What Happens When They Run Out of Hostages?

Big question, no simple answers

First there was a day of terror beyond imagining. Then nearly fifty days of brutal military response and endless images of suffering. And a major urban area blown to smithereens while its people starve and babies die in hospitals where terrorists hide weapons.

They died because there was no fuel to power life support systems.

Meanwhile politicians frantically maneuver across the region, trying to avert an escalation, stop the killing, and in some cases, further their political goals. Finally, talks lead to a pause that can’t be called a ceasefire because that implies some kind of end. And deals are made to start releasing hostages taken during that first terror attack.

We watch as exchanges are made and the news media publishes the numbers and the heartwarming stories of reunions, or the heartbreaking stories when family members are left behind.

Each day requires a new negotiation. We hear that hostages are not held in one place by one group of terrorists. They were spread across the ruined city until some can’t be found.

From here, across an ocean in the US, it looks like both parties would like to find a way to keep the exchanges going, to keep things quiet while aid flows, though the violence still continues on a quieter basis, skirmishes and random shootings.