So your ready to join Bush in the war on terror then?
Nah Gawain ,we need someone is actually up to the job , not someone with half baked ideas who is creating more terrorists and fragmenting alliances .

An example of this might be the UK in the 1980s refusing to talk to the IRA or maybe today Israel and Hamas.

What example Simon , the UK was in negotiation in the '80s just as it was in the previous and following decades , just as it had been for most of the past century .
And just as Isreal is today , or do you think that the concessions on voting and the amendments to Hamas' constitution were both unilateral descisions without negotiating .

On the basis of past experience, the US Government concluded that making concessions that benefit hostage takers in exchange for the release of hostages increased the danger that others will be taken hostage. US Government policy is, therefore, to deny hostage takers the benefits of ransom, prisoner releases, policy changes, or other acts of concession. At the same time, the US Government will make every effort—including contact with representatives of the captors—to obtain the release of hostages without making concessions to the hostage takers.
Divinus , you know that is rubbish , the government has and does negotiate , make payments and concessions in its it dealings with terrorists .

So . Can we negotiate with Al-Qaida ? nah **** em .
Can we negotiate with all the various so called "al-qaida linked" groups ? yes possibly , depending on how crazy they are .