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Viking
06-04-2014, 04:01 PM
jay carney, one year ago:


Q Jay, going to back to Afghanistan, the Taliban has offered to release Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five members of the Taliban who are currently being held at Guantanamo Bay. Is this something that the administration is considering? Is this something that the President would agree to?

http://d.agkn.com/pixel/2387/?ct=US&st=IL&city=13310&dma=87&zp=60666&bw=1&che=499658396&col=8042453,1093491,107210600,281652842,57888981



MR. CARNEY: What I can tell you is that the main dialogue that we support is the dialogue between Afghans -- between the Taliban and the Afghan government. However, there are some issues that we would like to discuss with the Taliban directly, and this includes the safe return of Sergeant Bergdahl, who has been gone for far too long.

We continue to call for and work toward his safe and immediate release. We cannot discuss all the details of our efforts, but there should be no doubt that on a daily basis we are continuing to pursue -- using our military, intelligence and diplomatic tools -- the effort to return him home safely. And our hearts are with the Bergdahl family.


With regard to the transfer of Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay, we have made -- the United States has not made the decision to do that, though we do expect the Taliban to raise this issue in our discussion, if and when those discussions happen.

As we have long said, however, we would not make any decisions about transfer of any detainees without consulting with Congress and without doing so in accordance with U.S. law.



What say ye?

LA Ute
06-04-2014, 06:18 PM
Here's a decent breakdown of the issues:

Five questions surrounding Bowe Bergdahl (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/06/04/five-questions-bowe-bergdahl/9953551/)

The Taliban video of the exchange is also at the link.

There's no way the White House comes out of this looking good.

LA Ute
06-05-2014, 09:44 AM
The ghastly transaction that freed Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-b-mukasey-the-ghastly-transaction-that-freed-sgt-bowe-bergdahl/2014/06/04/325d9780-ec04-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html

Viking
06-05-2014, 01:48 PM
The ghastly transaction that freed Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl


http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-b-mukasey-the-ghastly-transaction-that-freed-sgt-bowe-bergdahl/2014/06/04/325d9780-ec04-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html


What concerns me is the respect for the rule of law, not whether he was worthy to be released via trade. As long as he was/is not an enemy of the state, he of course deserves to be freed even via trade.

It is the process employed that concerns me, and I'm a card-carrying demo. I'd like to see the facts related to this case in detail.

LA Ute
06-05-2014, 03:51 PM
What concerns me is the respect for the rule of law, not whether he was worthy to be released via trade. As long as he was/is not an enemy of the state, he of course deserves to be freed even via trade.

It is the process employed that concerns me, and I'm a card-carrying demo. I'd like to see the facts related to this case in detail.

My impression is that someone either didn't do the homework on this one, or they did it and ignored what they learned. What really does puzzle me is why Susan Rice (who's been used before as the White House mouthpiece for false statements) would say on national news shows that Bergdahl "served with honor and distinction." That just seems stupid.

LA Ute
06-06-2014, 02:26 PM
I read somewhere that an American soldier stationed in South Korea during the 1960s deserted to North Korea because he feared he'd be sent to Vietnam. He lived there for 40 years and married a Japanese woman who was being held there too. I think he taught English to NK military types. Eventually he decided to go home. He was court-martialed, given 30 days' confinement, and dishonorably discharged. Then he went on his way and I think lives in the USA somewhere. Something like that -- the court martial, at least -- should happen in this case too. But it's too politicized now.


EDIT: His name was Charles Robert Jenkins. Here's his story:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Robert_Jenkins

jrj84105
06-06-2014, 05:31 PM
Inexplicable things the government does:
1) They were paying attention to other things and overlooked a critical element
2) Ideology overriding sensibility
3) Blatant stupidity
4) Conspiracy
a) It's a diversion- what else is going on?
b) The entire context we're using to judge the action is invented/false

I don't think I'm too much of a conspiracy nut, and think most inexplicable government actions fall into category 1 and 2 with a smattering of 3. This Bergdahl thing smells like a 4.