Taliban Terrorist / American Soldier Swap

I'm not pretending anything, nor did I say anything like that. I just can't believe we did it. To make matters worse it was a 5 for 1 trade. If that was the best we could negotiate then we shouldn't have done it. I'm all for getting the troops back though. I'm not here offering solutions or alternatives. I'm just telling you how I feel.

Stuff Liondownnow said a few minutes ago:

I guess readers will just have to decide for themselves whether Liondownnow thinks we should now stop America's history of exchanging prisoners with our nation's enemies.

Actually that should be Stuff written by Liondownnow a few minutes ago. I never said a thing.

Readers don't HAVE to decide for themselves. They are welcome to send me a private message or just ask me here on this thread.

I appreciate the correction. Yes, as best I can tell, you didn't say, in relation to getting our soldiers back, "we should never swap a thing."

Rather, you wrote, in relation to getting our soldiers back, "we should never swap a thing."

Along with General Washington, President Lincoln, Prime Minister Churchill, President Reagan, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and pretty much every military leader who's been forced by circumstance to face this difficult situation, I disagree with what you wrote but didn't say.

I tip my hat to you. I see that we disagree.

DonDiego hereby states plainly the violation of Law by The Obama.

The administration is required to give Congress 30 days advance notice of any plans to release a prisoner from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, per section 1033 of the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act — signed into law by Obama in 2013.

Actually the applicable Law is quite specific on the requirement to notify Congress in the event that The Secretary of defense determines that a transfer of a detainee from Guantanamo iBay is in the national interest of the United States:
"Whenever the Secretary makes a determination under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress, not later than 30 days before the transfer of the individual concerned, the following:
(A)A copy of the determination and the waiver concerned.
(B)A statement of the basis for the determination, including—
(i)an explanation why the transfer is in the national security interests of the United States;
(ii)in the case of a waiver of subparagraph (D) or (E) of subsection (b)(1), an explanation why it is not possible to certify that the risks addressed in the paragraph to be waived have been completely eliminated; and
(iii)a classified summary of—
(I)the individual’s record of cooperation while in the custody of or under the effective control of the Department of Defense; and
(II)the agreements and mechanisms in place to provide for continuing cooperation.
(C)A summary of the alternative actions to be taken to address the underlying purpose of, and to mitigate the risks addressed in, the paragraph or subsection to be waived.
(D)The assessment required by subsection (b)(2)."

The documents required by Law were not submitted by the Administration 30 days before the transfer.
So far as DonDiego knows the required documents have not been submitted yet.
Apparently no one in Congress was even notified at all about the transfer of the 5 Taliban jihadis until the day after the transfer was completed, . . . except maybe for Senator Reid of Nevada who claims he was alerted by the White House regarding the prisoner deal, “the day before or the day of. I don’t remember for sure."

DonDiego humbly submits the Law was broken.

n.b. DonDiego urges forkushV not to fret over possible legal action, let alone conviction, of The Obama over this matter. As long as Eric Holder is Attorney General of the United States the President is as safe as if he were The Emperor of the United States. If President Richard Nixon had had an Attorney General as loyal as Mr. Holder and a Congress as feckless as the present one, . . . he'd likely still be President, perhaps as a head kept alive in a nutrient solution in a bottle on the White House mantle, but still in charge.

The more I read about this whole deal the more it sickens me.

For White House, Longstanding Questions Cloud Bergdahl's Release

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bowe-bergdahl-released/white-house-longstanding-questions-cloud-bergdahls-release-n121346

National Security Advisor Susan Rice offered a startlingly favorable assessment of a soldier who served in Afghanistan for only six weeks before his disappearance.

“He served the United States with honor and distinction,” she said. “And we’ll have the opportunity eventually to learn what has transpired in the past years.”

But on Tuesday, Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken was unwilling to echo those words during an appearance on MSNBC, saying only that Bergdahl must “tell his story.”


Family of Soldier Slain in Bowe Bergdahl Search Blasts Prisoner Swap

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bowe-bergdahl-released/family-soldier-slain-bowe-bergdahl-search-blasts-prisoner-swap-n120596

""If this guy [Bergdahl] had not gone off post, our son would not have been killed."

The Defense Department has never said Bergdahl was away without leave and has pointedly described him as a "prisoner of war.".."
A medic who was in Bergdahl's platoon told NBC News that he firmly believes the quiet, bookish sergeant willfully sneaked away, putting himself in harm's way and endangering the lives of fellow soldiers.

"He's not a hero," Josh Cornelison said of Bergdahl, who has been promoted twice in captivity.

"He left the Army. He walked away from his post on his own two feet with his own sound mind. He left by himself to do what he wanted to do. He is not a hero. Heroes are the people who sacrificed their lives for your freedom, for my freedom, for everybody's freedom." Cornelison said after Bergdahl disappeared, the Army flooded the area with troops to find him. For 90 days, it was their top priority, even as the Taliban stepped up their attacks.

"Every single mission we did was pointed toward finding Berghdahl," Cornelison said. "Every single person that died was doing something to find Bowe Berghdahl."
“They show his parents, and his father is evidently speaking a native language...and seems to be a sympathizer and they're talking about how he gets to come home to his parents," the mother said.

"We got a box and our son was a hero.”



For anybody to defend or support this deal is equally sickening

Maybe Bergdahl was part of some complex misinformation scheme. Maybe he did walk away but did so under orders or with the knowledge of his commanding officers. Not everything is what it seems. Maybe there are things we don't know. I know it's shocking to think that the press doesn't know or report everything.


Lion, I acknowledge your courage and conviction. While we can argue about the virtues of prisoner swaps, there is no denying the bravery of a soldier that would rather stay a prisoner than let an enemy combatant go free.

Most of this guy's fellow soldiers don't like him at all and consider him to be a deserter and not a hero. I will believe them before I ever believe the propaganda from Obama or his people.