What's The Price Of A Hostage Nowadays?

AP:

Two American journalists freed by North Korea say they're relieved to have the nightmare over and be back with their family and friends.

Laura Ling, who was held in the reclusive communist country for nearly five months with Euna Lee, says the two women had feared they could be sent to a labor camp at any time. Instead, they were shocked when they were brought to a room Tuesday where they saw former President Bill Clinton.

It's great to see the American government actually come to the aid of citizens in need abroad, isn't it?  I'm sure we all rejoice that these two ladies have been brought home safely.

However, the resolution to this situation raises some serious questions.  First, why was Bill Clinton the one to retrieve them?  Why not an official envoy from the State Department, like, oh, I don't know, maybe Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?  That position is supposed to be the principle diplomat to foreign nations outside of the President, right?  So why send Bill instead of Hill?

Second, and much more important, one wonders exactly what we exchanged for those two women's lives.  It stretches plausibility to think that Kim Jong Il simply wanted the publicity, or even a personal apology from the U.S.  After all, apologies are hardly a rare thing in the era of Hope-n-Change, being gushed out pretty much every time a high-ranking official steps outside of American borders.  Besides, what would we be apologizing for?  Helping our ally, South Korea?  Our own general existence?  Maybe for mocking its failed missile firings?  Say, there's a thought...since it was Bill Clinton who first gave North Korea nuclear technology back in the 1990s, should someone maybe do some investigation to see if there is a sudden uptick in the accuracy and competence in North Korea's missile program?  Obama has already pledged to scrap our own program, so maybe he's giving it away so someone else can get some use out of it.

Nah.  That would be a ridiculous thing to suggest, wouldn't it?

As with anything, a weak and apologetic response -- not to mention outright submission to political blackmail -- is just begging for more hardship.  The next test will be immediate:

Iran has arrested three Americans for illegally entering the country from neighboring Iraq and a prominent Iranian lawmaker said Tuesday that authorities were investigating whether to charge them with spying.

A U.S. official rejected the allegation, and a security official in Iraq said the three were merely backpackers who got lost while hiking in a mountainous region where the Iran-Iraq border is not clearly marked.

The last time we dealt with Iran about a hostage was reporter Roxana Saberi, and she was eventually released in exchange for some Quds Force members.  How does that saying go?

"We've already determined what kind of woman you are.  Now we're just haggling over the price."

Obama has already told the world what kind of negotiator he is, and he has actually already set the starting price.  What remains to be seen is how much the next payment to Iran will be.  And, again, what was the payment to North Korea?  We don't know...but someone needs to find out and tell us.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I'll keep saying it until the man is out of office: the greatest danger to America is Barack Obama.

There's my two cents.