Return of Americans held as hostages should be viewed as huge win

Editor:

Whenever there is a prisoner exchange someone is unhappy. They have to take place in secret so the deal can get done and not derailed.

This multi-country exchange was going on under our noses while we only knew of little private side meet-and-greets by Biden and Harris with our allies’ leaders.

While our enemies – Russian and Iranian satellites in particular – play games with life and imprisonment, the simple fact is we put more value on the life of our ordinary citizens! So do our many friends.

Trump once released 200 Houthi fighters for 2 of ours. No criticism here.

In the cat-and-mouse world of foreign intrigues each side has its own values and priorities and exchanges only work when all think it’s a win for them.

Russia clearly acted now as it was worried no matter how the races turned out it might lose leverage soon. But in this backwards world of how life is valued, the flip side for us is we could get more of our prisoners now!

I say take this absolutely huge win and be happy we have so many people back where they should be with their families living in the free world!

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion