They used that legitimacy as a platform to take over all of Gaza by force a year after they won a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament.

Negotiations with terrorists give them an incentive to continue bad behavior so they can negotiate more concessions

Terrorists may be reprehensible, but they often act rationally. So they understand that if their opponents will exchange captured terrorists for soldiers or civilians, they will continue capturing soldiers and civilians. This has been especially true of Israel negotiating with Hamas and Hezbollah.