There’s an old proverb about bringing a long spoon when supping with the devil. The same is true about terrorists. Negotiating with Islamic terrorists in particular is a fool’s errand.

You may remember the Iranian-backed attack in January that killed 3 American soldiers and wounded 30 on the Jordanian-Syrian border.

The crisis forced Biden into the position of potentially having to launch a serious military response and so the old backchannel with Iran went into action and Tehran agreed to tell its Iraqi Shiite puppets to tone it down.

"A visit by the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force to Baghdad has led to a pause in attacks on U.S. troops by Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, multiple Iranian and Iraqi sources told Reuters, saying it was a sign Tehran wants to prevent a broader conflict".

"Esmail Qaani met representatives of several of the armed groups in Baghdad airport on Jan. 29, less than 48 hours after Washington blamed the groups for the killing of three U.S. soldiers at the Tower 22 outpost in Jordan, the sources said".

"Qaani, whose predecessor was killed by a U.S. drone near the same airport four years ago, told the factions that drawing American blood risked a heavy U.S. response, 10 of the sources said".

"He said the militias should lie low, to avoid U.S. strikes on their senior commanders, destruction of key infrastructure or even a direct retaliation against Iran, the sources said".

While one faction did not initially agree to Qaani’s request, most others did. The next day, elite Iran-backed group Kataib Hezbollah announced it was suspending attacks.

D.C. was eager to believe this nonsense. Now the same game is being played all over again.

"For the first time in more than a month, Iraqi militants fired rockets at U.S. forces in the Middle East".

"Five rockets were launched from inside Iraq at a U.S. base inside northeastern Syria, Iraqi security forces announced Sunday night…"

The attack was launched toward the Kharab al-Jir base in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, France 24 reports.

The base, located in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border, is used by American troops and members of the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition.

It had previously been attacked in December.

The rocket attack is the first time since early February that forces in Iraq targeted U.S. installations and personnel.

Those attacks have wounded dozens of American troops and killed three service members in a base in Jordan.

Khataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militant group that the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, said that Iraqi militant groups were resuming attacks on American bases and personnel, with Sunday’s attack being “the beginning.”

This is what terrorists do. They’re cowards. They launch attacks, when a serious response is expected, they go to ground, cry, play the victim, and then call for a ceasefire. (Also see Oct 7.)

Then they start attacking all over again.

You don’t negotiate calm with terrorists. Either you kill them or they kill you. Appeasement always fails.

Photo: JOHN DAVISON\ REUTERS