Howdy. I'm still around and follow the threads here. The insanity going on and the futility of commenting on it has turned me into a lurker more or less. Its completely clear that political forums are monitored and oppositional language likely gets you into various databases. The illusion of free speech is just that, an illusion. But the crap coming out of the mouth of Susan Rice with regularity is too much. Her willingness to lie to 300 million people is remarkable. Never seen anything like it. I agree with the President. You simply must extricate an American citizen from extra-national detention (being held by a gang, not a country) and particularly a soldier pretty much no matter what they have done. You do not leave a man behind. I get that. Handing over your 5 most dangerous prisoners (are they POWs?) is edgy but I also admit that I would make the same decision. The kid has to be gotten out, preferably by military means but in the end I would make the swap if it came to it. But sending Susan Rice out to attempt to completely mischaracterize the service of this soldier and having the military obfuscate the true mission of those killed searching for this guy is quasi-criminal. Rice has to go. If not, I imagine a lot of shit is going to land on Mr. Obama.
Hey377, nice to see you! But you've got it all wrong about Susan Rice... she was simply acting presidential
This is the inevitable outcome of applying domestic criminal justice and constitutional rights procedures to terrorists seized on foreign battlefields. We should never acknowledge that we even are holding such people. The only rational approach would be to torture what you can out of them, then toss them out of an airplace over the ocean. Instead, we give them better medical care than our own veterans, give them the very best of legal representation via clueless big law associates and partners and them hand them over for a hero's welcome to a big financial sponsor of radical islamists. In exchange for a deserter, no less. At the same time, we have done absolutely nothing to retaliate for the Benghazi attack, even though we know which militias were involved. It's no wonder no one, not the taliban, not the ingrate Karzi, certainly not Putin, neither respect nor fear us.
Hey bro. I just can't find it in my heart to hold Hagel responsible as he is simply too dumb to be complicit in anything. I imagine he has difficulty finding his office without escort. It would be like punishing a pet.
GOP Urged White House To 'Do All It Can' To Get Bowe Bergdahl Posted: 06/03/2014 4:06 pm EDT Updated: 06/04/2014 9:59 am EDT "WASHINGTON -- As soon as President Barack Obama told the nation Saturday evening that America's only prisoner of war in Afghanistan had been rescued, Republican lawmakers and pundits began criticizing the administration on how it handled the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. "Many lawmakers have been upset that Obama did not give Congress 30 days notice, as required by law. Others are upset that five Taliban detainees who were being held at Guantanamo Bay were released in return, with some conservatives even accusing the administration of negotiating with terrorists. (The government of Qatar actually negotiated the deal.) There are also now questions about Bergdahl himself, and whether he initially deserted his post. "With 29 percent of former Guantanamo detainees having reengaged or being suspected of reengaging in terrorism, the administration's decision to release these five terrorist detainees endangers U.S. national security interests," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.). "It also sets a precedent that could encourage our enemies to capture more Americans in order to gain concessions from our government." "But prior to Bergdahl's release, Republican lawmakers were some of the sergeant's biggest advocates, and repeatedly pressed the administration to do something -- in fact, everything within its power -- to get him returned to the United States. "A May 22 press release from Ayotte's office read, "As part of ongoing efforts to urge the Department of Defense to do all it can to find Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl and bring him home safely, Senator Ayotte worked successfully to include a provision in the bill that presses Pakistan to fully cooperate in the search for SGT Bergdahl." More>>
Terry Lakin was put in prison for two years for demanding that Obama provide real documents of his identity before he would deploy. Bergdahl has been honored by this administration and declared to have served with distinction even though his fellow soldiers in his unit said he deserted and went to the other side.
Who knows if they even consulted Hagel? Several news stories have suggested the military and intelligence communities were appalled by the deal.
Ex-Bush Official: GWB Would Have Made Same Deal To Free Sgt. Bergdahl. Former Bush administration official, John Bellinger made a great case for supporting President Obama's decision to swap five Taliban prisoners for the lone U.S. POW. In a refreshing interview, he told Fox News' Happening Now, that since the war was winding down and they couldn't have tried the Afghanistan prisoners in US courts, their only option was to free them eventually so making the trade made sense and and that George Bush would have made the same decision. http://crooksandliars.com/2014/06/ex-bush-administration-official-george