Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan, has been freed

Interesting that they had to release 5 of their POWs for him.
I don't like how they're termed "detainees" when they are the same thing he is - POWs held captive.
I also hate how the headlines focus on his release and minimalize the fact that we had 5 of theirs that we released.

The statements suggesting that he willingly left and joined the Taliban are a little scary and suspicious.
Did we just release 5 dangerous people in return for 1 convert? I'm sure that's deeply explored by the Gov't, but, makes me wonder who won that power play?

a reply to: gottaknow

I don't like how they're termed "detainees" when they are the same thing he is - POWs held captive

There is one hell of a difference than how he was treated, and how detainees are treated at club gitmo.

Wonder if he had a soccer field to play on.

Did they give them 'free' healhcare ?

a reply to: youdidntseeme

Welcome home!

Thank you for your service!!

Finally a positive story about the war.

-SAP-

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

This just seems like a way to distract the American people from the atrocities being perpetrated on our vets at home

Totally agree. If Obama really cared he could have made the swap years ago...but chose NOW when his PR surrounding vets is in the toilet. I think this must have been what he meant when he said his regime would be "transparent".

Yet, still so many fail to see through him!

I find it bewildering that some people can call this man's loyalties into question... and then later assume those exchanged for him are definitively a threat. It should only take a second to realize that if there's a chance this guy was turned then the likelihood that one of the returned prisoners is now a spy for the US is literally five times greater...

I digress; glad to know another soldier made it home to his family. Bless them all, and I only hope people can swallow their antiestablishmentarianism long enough to be glad he wasn't brought home in a body bag.

a reply to: gladtobehere

I've seen this story all over Facebook. I don't trust that things I read on the internet are gospel. This story should be taken with a grain of salt. It could be complete rubbish.
There are always rumors, stories and gossip surrounding events like these. I hope everyone gives the young man the benefit of a doubt. Innocent until proven guilty.

the way I see it, the WH was at an all time low in the opinion of gullible americans who are typically good sheep with the wool pulled snuggly over their eyes - gotta bring them back to pasture so we do a feel good swap for a soldier who, for all intents and purposes hasn't been a big issue for our administration the past 4 years otherwise we would of found him and rescued him. Love saving those sweet Ace's in the hole...and what's the motto never let a good crisis go to waste? heh.

lastly i'm sure whoever we released, was important to AQ and their collective. they didn't ask for cannon fodder 1,2,3 and 4 it most certainly was high ranking highly trained operatives who impact the battlefield.

with that said i'm EXTREMELY glad he's home, even though it stinks of a PR stunt and desperation

Very happy he is home. He spent five years longer there than he should have.

That said, I am uneasy with the exchange. The five released from Gitmo are hardly low-level fighters. These guys are all leaders of the Taliban.

The potential for blowback is huge.

Maybe there is more to this exchange, something just doesn't smell right and I'm not the only one who thinks so.

abcnews.go.com...

Seriously. This administration can't even gain the release of an America POW without stepping on it's own dick.

I have less of a problem with the White House acting without Congress - I seriously doubt ANY deal could happen if Congress was involved. But the guys they let go in exchange is disturbing.

Biographies of the exchanged Taliban:an:

1. Mohammad Fazl, the former Taliban defense minister during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, chief of staff of the Taliban army, and commander of its 22nd Division. According to a U.S. Department of Defense document obtained by Wikileaks, Fazl is believed to be an associate of Supreme Taliban Commander Mullah Omar and was “wanted by the UN for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiites,” surrendered to the Northern Alliance commander Gen. Dostum in November 2001.

“Detainee is assessed to be a HIGH risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests, and allies,” his Guantanamo detainee file reads. “If released, detainee would likely rejoin the Taliban and establish ties with ACM [anti-coalition militia] elements participating in hostilities against US and Coalition forces in Afghanistan.”

2. Mullah Norullah Noori, a former Taliban military commander and Taliban governor of two Afghan provinces, who led Taliban forces against U.S. and coalition troops and was also “wanted by the United Nations (UN) for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiite Muslims” as Fazl was, according to Noori’s Guantanamo prisoner file as obtained and posted by Wikileaks. He is also believed to be associated with Supreme Taliban Commander Mullah Omar.

Noori commanded the Taliban in the northern city of Mazar e-Sharif. Like Fazl, he surrendered to Gen. Dostum in 2001.

Rated a “HIGH” threat to U.S. security interests if released, Noori is or was associated with members of al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin.

3. Mohammed Nabi, another senior Taliban official with ties to al Qaeda, the Haqqani Network, Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, and other anti-U.S., Taliban-allied groups, according to his Guantanamo Bay file as posted by Wikileaks.
Also rated as a “HIGH” security threat if released, Nabi fought with the mujahideen against the Soviets. After that, he told the Americans who captured and detained him, he was an off-and-on Taliban member in the early 2000s, worked for the chief of the Taliban’s Border Department, which controlled smuggling. In early spring of 2002, he left the Taliban to sell used cars in a small village near Khowst and became a CIA informant.

According to his Defense Dept. file, Nabi was involved in attacks against U.S. and coalition forces and facilitated smuggling routes for the Taliban and al Qaeda.

4. Khairullah Khairkhwa, a direct associate of Osama bin Laden according to his Defense Dept. detainee file obtained by Wikileaks, and a senior Taliban military commander who also served as the Taliban’s minister of Interior and the governor of Herat.

He represented the Taliban at meetings with Iranian officials seeking to support actions against U.S. and coalition forces after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the document. He attended a meeting at the direction of bin Laden, reportedly accompanied by members of Hamas, the document says, and is believe to have been one of the major opium lords of western Afghanistan.

In 2002, he sought to negotiate an integration into the new government through Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai who has been accused of corruption and drug smuggling, but was arrested by Pakistani border patrol and released by Pakistan into U.S. custody.
He is also deemed a “HIGH” threat if released.

5. Abdul Haq Wasiq, the Taliban’s former deputy minister of intelligence, had direct connections to Taliban leadership and was “central to the Taliban’s efforts to form alliances with other Islamic fundamentalist groups” to fight against U.S. and coalition forces, according to his Defense Dept. file obtained by Wikileaks.

He also used his position to support al Qaeda, assist Taliban personnel in eluding capture, and arranged for al Qaeda members to train Taliban intelligence staff, according to the file.

He seems to have later turned informant, as his file notes that Wasiq was arrested after a meeting with two Americans and a translator, in which he was supposed to deliver information leading to the capture of Mullah Omar. Shortly after the meeting, U.S. forces arrested him.

originally posted by: JiggyPotamus
Trading prisoners is usually something that is done between two nations who are at war. Al-Qaeda is labelled as a terrorist organization and therefore prisoner exchanges are negotiations, with terrorists. So does this represent some sort of shift in US foreign policy? I find that hard to believe personally.

Do I think it was the right thing to do? Absolutely. This is different from paying ransom for instance.

No, this wasn't the right thing to do, are you daft? These are terrorists, and now they know if they hold out long enough, they can get whatever they want when they capture a soldier. This was very, very stupid of the government to agree to. It signifies a weakness that can be exploited for a gain, the gain being their detained comrades. Who I'm certain aren't going home feeling all warm & fuzzy over their extended Gitmo vacation, either. This will backfire, and it won't be pretty. It's a license to kidnap, because the Yanks will negotiate now.

Well here's a shocker: Held in Pakistan for most of the time. With Allies like Pakistan, who needs enemies?

The fact that the Administration gave up the farm to gain his release, why did they let him - and his family and men he served with - suffer for five years?

This deal is one they could have done at anytime if they were going to give up five senior members of the Taliban leadership.

Wish him and his family a peaceful an happy life.

5 years is a long time to be away from your friends and family. What were you doing 5 years ago? So much changes in everyones lives.
Always nice to hear that someone has been released. Wonder why it took 5 years though.

originally posted by: gottaknow
Interesting that they had to release 5 of their POWs for him.
I don't like how they're termed "detainees" when they are the same thing he is - POWs held captive.
I also hate how the headlines focus on his release and minimalize the fact that we had 5 of theirs that we released.

Every american should be jumping for joy because the 5 were costing US tax payers $5m a year to keep in gitmo and none had been charged with any crimes.

The Taliban did the same job for under a $1000 a year and you can bet the all american hero was treated better than the five being held against international law by the USA.

Not killing him when they caught him must had been hard given that he was in their country and part of a team that are killing inocent civilians but who's counting.

We never negociate with terrorists well thats BS and the terrorists are all in Washington anyway.

Happy for his family but, still, I find the circumstances surrounding how this has played out...perplexing, at best. Dubious, at worst.

originally posted by: neo96

Did they give them 'free' healhcare ?

What like force feeding him ?

He did five years and was guilty of being in someones elses country and part of a team that is killing people unlike most of those in gitmo who where taken from their own homes and have served 12 years each.

Yeah playing football so that CNN news can record you must be fun for one day in your lives, Hitler played tricks like that one too.

So now that he has gotten his parting gift from the Taliban let's get him back on American soil. So we can charge him for desertion and throw him into a military prison where he won't be treated as an "honored guest". He should also be charged as an accomplish in the deaths of the men that were killed looking for this sorry POS. But this won't happen instead he will be paraded around as a hero in the war on terror.

It's very possible that after the release the 5 detainees are being tracked and may have been released only to be extinguished later , yes , it sounds awful to release them but our government isn't as stupid as some think.

Let's see how this plays out

originally posted by: Soloprotocol
i'm sure he'll sign a $30,000,000 book and film deal...that should help heal ease his pain by about 5%....
.

Unless the hes played by tom cruise in the film in which cas it will add 5% to the pain