Prisoner trade by Obama: Malevolent or just Stupid?
- Thread starter Colpy
- Start date
Oh that clears it up.
I didn't know that article states the Executive office can do whatever it wants.
"A former top adviser to President Obama on Wednesday questioned the release of dangerous terrorists in exchange for an imprisoned American soldier as anger spread among lawmakers in Washington over the secret deal to free Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
“I don't fault the administration for wanting to get him back. I do question whether the conditions are in place to make sure these terrorists don't go back into battle,” former CIA director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told a gas industry gathering in Pittsburgh.
Panetta, who was in the Cabinet for four of the five years Bergdahl spent in Taliban custody, said he opposed a swap for the terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when he was Defense secretary.
“I said, ‘Wait, I have an obligation under the law,'” Panetta said during a lunchtime address at the Hart Energy Developing Unconventionals DUG East conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. “If I send prisoners from Guantanamo, they have to guarantee they don't go back to the battlefield. I had serious concerns.”
He said talks fell apart because the Taliban “asked for five top guys.” He did not say when during his 2011-13 tenure in the Pentagon that discussions took place.
“I just assumed it was never going to happen,” Panetta said.
Read more: In Pittsburgh, Leon Panetta questions prisoner swap with Taliban | TribLIVE
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“I don't fault the administration for wanting to get him back. I do question whether the conditions are in place to make sure these terrorists don't go back into battle,” former CIA director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told a gas industry gathering in Pittsburgh.
Panetta, who was in the Cabinet for four of the five years Bergdahl spent in Taliban custody, said he opposed a swap for the terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when he was Defense secretary.
“I said, ‘Wait, I have an obligation under the law,'” Panetta said during a lunchtime address at the Hart Energy Developing Unconventionals DUG East conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. “If I send prisoners from Guantanamo, they have to guarantee they don't go back to the battlefield. I had serious concerns.”
He said talks fell apart because the Taliban “asked for five top guys.” He did not say when during his 2011-13 tenure in the Pentagon that discussions took place.
“I just assumed it was never going to happen,” Panetta said.
Read more: In Pittsburgh, Leon Panetta questions prisoner swap with Taliban | TribLIVE
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
Liberals can circle the wagons with this one.............:lol:
New York Times Editorial: Bergdahl's Unit 'As Much to Blame' For His Disappearance
It's no surprise New York Times editorials reflexively defend President Obama, but the decision to refocus the blame on Bowe Bergdahl's fellow soldiers for his apparent desertion is pretty astonishing. And yet, here we have the Times is fretting about "The Rush to Demonize Sgt. Bergdahl":
New York Times Editorial: Bergdahl's Unit 'As Much to Blame' For His Disappearance | The Weekly Standard
New York Times Editorial: Bergdahl's Unit 'As Much to Blame' For His Disappearance
It's no surprise New York Times editorials reflexively defend President Obama, but the decision to refocus the blame on Bowe Bergdahl's fellow soldiers for his apparent desertion is pretty astonishing. And yet, here we have the Times is fretting about "The Rush to Demonize Sgt. Bergdahl":
And a classified military report shows that Sergeant Bergdahl had walked away from assigned areas at least twice before and had returned, according to a report in The Times on Thursday. It describes him as a free-spirited young man who asked many questions but gave no indication of being a deserter, let alone the turncoat that Mr. Obama’s opponents are now trying to create.
If anything, the report suggests that the army unit’s lack of security and discipline was as much to blame for the disappearance, given the sergeant’s history.
So to unpack this, the Times acknowledges Bergdahl walked away twice previously, but that he "gave no indication of being a deserter." Other reports indicate Bergdahl wanted to contact the Taliban, but this fact is ignored in favor of speculation that any suspect motives Bergdahl may have had are fictions "Mr. Obama’s opponents are now trying to create." Further, the fact he did walk away and get captured by the Taliban "suggests that the army unit’s lack of security and discipline was as much to blame for [Bergdahl's] disappearance, given the sergeant’s history." If Bergdahl "gave no indication of being a deserter," why would his unit be blamed for not keeping closer tabs on him?If anything, the report suggests that the army unit’s lack of security and discipline was as much to blame for the disappearance, given the sergeant’s history.
New York Times Editorial: Bergdahl's Unit 'As Much to Blame' For His Disappearance | The Weekly Standard
GUESS WHO WANTS TO FIGHT AND KILL MORE AMERICANS:
"PESHAWAR, Pakistan - One of the five Taliban leaders freed from Guantanamo Bay in return for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's release has pledged to return to fight Americans in Afghanistan, according to a fellow militant and a relative.
"After arriving in Qatar, Noorullah Noori kept insisting he would go to Afghanistan and fight American forces there,” a Taliban commander told NBC News via telephone from Afghanistan.
Noori pushed to return to Afghanistan after learning that the U.S. had provided written assurances that no country would arrest any of the five freed for a year as long as they lived peacefully, one of his relatives told NBC News by telephone from Afghanistan..."
Freed Taliban Commander Tells Relative He'll Fight Americans Again - NBC News
"PESHAWAR, Pakistan - One of the five Taliban leaders freed from Guantanamo Bay in return for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's release has pledged to return to fight Americans in Afghanistan, according to a fellow militant and a relative.
"After arriving in Qatar, Noorullah Noori kept insisting he would go to Afghanistan and fight American forces there,” a Taliban commander told NBC News via telephone from Afghanistan.
Noori pushed to return to Afghanistan after learning that the U.S. had provided written assurances that no country would arrest any of the five freed for a year as long as they lived peacefully, one of his relatives told NBC News by telephone from Afghanistan..."
Freed Taliban Commander Tells Relative He'll Fight Americans Again - NBC News
...and the minute he leaves Qatar he will be found under a pile of rubble from a drone strike.
Obama may not be a brilliant leader, but he's good at one thing.. killing azzholes with drone strikes.
Obama may not be a brilliant leader, but he's good at one thing.. killing azzholes with drone strikes.
...and the minute he leaves Qatar he will be found under a pile of rubble from a drone strike.
Obama may not be a brilliant leader, but he's good at one thing.. killing azzholes with drone strikes.
Jihadis can be turned out faster than Obama can kill them.
What People Don’t Understand About the Bergdahl Deal
These were NOT terrorists.
Bowe Bergdahl and negotiating with the Taliban: Why the deal to free this POW could be even more important.
First, contrary to claims by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and others, the Obama administration did not negotiate with “terrorists” to get Bergdahl back ... The first point is politically important. Many columnists and congressmen make a big point that America doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. Well, sometimes America does, but the key thing here is that the Taliban delegates, with whom U.S. officials have been negotiating in Qatar over the fate of Sgt. Bergdahl, are not terrorists. They represent a political faction and a military force in Afghanistan; they are combatants in a war that the United States is fighting. In other words, Bergdahl was not a “hostage” (another erroneous term uttered by Rogers). He was a prisoner of war, and what happened on May 31 was an exchange of POWs ... while Obama and his diplomats made the deal on their own (in line with his powers as commander-in-chief), it’s not true that he left Congress out of the picture. He briefed a small group of senators in January 2012, when a deal first seemed in the offing ...
more ....
The Taliban were the government of Afghanistan until Bush invaded. Therefore, not terrorists unlike al-Qaeda. In fact Karzai is negotiating a settlement to the conflict with that group. Unfortunately, the controlled right wing media does not report the fact that the country is in a civil war and equates the political Taliban with AQ. Small wonder why the public is so confused about all this.
These were NOT terrorists.
Bowe Bergdahl and negotiating with the Taliban: Why the deal to free this POW could be even more important.
First, contrary to claims by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and others, the Obama administration did not negotiate with “terrorists” to get Bergdahl back ... The first point is politically important. Many columnists and congressmen make a big point that America doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. Well, sometimes America does, but the key thing here is that the Taliban delegates, with whom U.S. officials have been negotiating in Qatar over the fate of Sgt. Bergdahl, are not terrorists. They represent a political faction and a military force in Afghanistan; they are combatants in a war that the United States is fighting. In other words, Bergdahl was not a “hostage” (another erroneous term uttered by Rogers). He was a prisoner of war, and what happened on May 31 was an exchange of POWs ... while Obama and his diplomats made the deal on their own (in line with his powers as commander-in-chief), it’s not true that he left Congress out of the picture. He briefed a small group of senators in January 2012, when a deal first seemed in the offing ...
more ....
The Taliban were the government of Afghanistan until Bush invaded. Therefore, not terrorists unlike al-Qaeda. In fact Karzai is negotiating a settlement to the conflict with that group. Unfortunately, the controlled right wing media does not report the fact that the country is in a civil war and equates the political Taliban with AQ. Small wonder why the public is so confused about all this.
Former President Ronald Reagan died Saturday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 93.
Reagan led a conservative revolution that set the economic and cultural tone of the 1980s, hastened the end of the Cold War and revitalized the Republican Party. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease since at least late 1994.
CNN.com - Ronald Reagan dies at 93 - Jun 5, 2004
Reagan led a conservative revolution that set the economic and cultural tone of the 1980s, hastened the end of the Cold War and revitalized the Republican Party. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease since at least late 1994.
CNN.com - Ronald Reagan dies at 93 - Jun 5, 2004