It needs to be considered how a negotiated release would have to be managed. The stakes being played for are high for both sides so it has to be carefully managed. It would be to easy for everything to go wrong by simply dropping him off on a street corner, both side would want a controlled handover to protect Woods, once it got to this stage neither side would want him killed. Given the dangers involved, those who were captured with Woods on release would have to have been considered expendable by their masters, unless of course they had decided to come across with Woods, perhaps there may have some incentive to do so. Painting it as a military release also helps protect any family they may have left behind. Given that Woods had been held outside Baghdad during his captivity, it stands to reason he had been bought back in for release, not rescue. It all looks too controlled to be the result of luck.
