CBS: WH 'Hoped' Iran Proxies Would Delay Kidnapping More Americans Until After Prisoner Swap Guy Benson | Jan 19, 2016

It's been an eventful and consequential few days with respect to US-Iranian relations. While some will cast several major developments as unalloyed positives (see updates for details regarding the headline on this post), each comes at a substantial price: (1) The Obama administration secured the release of three Americans -- a Washington Post journalist, a pastor and a former Marine -- held hostage by the regime. While this is no doubt extremely welcome, heartwarming news for each man's family and friends, the Wall Street Journal's editors note that the US government paid a "steep ransom" for this outcome, which they describe as an Iranian triumph:

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