The White House needed wwjd wristbands (op-ed)

Christian youth groups use to wear wristbands with the letters wwjd, it asked: What would Jesus do? Those bands were reminders to act according to their faith. It appears White House advisors could use wwjd reminders on their wrist too, but their bands would ask: What would Jefferson do?

Here’s what the White House did.

In January the United States and Iran negotiated a historic nuclear agreement that lifted financial sanctions off of Iran, and at the same time, during separate negotiations, they swapped prisoners, but months later it was reported the prisoner swap wasn’t an even exchange.

One released prisoner pastor Saeed Abedini, an Iranian American Christian, said while the US prisoners waited for hours at an airport to leave Iran, a Senior Iranian intelligence officer told them their departure depended on the plane with the money.

Apparently the Iranian intelligence officer needed confirmation of the landing of an aircraft that contained $400 million in cash. (The money arrived stacked onto wooden pallets in an unmarked cargo plane)

Critics of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran immediately called the payment a ransom. The President said the notion that the United States would start paying ransoms in this high profile way defies logic.

But just the other week the state department admitted the $400 million in cash was used as “leverage” to ensure Iran freed the American prisoners.

Supporters of the President immediately said “leverage” isn’t “ransom”, and The New York Times editorial board labeled it “pragmatic diplomacy”. But the use of this term reminded many that the Obama administration replaced the phrase “war on terror” with “overseas contingency operations” and called the Russian invasion of Ukraine an “uncontested arrival”.

The Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said the Obama administration lied about the hostages openly and blatantly.

(Obama said the money was payment for a 1979 debt for military equipment)

Now republican lawmakers claim that the White House “undermined America’s longstanding opposition to ransom payments”.

Now what did Jefferson do concerning ransom payments?

During the Revolutionary War period US shipping in the Mediterranean was protected by an Alliance with France from North African Muslim pirates. For centuries North African Muslims (providences of the Ottoman Empire) captured European ships and ransomed or enslaved the crews. It is estimated 1.25 million Europeans were captured and sold as slaves. Once the United States became independent it was no longer protected by France and the Muslims targeted American ships. The Muslim rulers wanted tribute money to stop the attacks. Jefferson went to London to meet with an envoy of the North African Muslims, he asked what grounds do they have to make war on a nation that done them no injury?

The envoy replied, “All nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave.”

Jefferson argued that paying tribute would encourage more attacks, but without a Navy the United States paid. From 1786 until Jefferson became President in 1801 the United States paid one million a year for safe passage in the Mediterranean and in ransom for American hostages. But when Jefferson took office the Navy was built and he took the new nation into its first war to end tribute payment and ransoms.

A wwjd wristband would have reminded the White house of Jefferson’s concern. Jefferson believed payment only encouraged the enemy. The White House might not have encouraged Iran, but they might have inspired enemies watching. The New York Times wrote, “Where the administration went wrong was in not being more transparent sooner about how the … release unfolded.”

And it might not be clear to the enemies watching whether the payment was leverage, ransom, or pragmatic diplomacy, but it’s clear to them the money was delivered. And this gives the wrong impression to enemies that can’t wait to test the intelligence of Donald Trump or the resolve of America’s first woman president.

First published in New Pittsburgh Courier 8/31/16