Karen Tumulty
The Washington Post
5/31/2014
Amid jubilation Saturday over the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from captivity by the Taliban, senior Republicans on Capitol Hill said they were troubled by the means by which it was accomplished, which was a deal to release five Afghan detainees from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Top Republicans on the Senate and House armed services committees went so far as to accuse President Obama of having broken the law, which requires the administration to notify Congress before any transfers from Guantanamo are carried out.
“Trading five senior Taliban leaders from detention in Guantanamo Bay for Bergdahl’s release may have consequences for the rest of our forces and all Americans. Our terrorist adversaries now have a strong incentive to capture Americans. That incentive will put our forces in Afghanistan and around the world at even greater risk,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. McKeon (R-Calif.) and the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, James M. Inhofe (Okla.), said in a joint statement.
Lawmakers were not notified of the Guantanamo detainees’ transfer until after it occurred…
…some raised the larger question of whether it is sound policy for the United States to have, in the words of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), “negotiated with terrorists.”
Rogers said the action marked a “fundamental shift in U.S. policy.”
Read the entire article at The Washington Post.
Related: Five of the Most Dangerous Taliban Commanders in U.S. Custody Exchanged for American Captive
…There are good reasons why the Taliban has long wanted the five freed from Gitmo. All five are among the Taliban’s top commanders in U.S. custody and are still revered in jihadist circles.
Two of the five have been wanted by the UN for war crimes. And because of their prowess, Joint Task Force-Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) deemed all five of them “high” risks to the U.S. and its allies…
Michael Graham: “If I’m the Taliban and want to get my pals out of Gitmo, I’m looking for an American to kidnap right now.” McKeon, Inhofe: Prisoner Trade With Taliban Puts American Soldiers at Greater Risk
Update: Obama Bypasses Congress; Releases Terrorists from GITMO
…People are going to die because of this trade.
There’s an American Marine being held in a Mexican prison in Tijuana after accidentally crossing the border with legally owned guns. Obama isn’t lifting a finger to help Sergeant Tahmooressi…
