Obama unilaterally traded five terrorist for one traitor (UPDATES)
But you can't get him to negotiate with members of Congress...go figure.
Well, the 'we'll never negotiate with terrorists' rule has definitely been thrown out the window with Obama. Even before all the information was out, the deal already sounded like a raw one. Now it's being confirmed by fellow soldiers who served with Bergdahl that that's absolutely the case...
TRS: Jake Tapper interviewed former Army Sgt. Josh Korder who served with Bergdahl and explained his frustration that Bergdahl is getting a hero’s welcome by the White House when those who died trying to find him barely got noticed.
He does believe that Bergdahl needs to pay for his crimes and at the end of the interview tells Tapper that Bergdahl is “at best a deserter and at worst a traitor.”
And who were those five exchanged for this deserter? Extremely dangerous individuals who will immediately set their sights on killing more Americans. They should never have been released...
DailyBeast: According to a 2008 Pentagon dossier on Guantanamo Bay inmates, all five men released were considered to be a high risk to launch attacks against the United States and its allies if they were liberated. The exchange shows that the Obama administration was willing to pay a steep price, indeed, for Bergdahl’s freedom. The administration says they will be transferred to Qatar, which played a key role in the negotiations.
A senior U.S. defense official confirmed Saturday that the prisoners to be released include Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Abdul Haq Wasiq, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Mohammed Nabi Omari.
While not as well known as Guantanamo inmates like 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Taliban 5 were some of the worst outlaws in the U.S. war on terror. And their release will end up replenishing the diminished leadership ranks of the Afghan Taliban at a moment when the United States is winding down the war there.
“They are undoubtedly among the most dangerous Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo,” said Thomas Joscelyn, a senior editor at the Long War Journal who keeps a close watch on developments concerning the detainees left at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The piece gives further details about their identity:
Fazl was the Taliban’s former deputy defense minister, wanted by the UN for his role in massacres targeting Afghan’s Shi’ite Muslim population;
Noori was a senior Taliban military figure and was asked personally in 1995 by Osama bin Laden to participate in an offensive against northern alliance warlord Rashid Dostum;
Wasiq was a former deputy minister of intelligence and a crucial liaison between the Taliban and other Islamic fundamentalist groups;
Khairkhwa was a former Taliban governor of Herat, a likely heroin trafficker, and likely participated in meetings with Iranian officials after 9-11 to help plot attacks on U.S. forces following the invasion; and
Omari held several military leadership posts for the Taliban and helped organize the al Qaeda/Taliban militias that fought against U.S. and coalition troops in the first year of the war.
