Emotional Insanity

I am sure that “emotional insanity” is not in the dictionary. But it exists, and unfortunately it seems that our government (Israeli) has fallen prey to it.
I would love to see Gilad Shalit released. I can not even imagine in my darkest dreams the nightmare that his family is enduring and has endured over the last three years. I doubt that there is a Jew in the country who does not feel, emotionally, that it is time for him to return home. And that emotional wish has led us to an insanity.
It takes no big brain to see what the swapping of a thousand terrorists, many with blood on their hands, will result in:
-encouraging further kidnappings
-encouraging more murders (even if you’re caught, you get set free eventually)
- a hero’s welcome and venerating of the released murderers, furthering the cult of worship of the Jihad....
- strengthening of the extremists among the Arabs, for “winning” again

I am sorry, but the price is just too high.
It is a shame that at the time of the kidnapping, some sanctions were not placed on the area to pressure for Gilad Shalit’s return. It is a sorry world that if we would place sanctions on the Arabs now, the world would see us only as the villain. Perhaps we should, for once, ignore the “nice” Western world that doesn’t care a damn about Shalit, and pressure the Arabs through sanctions anyway. I don’t know. But I do know that 1000 for 1 is emotional insanity.

UPDATE Saturday night, 5th December
It turns out that my soldier son has changed his mind. He says that the released terrorists are not likely, having tasted prison, to return to actively doing terrorists attacks. And the Arabs are ANYWAY going to capture soldiers if they can. But if they can hope for a big swap the MIGHT not lynch the soldier.
This problem is too big for my head. I am uncertain what is really the correct thing to do. There is no 100% good way out of all this. But we ALL agreed that as long as the Arabs do not allow their prisoners to see the red cross or family members, the prisoners we hold should be denied family visits, and let their families put a bit of pressure on the Hamas and Palestinian authority.