Paper downplayed ransom 'blockbuster'

Last week, a blockbuster story broke, but not in the Daily Herald. The president of the United States was caught in a bald-faced lie, exposed by his own State Department spokesman, John Kirby.

"We do not pay ransom. We didn't here, and we won't in the future," the president told reporters, speaking of the Jan. 17 payment of $400 million to Iran and the simultaneous hostage release.

State Department spokesman Kirby was asked at a press briefing: "In basic English, you're saying you wouldn't give them $400 million in cash until the prisoners were released, correct?"

"That's correct," Kirby replied.

That is the very definition of ransom. The story was relegated to a squib in the "World and Nation in 60 Seconds." It should have been an above-the-fold front page report. I'm certain that's where it would have been had the ransom occurred on George Bush's watch.

Martin Robinson

Prospect Heights