The one about Will Lynch dying in a hostage crisis

So we had our nice little Hostage Crisis on Friday. My role was the melancholy professor Tom. My character was initially depressed about the whole ordeal and was preparing for eminent death. To start us off, all the hostages were blindfolded by "terrorist, " or the National Group for People's Struggle, and taken to our "VIP Lounge" where we deliberated about what we as hostages could do. We were asked to write letters to our government pleading for their cooperation in exchange for our freedom. All pleas from both us and the alleged terrorist were ignored and eventually we were all to be executed. Afterward, the President planned arial and ground assaults on the country of Keibar.

So there it was, America on the edge of war. Many people would assume that this was because of the climate of the world today, and partially it is. The decision to not negotiate with terrorists was made long before the simulation started, long before The President was accepted into the Honors Program and perhaps before the President even got into high school. Instead of a Critical Thinking Exercise, it became a matter of principle, it became about how our president was raised and how the value of human life was ignored for the sake of saving face. Not only were all the hostages murdered, but soldiers were sent into the country to fight.. how many of them would die?

Now, i'm CERTAINLY not claiming the United States should cooperate with any sort of extortionist group like the one in the simulation, that would only encourage that cast of behavior. However, with the refusal as to so much as consider the idea of talking to the extremist group face to face and the bogged down system that was apparently used, including an intermediary that was personal with both groups, a solution could have easily been found as it has in past years. But instead of following proper rhetoric to easily solve the situation, the disregard for human life, and ultimately war, prevailed. Sound familiar?