I admit: I don’t know what to make of the Bergdahl swap

Last updated on: June 3, 2014 at 11:03 pm by Jane the Actuary

I admit: I don’t know what to make of the Bergdahl swap 2014-06-03T23:03:00-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I don’t have anything to offer in terms of insights into the Bowe Bergdahl swap.

CNN reports the administration’s line:

“We don’t leave men and women in uniform behind,” he said during a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, on Tuesday.

“This is what happens at the end of wars,” Obama said of the prisoner swap. “Regardless of the circumstances, we still get an American soldier back if he’s held in captivity. Period.”

Hotair.com (among numerous sites) reports on accusations now flying, for instance, “Report: ‘Many’ in intelligence community fear Bergdahl may have been an active collaborator with the Taliban.”

It’s also now becoming clear that the five released Taliban are not to be imprisoned in Qatar, or under house arrest, or under any restriction at all except they may not leave the country for a year.

And the claim that immediate health concerns required release without Congressional notification doesn’t seem to have any evidence as back-up, other than assertions from non-credible Taliban sources.

Did Obama agree upon this arrangement in order to get the VA hospital scandal off the front page? This seems unlikely — unless we are to believe that the arrangement was worked out and just waiting for Obama to pull the trigger?

Was Obama genuinely, truly, simply committed to getting Bergdahl out due to his status as a U.S. soldier, and operates, in this circumstance, under such a black-and-white view that the high credibility of reports of his desertion and possible treason doesn’t matter?

One suspects that this was a trial balloon for a wider release of Taliban from Guatanomo — though why were the first five ones who’ve been described of as “the worst of the worst”? (And the idea that they have some kind of tracking devices embedded in them is preposterous.)

After all, if Obama’s pitch is that “the war is over” because we’ve got the timeline for withdrawing troops and leaving Afghanis to fend for themselves, then we might as well release the remainder of the Taliban anyway, especially since he’s also rejected the notion of a wider “War on Terror.”

(This strikes me as odd, in any case: what defines when a “war” is over when there is no formal declaration of hostilities or surrender or peace treaty? You might as well say that the Korean War is still ongoing, since we have soldiers stationed there for the express purpose of preventing an invasion by the NORKs.)

We did this all once before, remember? We claimed that the Vietnam War was over, politicians touted the peace treaty, we packed up and went home, and refused the South Vietnamese government any residual assistance — and almost immediately afterwards, the communists marched into South Vietnam. And to this day, we still fly POW-MIA flags, and in both Korea and Vietnam, we did “leave men behind,” didn’t we?

UPDATE: The more I think about it, the more I think that the key is that Obama wanted a reason to release these captives. CBS News reports (among others), “In weighing the swap, U.S. officials decided that it could help the effort to reach reconciliation with the Taliban, which the U.S. sees as key to more security in Afghanistan.” It’s preposterous to think that the Taliban, would, upon “reconciling” with the U.S., lay down their arms and partner with other parties to form a human rights-respecting government, but, if that’s your fantasy world, just like the “peace treaty” with North Vietnam, then I suppose a prisoner release makes perfect sense.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 3, 2014

What do you think about POWs?

Next Post

June 4, 2014 What was the point of the Paris Peace Accords?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the outcome of Sennacherib's army attacking Jerusalem?

Select your answer to see how you score.

They won The city fell They captured Hezekiah Destroyed by an angel