President Bush APOLOGIZED to China to secure U.S. airmen held captive

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by Jon Perr
Jan 13, 2016

Years from now, Americans will look back at the Iranian hostage crisis that wasn't. One day after 10 American sailors were captured by Iranian patrols after their boats inadvertently drifted into Tehran's territorial waters, our servicemen and their equipment are back in U.S. hands.

But the diplomatic thaw and rapid action by Secretary of State John Kerry that allowed both sides to avoid a confrontation is still too much for President Obama's Republican critics to handle. The usual suspects denounced the White House for images of "America on its knees," for its "apology" to Tehran and because "even Jimmy Carter never got around to thanking the Iranians for taking such good care of their US hostages."

The Republicans and their amen corner might want to rethink their strategy. After all, Ronald Reagan—the American president who actually negotiated with terrorists—tried and failed to secure the release of western hostages held by Iranian proxies even after sending the mullahs in Tehran a cake, a Bible and $500 million in U.S. weapons. And as it turns out, after the collision of an American spy plane with a Chinese fighter jet in international airspace on April 1, 2001, President Bush told Beijing the United States was "very sorry" for the loss of their pilot and for our airmen landing on Hainan Island.

On April 11, 2001, the Bush administration instructed American ambassador Joseph Prueher to deliver this letter to his Chinese counterpart, foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan:

Dear Mr. Minister,

On behalf of the United States government, I now outline steps to resolve this issue. Both President Bush and Secretary of State Powell have expressed their sincere regret over your missing pilot and aircraft. Please convey to the Chinese people and to the family of pilot Wang Wei that we are very sorry for their loss. ... We are very sorry the entering of China's airspace and the landing did not have verbal clearance, but very pleased the crew landed safely. We appreciate China's efforts to see to the well-being of our crew.

read more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/1/13/1469626/-President-Bush-apologized-to-China-to-secure-U-S-airmen-held-captive

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1. Obama Just Got 4 Americans Released From Iran, But Republicans Are Still Criticizing Him

by Sam Levine

Several Republican presidential candidates criticized the Obama administration's decision to swap seven Iranian prisoners for The Washington Post's reporter Jason Rezaian and three other Americans on Saturday.

Some of them, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), accused the administration of not pushing hard enough for the American prisoners' release when the United States negotiated a deal with Iran last year. A group of 21 senators, led by Rubio and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last year to demand the prisoners' unconditional release. Kerry has said that he repeatedly pushed for the men's release during negotiations.

On Saturday, Republicans said that Obama should not have given up Iranian prisoners because it made the United States look weak and that the U.S. prisoners should have been released without condition.

Shortly after the exchange was announced, Rubio said that while he was happy the Americans were coming home, the release would only encourage U.S. enemies to take more hostages abroad.

read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-criticize-prisoner-swap_5699452ce4b0778f46f93f6f

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2. kicking ... Republicans blasting the president as weak need to be reminded that in 2001 China

held 24 Navy airmen for a couple of weeks and Bush had to issue a formal apology to get them back!