John Coale is exactly who we need to bring home our Americans

John Coale is President Trump’s new nominee for Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs — and he is exactly the master dealmaker the job demands. With innocent Americans still languishing in prison cells in Iran, Russia, China and Afghanistan, the Senate must confirm him without delay. Lives are hanging in the balance, and Coale has already proven he knows how to break the diplomatic gridlock.

Coale masterminded the deal that used sanction relief and economic incentives to secure the release of hundreds of prisoners, including numerous American and allied citizens, from Belarus. Using such tools to free American hostages and wrongful detainees is not new, yet American diplomats, paralyzed by the lack of moral equivalence in hostage negotiations, hesitate to dip into that toolbox. Deals that could — and should — be made to bring Americans home are left on the table, forcing wrongful detainees to suffer in foreign cells far longer than they should. The irony of it all is that the deals never get better. We ultimately end up using........

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