We take care of our own. Period.
I am not advocating to release a terrorist to free her. I understand that is what is at play here. I am not intimating that she is more important than hundreds of other Americans who are imprisoned in foreign countries. I have advocated for their release as well at different times.
They all deserve to come home; including her.
If the only option for releasing other American prisoners was to swap with a terrorist, I think most of us would not be ok with that either. But we would all still agree that we need to get our fellow American back home somehow.
The deeper, more pressing issue about all of this is that Russia is engaged in a hot war with us, and have threatened to use their nuclear weapons on the US. This sets a very bad precedent for what is to come. If we can’t get her out, what makes us think we do anything about Russia locking up another American citizen? How could we stop them?
Power is shifting. We need to keep a watchful eye.