Congressman: We Don’t Negotiate With Terrorists on Land, but We Will at Sea

With all eyes on the Somali pirates reported to have taken an American hostage in the waters off of Africa’s Horn, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), a 31-year Navy veteran, weighed in this afternoon with this message: We don’t negotiate with hostage-takers on land, but we can do so at sea. From the interview with Fox News:

We’re not talking about negotiating where they’ve taken our men and women ashore in their own places there. This is a totally different situation right now, that we have to convince them to let him go … T]he U.S. government would not negotiate with a hostage, if it’s in a — if it’s in a state. But at sea is a totally different situation, where you have them cornered, much like a policeman would in the city of Philadelphia in a room.