Politics 88 : Jackson Favors Hostage Talks

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Sunday said that he would negotiate with terrorists holding American hostages and indicated that he would be willing to grant concessions to them to get the hostages free.

Late Sunday night, however, the Jackson campaign issued a clarification, insisting that: “Talk does not mean concession.”

But earlier, after delivering a speech here outlining his views on terrorism, Jackson said in an interview: “You must not set up preconditions that stop effectiveness. I would meet with anybody I could meet with to get the American hostages out of Beirut.”

Jackson said that “the nature of negotiations would be determined by what the options are,” but then equated negotiation to plea bargaining and said: “Every day that there is plea bargaining, there is concession.”

Asked whether he believed the granting of concessions merely encouraged terrorism, Jackson said: “No, not necessarily.”

In the speech, Jackson had voiced strong disagreement with the position taken by Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, who has said he would never negotiate with terrorists. The position set forth by Jackson also differs sharply from declared U.S. policy, which has long ruled out making concessions to terrorists.

In the clarification, the Jackson campaign reaffirmed that position, saying: “In the Iran-Contra affair, Reagan and Bush made their error not in talking to those who held the hostages, but in trading guns for hostages. That was a mistake.”

In the speech, Jackson described Dukakis’ anti-terrorism policy as: “Be tough, even if it means the hostages never get out. Be tough. But I don’t quite take the same position. I will get those hostages out. I will bring them back home. And guess what? I know how. I have done it before.”

In 1984, Jackson negotiated with Syrian President Hafez Assad to win the freedom of Navy Lt. Robert O. Goodman Jr., who had been held prisoner in Syria after he was shot down over Lebanon.