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Published On: Mon, Jun 2nd, 2014

Bowe Bergdahl free as Obama administration attacked by GOP for freeing ‘hard core terrorists’

Many in Washington on unahppy and concerned over the prisoner sway for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Saturday. Bergdahl has been held by Taliban for five years and was freed in exchange for five militants from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and flown to Qatar.

PFC_Bowe Bergdahl_ACUSenator John McCain described these men as the “hardest of the hard core” before noting that “Others that we have released have gone back into the fight.”

“That’s been documented. So it’s disturbing to me that the Taliban are the ones that named the people to be released.” McCain said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Among the five: a Taliban deputy intelligence minister, a former Taliban interior minister with ties to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a figure linked by human rights monitors to mass killings of Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001.

U.S. officials said Sunday that Bergdahl’s health and safety appeared in jeopardy, prompting rapid action to secure his release. “Had we waited and lost him,” said national security adviser Susan Rice, “I don’t think anybody would have forgiven the United States government.”

Bob and Jani Bergdahl thanked all who were behind the effort to retrieve him. “You were not left behind,” Bob Bergdahl told reporters, as if speaking to his son. “We are so proud of the way this was carried out.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he hoped the exchange might lead to breakthroughs in reconciliation with the militants and rejected accusations from Republicans that it resulted from negotiations with terrorists, saying the swap had been worked out by the government of Qatar.

“We didn’t negotiate with terrorists,” Hagel said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. “As I said and explained before, Sergeant Bergdahl was a prisoner of war. That’s a normal process in getting your prisoners back.”

Bergdahl, 28, was handed over on Saturday to U.S. forces who had flown in by helicopter. The Taliban said they had released Bergdahl near the border with Pakistan in eastern Afghanistan.

Author Brad Thor summarized the conflicting emotions and criticism of the move in an article for The Blaze: ”

U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has been released from captivity.  That’s the good news.  Every American and every freedom-loving person in the world should rejoice.  The reunion with his family will be a major media moment and a major moment for the president.   The bad news is that President Obama has now placed a target on the back of every single American – civilian and military alike.” (Emphasis added, The Dispatch)

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About the Author

- Writer and Co-Founder of The Global Dispatch, Brandon has been covering news, offering commentary for years, beginning professionally in 2003 on Crazed Fanboy before expanding into other blogs and sites. Appearing on several radio shows, Brandon has hosted Dispatch Radio, written his first novel (The Rise of the Templar) and completed the three years Global University program in Ministerial Studies to be a pastor. To Contact Brandon email [email protected] ATTN: BRANDON

Displaying 6 Comments
Have Your Say
  1. […] when President Obama from swapped five Gitmo prisoners for a disgraced Army solider, Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban after deserting his post in […]

  2. No jail time for Bowe Bergdahl, Trump says decision is a ‘total disgrace’ | The Global Dispatch says:

    […] officials reached a deal in 2014 to release several Taliban prisons in exchange for Bergdahl, who left his base in Afghanistan and was then held captive by the […]

  3. ‘Hero’ Bowe Bergdahl charged as ‘deserter’ and ‘misbehavior’ - The Global Dispatch says:

    […] Obama administration took a ton of heat for releasing Gitmo prisoners to free Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from the Taliban and will likely be back in the GOP crosshairs now that Bergdahl has been charged with desertion […]

  4. John Kerry on release of Taliban from Gitmo endangers US troops, ‘baloney’ - The Global Dispatch says:

    […] of the Obama administration have zeroed in on the release of the five Taliban leaders from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for Bowe Bergdahl. Now […]

  5. Bowe Bergdahl ‘deserted’ before capture on ‘latrine’, says fellow soldiers - The Global Dispatch says:

    […] show, a soldier called in to detail the disppearance of Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier involved in the controversial prisoner swap. A Wikileaks memo indicates he was nabbed while on a “makeshift […]

  6. Sam Iam says:

    If They Can Lose A Plane Full Of Passengers… How Are They Gonna Track 5 Terrorists???

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