Bergdahl prisoner swap?

[noviapriani]

So what do you guys think about the exchange of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for 5 high-level Taliban prisoners by the US government?

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/31/us/ber...le_sidebar

In an embarrassing incident for the US gov, U.S sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was later found to be a deserter who was caught while running away.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world.../10380147/

I thought US also said they will not negotiate with terrorists? Is this move right or wrong?

[1715207589]

1715207589

[bryant.coleman]

IMO, it was a wrong move. The reasons are:

1. Why free 5 terrorists for just one soldier? At the most the Americans should have freed one terrorist.
2. It will encourage the Al Qaeda to take more American hostages (both civilian and military).
3. It will affect the morale of the troops.

[cp1]

I'm sure any POW would argue that it was the right thing to do.

I'm sure you'd argue that it was the wrong thing to do, no matter whether he did the swap or not.  If you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, you might as well save an American's life and show our soldiers that we'll do anything to get them back.

[Rigon]

The United States may have hoped that swapping five Guantanamo Bay prison detainees for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would have sparked talks between the Taliban and Afghan government, but so far the deal has yet to result in movement towards reconciliation.

[sana8410]

IMO, it was a wrong move. The reasons are:

1. Why free 5 terrorists for just one soldier? At the most the Americans should have freed one terrorist.
2. It will encourage the Al Qaeda to take more American hostages (both civilian and military).
3. It will affect the morale of the troops.

I really didn't like the way how Obama bypassed congress and made the swap secretly. In fact, Obama tried to make the same trade for Bergdahl two years ago, but at that time he did notify Congress just like he should have done and Congress refused the trade.
So, this time, Obama just didn't bother and made the trade arrangements secretly. But what the heck, since when can the president simply make decisions like that on his own??
Even if Bergdahl was in allegedly 'poor health' (which he wasn't as we can see how healthy he was when he came back) any action concerning diplomatic relations of the US government should be passed through congress.

[RodeoX]

I think it was a bad call as well. It does encourage kidnapping. Having said that, there is a tradition of swapping prisoners at the end of a war. But this war is barely getting started.
I saw a report from tribal Pakistan that showed a Talib fighter and his young son. The father was proud to show that his son was learning English so that when he grew up he could continue fighting the Americans in America.
I think a lot of Americans think that if you just go home the wars all go away. Unfortunately we don't get to decide. I fear this war will drag on for decades now, and be fought all over the world.

[noviapriani]

The United States may have hoped that swapping five Guantanamo Bay prison detainees for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would have sparked talks between the Taliban and Afghan government, but so far the deal has yet to result in movement towards reconciliation.

Yea, that may be what they were hoping for but now it just seems like they are giving the Taliban more power by giving in to their demands.
Plus they just released 5 high ranking terrorists back into the world who now has been in US and no doubt learned more about the US in their many long years in the states. It is very dangerous to release them and all this for a sergeant who deserted his post and got captured while complaining about the lack of leadership in the US military!

What a joke!

[cp1]

I think it was a bad call as well. It does encourage kidnapping. Having said that, there is a tradition of swapping prisoners at the end of a war. But this war is barely getting started.

I thought the guy was captured in a war zone, not kidnapped?

[RodeoX]

I think it was a bad call as well. It does encourage kidnapping. Having said that, there is a tradition of swapping prisoners at the end of a war. But this war is barely getting started.

I thought the guy was captured in a war zone, not kidnapped?

Your right. He was taken but apparently after leaving post. Big surprise, huh.

[taipo]

Obama is just killing two birds with one stone. Gets a prisoner of war back, and slowly but surely is emptying out the Guantanamo Bay gulag.

[Wilikon]

Obama is just killing two birds with one stone. Gets a prisoner of war back, and slowly but surely is emptying out the Guantanamo Bay gulag.

How do you know he was a prisoner or war? Obama killed more than 2 birds... He killed 100s of future soldiers and regular Americans and US allies with this decision.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=636103.0

[InwardContour]

IMO, it was a wrong move. The reasons are:

1. Why free 5 terrorists for just one soldier? At the most the Americans should have freed one terrorist.
2. It will encourage the Al Qaeda to take more American hostages (both civilian and military).
3. It will affect the morale of the troops.

1 - It comes down to the perceived of each individual. If Al Qaeda values each of their terrorists at a rate of 1/5 that of the rate that the US values each of it's soldiers then it would be a fair trade (is this regard only)

2 - You are correct, although this is not really what they are in the "business" of doing as they are more of a inflicting terror organization then a hostage taking organization. It would encourage other groups to take hostages.

3 - Probably not, the US is big on not leaving any soldiers behind so saving a soldier should actually increase morale (there is however an asterisk to this statement).

The biggest issue with this deal is that there are reports that he had deserted his post shortly before being captured. I do not think it is appropriate to reward people for this kind of activity

[bitsmichel]

So what do you guys think about the exchange of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for 5 high-level Taliban prisoners by the US government?

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/31/us/ber...le_sidebar

In an embarrassing incident for the US gov, U.S sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was later found to be a deserter who was caught while running away.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world.../10380147/

I thought US also said they will not negotiate with terrorists? Is this move right or wrong?

I am surprised the US special forces were not able to get him out, and instead did a prisoner swap. In a way, I think this has hurt the image of the US.
Perhaps there is more to this story than we are being told.