Showing posts with label Hostage Exchange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hostage Exchange. Show all posts

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Can they do that?

October 12, 2014 Breitbart.com , Hostage Exchange 0 Comments
Army Refuses To Release Findings Of Bergdahl Investigation

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl after the hostage exchange
Credit:  NBC News
By Thomas Rose, Oct. 12, 2014, Breitbart.com
According to a report in the San Antonio News Express the US Army has completed but is refusing to release its investigation into the suspected desertion of Army PFC Bowe Bergdahl who walked off his base in Afghanistan in 2009. He subsequently fell into the hands of Taliban forces who held him captive for five years. His release, which was orchestrated and executed by the Obama Administration without the consent of Congress, swapped Bergdahl for the five most senior Taliban commanders held in captivity has arguably become the most controversial prisoner exchange in the history of the country.

Bergdahl, who was released in May of this year, is currently stationed at Fort Sam Houston U.S. Army North in San Antonio, TX. The army report was authored by Brigadier General Kenneth Dahl and, according to a US army spokesman, is now being “reviewed by commanders." There are no plans, said Army Spokesman Wayne Hall, to make public the findings of the investigation.

Fox News is reporting however that the findings will be released to the public, but onlyafter the November 4 midterm elections.

The Bergdahl-Taliban exchange unleashed a firestorm of criticism that continues to this day. Never before had the United States military knowingly released a senior commander of an active enemy force in war time. Even senior Defense Department officials were forced to concede that the “Taliban Five," as they subsequently became known, were all expected to resume direct command of enemy forces at war with the United States.

Read the full story:  www.breitbart.com

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Sunday, August 24, 2014

But they got away it...

August 24, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Joel Gehrke 0 Comments
Feds: Obama Broke Law With Bergdahl Swap

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl hostage exchange
Source:  www.usatoday.com / AP 
By Joel Gehrke, Aug. 21, 2014, Nationalreview.com

President Obama violated a “clear and unambiguous” law when he released five Guantanamo Bay detainees in exchange for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the Government Accountability Office reported Thursday.

“[The Department of Defense] violated section 8111 because it did not notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the transfer,” the GAO report said. “In addition, because DOD used appropriated funds to carry out the transfer when no money was available for that purpose, DOD violated the Antideficiency Act. The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from incurring obligations exceeding an amount available in an appropriation.”

The GAO rejected the idea that the action was legal and sidestepped the Obama team’s suggestion that the law is unconstitutional.

“It is not our role or our practice to determine the constitutionality of duly enacted statutes,” the report says. “In our view, where legislation has been passed by Congress and signed by the President, thereby satisfying the bicameralism and presentment requirements in the Constitution, that legislation is entitled to a heavy presumption in favor of constitutionality.”


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Sunday, August 17, 2014

Have they talked to his platoon yet?

August 17, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Investigation 0 Comments
Bergdahl Investigation In Final Stage

By Dan Lamothe, Aug. 15, 2014, Washingtonpost.com

The Army’s investigation into the 2009 disappearance of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has entered the final stage, Army officials said Friday, but they cautioned that it will take at least three more weeks for a final draft to be completed and even longer for it to be presented to top Army leaders.

The investigating officer, Army Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, questioned Bergdahl last week over two days, said his civilian lawyer, Eugene R. Fidell. Dahl is working to establish what happened to the soldier who went missing from his patrol base in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on June 30, 2009, and was imprisoned by militants for five years, some of that time in a locked cage. He was recovered by the United States on May 31 in a controversial exchange for five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Dahl is in the process of completing his draft report, but “it is possible that he will have to follow up on outstanding issues,” said Wayne Hall, an Army spokesman. The general’s report will undergo a separate legal review before it is presented to top Army officials, and it isn’t clear how long that could take.

The results of the investigation could significantly affect Bergdahl’s future. At stake: An Army determination of whether it should bring criminal charges against him for deserting his post or going absent without leave, both of which are illegal under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Some fellow soldiers in his platoon have insisted that is the case, but Bergdahl’s mental status at the time is also likely to be examined and could be a factor in any determination.

Read the full story:  www.washingtonpost.com

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Monday, July 14, 2014

Sgt. Bergdahl Is Back On Regular Army Duty In Texas --Investigation on-going; STILL hasn't spoken to his parents?!

July 14, 2014 David S. Cloud , Hostage Exchange 0 Comments
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
By David S. Cloud, Jul. 14, 2014, Latimes.com

Six weeks after Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was freed from Taliban captivity, he has completed treatment at a military hospital in Texas and is being returned to active duty, Army officials said Monday.

In a brief statement, officials said Bergdahl had “completed the final phase of the reintegration process” and would “now return to regular duty” at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, the same base where he has been receiving medical treatment and counseling.

But Bergdahl’s future remains in limbo until the Army completes an investigation into his disappearance in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009, when he was taken captive after apparently leaving his post without permission.

He is expected to be interviewed soon by Brig Gen. Kenneth Dahl, who was appointed last month to lead the investigation.

Berghdahl will work at headquarters of U.S. Army North, a command that oversees domestic defense.

Bergdahl, who was promoted to sergeant during his time as a captive, will live in noncommissioned officer quarters and work with other soldiers “who are providing leadership and guidance,” according to Donald E. Manuszewski, a spokesman for U.S. Army North.

When off duty, Bergdahl will be free to leave the base unescorted and go where he wants, according to an Army official. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss details of Bergdahl’s treatment.

Bergdahl, 28, was in good physical condition when he was released by the Taliban May 31 after nearly five years as a prisoner of war, but he has struggled with psychological issues, according to military officials.

Read the full story:  www.latimes.com

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Bergdahl Could Get $350G Tax-free, If Cleared By Army --Investigation still on-going?

July 14, 2014 Dominic Di-Natale , Fox News 0 Comments
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
By Dominic Di-Natale, Jul. 14, 2014, Foxnews.com

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl could have a tax-free $350,000 dropped into his bank account if the current investigation into his disappearance from his base in Afghanistan was not desertion, and if he is deemed to have been a prisoner of war for the five years he was held by Islamic militants, Fox News has learned.

The 28-year-old soldier, for whom the U.S. traded five senior Taliban operatives held at Guantanamo Bay, was set to return to active duty Monday after spending six weeks in medical rehab at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio.

“Essentially he’ll be working a desk job,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters at the Pentagon Monday.
"They’re pulling his clearance so I’m not sure what he’s supposed to do.”
- Army official speaking under condition of anonymity
Bergdahl is due approximately $200,000 in back pay for the time he was in Taliban hands. He would be eligible for another $150,000 if an ongoing probe determines he was a prisoner of war. Both sums could be tax free for Bergdahl, who was promoted from private first class to sergeant during the time he was held.

Bergdahl was moved to the U.S. Army North command on Saturday, shifting from the U.S. Army South command, which had overseen his arrival in the U.S. and reintegration. Under Army North, he will return to work and live in standard military barracks. He is being assigned to the protocol office, which assists soldiers in military procedures and etiquette.

“That’s the worst place to put him. They’re pulling his clearance so I’m not sure what he’s supposed to do,” said one Army official, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to publicly discuss the sergeant’s case.

Bergdahl is now able to leave the base and is escorted by his care team when he does. He recently visited a shopping mall to buy items for his computer and the group was seen at a local restaurant, say people with knowledge of his movements.

Read the full story:  www.foxnews.com

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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Photo Of Smiling Bergdahl Posing With Taliban Official Surfaces On Twitter --So many questions?

Photo Of Smiling Bergdahl Posing With Taliban Official Surfaces On Twitter --So many questions?

July 10, 2014 Foxnews.com , Guantanamo Bay 0 Comments
By Foxnews.com, Jul. 9, 2014

The Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI) has identified a photo tweeted out by the Taliban that shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl posing with a senior member of the Haqqani network in Afghanistan.

MEMRI, a think tank, said the Twitter account @khorasan3, which is associated with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, showed an undated photo Wednesday of an apparently happy Bergdahl posing with Taliban Commander Badruddin Haqqani.

Read the full story:  www.foxnews.com

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Thursday, July 3, 2014

Recently Released Bergdahl Venturing Off-Base, Rubbing Elbows With Public --And...?

Recently Released Bergdahl Venturing Off-Base, Rubbing Elbows With Public --And...?

July 03, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl 0 Comments

By Martin Savidge, Jul. 2, 2014, CNN

(CNN) -- Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier held captive for five years by militants before his release a month ago, has ventured several times off an Army base in Texas as part of the effort to get him used to everyday life in America, a military spokeswoman said.

His release on May 31 in exchange for five Taliban being held by the U.S. military has rankled some, including former members of his unit, who said he was a deserter who endangered colleagues searching for him. Yet while investigating circumstances surrounding his departure, the military has also said it's focused on making sure Bergdahl gets better mentally and physically, so he can gradually readjust to normal life.

Since being freed, Bergdahl has been carefully monitored at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, and his home since June 13, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.

He recently transitioned from inpatient care at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas to outpatient care, the Army said on June 22.

Still, Bergdahl has hardly left the care of military health professionals.

Members of his reintegration team escort him whenever he leaves base and interacts with the public, the Army spokeswoman said. His stops have included a library, a supermarket and several stores of his choosing.

Bergdahl has also eaten at fast-food and sit-down restaurants. The Army sergeant is encouraged to pick the places, but because he's not from San Antonio, he is offered some advice.

"Sometimes they sit at the table with him," the Army spokeswoman said of those on Bergdahl's reintegration team who accompany him. "... Other times, they hang in the background."

Read the full story:  www.cnn.com

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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Soldier: Bowe Bergdahl Lodged False War Crime Allegations Against His Unit --Just gets worse and worse

June 18, 2014 Guantanamo Bay , Hostage Exchange 0 Comments
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Jun. 18, 2014, Washingtonpost.com

 An Army veteran who served alongside Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan said Wednesday that the long-captive soldier was deeply frustrated with the mission and had lodged false allegations that their unit had carried out atrocities.

 Bergdahl “didn’t understand why we were doing more humanitarian aid drops, setting up clinics, and helping the populous instead of hunting the Taliban,” former Spec. Cody Full told lawmakers during a hearing on the exchange of Bergdahl for five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. “He wanted to hunt and kill.”

 The Taliban released Bergdahl to U.S. Special Operations forces May 31 after he had spent nearly five years in captivity. Bergdahl, the last American service member to be held captive in Afghanistan, went missing from his remote outpost in June 2009 and was seized shortly thereafter.

 In exchange for his release, the Taliban officials were transferred to Qatar, where they will be held for a year before being sent back to Afghanistan.

 Both the terms of the prisoner swap and the Obama administration’s failure to notify Congress in advance have been the subject of persistent criticism. Bergdahl has also been criticized by some former members of his unit who believe he sought to desert the Army.

Read the full story:  www.washingtonpost.com

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Saturday, June 14, 2014

Daughter Of First American Killed In Afghanistan Learns Freed Taliban Leader Was Behind It --Oh, well...

June 14, 2014 Alison Spann , Guantanamo Bay 0 Comments
United States Marine Johnny Micheal “Mike” Spann
By Hollie McKay, Jun, 14, 2014, Foxnews.com

Alison Spann was just 9 when she learned her father, a U.S. Marine turned CIA operative, had become the first American killed in the war in Afghanistan. Thirteen years later, she found out her country had freed the Taliban leader behind his death.

In the time between, Spann has cherished the memory of her father, Johnny Micheal “Mike” Spann, who was killed during a Nov. 25, 2001 prisoner uprising at a northern Afghanistan compound where he was interrogating Taliban fighters. The 32-year-old was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony in which he was lauded by then-CIA Director George Tenet for trying to build a "better, safer world." His daughter has since grown up and recently graduated from Pepperdine University, even as more than 2,300 Americans have died fighting in Afghanistan.

But nothing prepared Alison Spann for news that Mullah Mohammad Fazi, the unquestioned leader of the prisoners at the compound where her father was killed, had been traded along with four cohorts held at Guantanamo Bay for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by the Taliban for nearly five years..

“It does become harder and harder to have faith in an administration that is plagued with scandal after scandal.”

- Alison Spann, daughter of first American killed in war in Afghanistan

“My initial reaction was shock. I was shocked that our president would release five of the most high-risk prisoners being held in Guantanamo in exchange for one American,” she told FoxNews.com. “As a whole, my family was extremely upset and saddened that our government would do something like this, especially in light of the fact that it seems that people in the intelligence community are fairly united in their belief that these terrorists are likely to seek to further harm Americans in the future.”

Read the full story:  www.foxnews.com

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Friday, June 13, 2014

More Unraveling: Hagel’s Pathetic Testimony On The Bergdahl Swap --Digging in deeper

June 13, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Obama Administration 0 Comments
By Stephen F. Hayes, Jun. 23, 2014, Weeklystandard.com

As the Obama administration’s case for the Bowe Bergdahl-Taliban prisoner exchange further unraveled last week, the geo-political implications of the deal became clearer. They’re not pretty.

In the hours before Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel clicked on the microphone to testify about the swap on June 11, Obama administration officials told reporters to expect a forceful defense of the exchange and an aggressive refutation of the criticism that has attended it.

That didn’t happen. Instead, Hagel walked members of the House Armed Services Committee through the administration’s well-worn talking points, which had already failed to satisfy many members of Congress. And on several occasions he contradicted explanations administration officials had offered over the previous 10 days​—​including some arguments that Hagel himself had made.

In the early stages of the controversy, the administration defended the decision, and its choice not to inform Congress as required by law, by pointing to the failing health of Bowe Bergdahl. The captive soldier’s “health was deteriorating,” Hagel said during a June 1 interview on Meet the Press. “This was essentially an operation to save the life of Sgt. Bergdahl.”

Administration officials had pressed this case aggressively in the days following the swap, culminating in a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal reporting that the final proof-of-life video provided by the Taliban showed Bergdahl looking frail. “Rapid deterioration of soldier’s health persuaded leaders to back exchange,” the paper reported. A spokesman for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper pointed to Bergdahl’s condition as a key reason for the urgency of the exchange, telling the Journalthat the intelligence community had “evidence that Sgt. Bergdahl’s health was failing and that he was in desperate need of medical attention.”

Read the full story:  www.weeklystandard.com

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Bowe Bergdahl Arrives Back In US --Will 'continue the next phase of his reintegration process' at a Texas army base

June 13, 2014 Associated Press , Guantánamo Bay 0 Comments
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
By Associated Press in Washington, Jun. 13, 2014

Bowe Bergdahl, the army sergeant who has been recovering in Germany after five years as a Taliban captive, has returned to the US to continue his medical treatment.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm John Kirby said Bergdahl was flown to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio from Ramstein airbase.

While at the Texas army base, Bergdahl "will continue the next phase of his reintegration process", Kirby said, adding there was no timeline for the process. "Our focus remains on his health and wellbeing."

The spokesman said in a statement that the US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, was "confident that the army will continue to ensure that Sgt Bergdahl receives the care, time and space he needs to complete his recovery and reintegration".

Bergdahl, who is from Idaho, was expected to be reunited with his family in San Antonio. He was captured in Afghanistan in June 2009 and released by the Taliban on 31 May in a deal struck by the Obama administration in which five senior Taliban officials were released from detention at Guantánamo Bay.

Before his departure from Germany on Thursday, officials in Washington said Bergdahl would not receive the automatic army promotion that would have taken effect this month if he were still in captivity. Now he is back under US military control, any future promotions would depend on his performance and achievement of certain training and education milestones.

Officials have kept a lid on details of Bergdahl's condition out of concern that he not be rushed back into the public spotlight after a lengthy period in captivity and amid apublic uproar over the circumstances of his capture and release.

Officials also said on Thursday that the army had not yet formally begun a new review into the circumstances of Bergdahl's capture and whether he walked away without leave or was deserting the army when he was found and taken by insurgents.

The answers to those questions will be key to whether Bergdahl will receive more than $300,000 (£180,000) in back pay owed to him since he disappeared. If he was determined to have been a prisoner of war, he also could receive a further $300,000 or more, if recommended and approved by army leaders.

Read the full story:  www.theguardian.com

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Thursday, June 12, 2014

Hagel: President Made The Final Call On Bergdahl --No dissent from staff? Apparently not...

June 12, 2014 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel , Hostage Exchange 0 Comments


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Victor Davis Hanson: Sgt. Bergdahl And The US Departure From Afghanistan --Tell the terrorists that the war is over

June 12, 2014 Hostage Exchange , National Security Adviser 0 Comments
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, hostage exchange
By Victor Davis Hanson, Jun. 12, 2014, Townhall.com

Soon we shall get to the bottom of the swap of five Taliban kingpins from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for one Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

In time we will learn whether Bergdahl really served with "honor and distinction" and was "captured on the battlefield," as National Security Adviser Susan Rice has stated. Or whether, as fellow soldiers of his platoon insist, he was a deserter who left his comrades to seek out the Taliban.

We will soon discover whether Bergdahl's serious health problems or imminent danger prompted President Obama to make the sudden swap. Or whether, as administration skeptics insist, the deal was a rushed political gambit to divert attention from the Veterans Affairs scandal -- and a way to whittle down the Guantanamo population and erode laws demanding congressional approval before such detainees are released.

Amidst the swap conundrum, the president has defended the trade by referencing history and the American experience in past wars. But here, too, what the president states is not always accurate.

Obama insisted that, "We have a rule, a principle, that when somebody wears our country's uniform and they're in a war theater and they're captured ... we're going to do everything we can to bring 'em home.... And regardless of whatever circumstances there are, it is our obligation to bring them home."

Yet the United States has not routinely sought to bring captives home, "regardless of whatever circumstances there are." During the Korean War, and for decades afterwards while on patrol in Korea, some American soldiers simply walked across the DMZ and turned themselves over to the North Koreans.

Both in war and peace, the United States often did little to bring them back, even when the deserters had second thoughts and wanted to return. Charles Robert Jenkins stayed in North Korea for nearly 40 years after deserting in 1965. Japan sought to pressure the U.S. government to pardon him and helped obtain his release. On his return, Jenkins pled guilty to charges of desertion and aiding the enemy and was given a dishonorable discharge.

Robert Garwood left his post in Vietnam under disputed circumstances in 1965. He was not included in prisoner swaps at the end of the Vietnam War. The U.S. government made few subsequent efforts to bring him home from North Vietnam. When Garwood finally got back more than 14 years after he was detained, he was court-martialed and given a dishonorable discharge.

Obama also declared that in "the transition process of ending a war is going to involve, on occasion, releasing folks who we may not trust but we can't convict."

That is also mostly untrue. The U.S., in most of its foreign wars, more often waited until the conclusion -- not during a "transition process" -- before exchanging prisoners. And how does the president know beforehand that "we can't convict" through military tribunals Guantanamo terrorists like those he released, as we have with others in the past?

We are also not "ending a war," but only U.S. participation in it. Most likely, after our departure in 2016, the enemy, in similar fashion to the North Vietnamese in 1975, will storm Kabul, declare victory and vitiate the long American sacrifice intended to offer the Afghans some alternative to the Taliban.

Read the full story:  www.townhall.com

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Bergdahl’s Writings Reveal A Fragile Young Man--Dismissed From Coast Guard For Psychological Reasons --Long history

June 11, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Kim Harrison 0 Comments
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
By Stephanie McCrummen, Jun. 11, 2014, Washingtonpost.com

Before he became a Taliban prisoner, before he wrote in his journal “I am the lone wolf of deadly nothingness,” before he ever joined the Army, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard for psychological reasons, said close friends who were worried about his emotional health at the time.

The 2006 discharge and a trove of Bergdahl’s writing — the handwritten journal along with other essays, stories and e-mails provided to The Washington Post — paint a portrait of a deeply complicated and fragile young man who was by his own account struggling to maintain his mental stability from the start of basic training until the moment he walked off his post in eastern Afghanistan.

“I’m worried,” he wrote in one journal entry before he deployed. “The closer I get to ship day, the calmer the voices are. I’m reverting. I’m getting colder. My feelings are being flushed with the frozen logic and the training, all the unfeeling cold judgment of the darkness.”

“I will not lose this mind, this world I have deep inside,” he wrote a few pages later. “I will not lose this passion of beauty.”

“Trying to keep my self togeather,” he wrote at another point, using his often un­or­tho­dox spelling. “I’m so tired of the blackness, but what will happen to me without it. Bloody hell why do I keep thinking of this over and over.”

On June 9, two weeks before he walked away, Bergdahl sent an e-mail to a friend.

“l1nes n0 t g00 d h3rE. tell u when 1 ha ve a si coure 1ine about pl/-\ns,” read the partially coded message, one of Bergdahl’s many references to unspecified plans and dreams of walking away — to China, into the mountains, or, as he says at one point, into “the artist’s painted world, hiding from the fields of blood and screams, hidden from the monster within himself.”

Several days after he vanished, a box containing his blue spiral-bound journal, his Apple laptop, a copy of the novel “Atlas Shrugged,” military records and other items arrived at the home of his close friend Kim Harrison, whom Bergdahl designated in his Army paperwork as the person who should receive his remains.

Harrison said she decided to share the journal and computer files with The Post because she has become concerned about the portrayal of Bergdahl as a calculating deserter, which she contends is at odds with her understanding of him as a sensitive, vulnerable young man.

Bergdahl’s parents declined a request for an interview about their son’s writings and mental health. A military spokesman said questions could not be put to Bergdahl “at this point in his reintegration process.”

Harrison and others close to Bergdahl said his writing and the events surrounding the Coast Guard discharge raise questions about his mental fitness for military service and how he was accepted into the Army in 2008. Typically, a discharge for psychological reasons would disqualify a potential recruit.

According to Coast Guard records, Bergdahl left the service with an “uncharacterized discharge” after 26 days of basic training in early 2006. The term applies to people discharged before completing 180 days of service. No reason is specified in such discharges, and a Coast Guard representative said no further information was available.

A senior Army official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the Army was aware of a prior “administrative discharge” when Bergdahl enlisted. A separate Army official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Bergdahl would have required a waiver to enlist under such circumstances. The official could not immediately confirm that Bergdahl received one.

With two wars raging in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, the Army was meeting recruitment goals by issuing waivers that allowed people with criminal records, health conditions and other problems to enlist. According to a 2008 Army War College study on the subject, the Army was issuing waivers at a rate of one for every five recruits at the time.

Whatever the exact circumstances of Bergdahl’s enlistment, the Coast Guard discharge came as no surprise to Harrison and other friends of Bergdahl’s who grew up with him in Ketchum, Idaho, who said he was a poor fit for military service.

“He is the perfect example of a person who should not have gone” to war, said Harrison, who spoke on the condition that she be identified by her former married name because she is concerned about threats. “The only person worse would be someone with a low IQ. In my mind, they didn’t care.”

Harrison only recently brought herself to watch the video of Bergdahl’s release, in which he walks stiffly from a battered Taliban truck to an American helicopter.

Read the full story:  www.washingtonpost.com

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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Congress Not Among Top 90 To Learn Of Bergdahl Trade --Not exactly top secret

June 10, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Obama Administration 0 Comments
By Bob Unruh, Jun. 10, 2014, Wnd.com

Members of Congress on Monday learned they were not among the top 90 people to be told of the deal President Obama cut with terrorists for the release of five top Taliban commanders at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for a U.S. soldier.

And they now have a few questions about that.

Congress held a behind-closed-doors hearing on the deal for Bergdahl. Some of the details presented were classified, others not.

 Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told WND: “Today my colleagues and I were informed that as many as 80 to 90 Obama administration officials were aware of the plan to exchange Sgt. Bergdahl for five dangerous terrorists before a single member of Congress was informed.”

 Meadows said it is “wholly unacceptable that President Obama knowingly chose to completely bypass Congress.”

 The congressman said his question for the White House now is: “How many Qatar officials knew about the deal before a single member of Congress was made aware?”

 WND has reported the strong criticism of Obama’s decision to go ahead with the terrorists-for-soldier swap.

 For example, a commentary by WND CEO Joseph Farah on Monday points out that Obama’s decision “to trade five battle-hardened Taliban commanders, directly responsible for the deaths of thousands, for deserter-collaborator Bowe Bergdahl was unanimously rejected by both houses of Congress, including the Democrat-controlled Senate, when the proposal was brought to Congress in 2011 and 2013.”

Read the full story:  www.wnd.com

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Now The White House Says Hagel Made Final Call On Bergdah --Pretty soon they'll blame Sterling

June 10, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Obama Administration 0 Comments
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel
By Zoe Szathmary, Jun. 10, 2014, Dailymail.co.uk

FInal approval for the prisoner exchange that freed Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was made by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, members of Congress learned on Monday from administration officials.

'They indicated (it was) Secretary Hagel (who made the final call),' Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) said after a classified briefing, ABC points out.

'It was the president of the United States that came out (in the Rose Garden) with the Bergdahls and took all the credit and now that there’s been a little pushback he’s moving away from it and it’s Secretary Hagel?'

Last week, Hagel said the swap was a unanimous decision when speaking to the BBC.

'It was the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director of National Intelligence, Attorney General,' he said.

'It was our judgement based on the information that we had that his life, his health were in peril,' Hagel also told the channel in defense of not giving Congress 30 days' notice of the plan.

'Can you imagine if we would have waited or taken the chance of leaks over a 30-day period?' Hagel said.

Congress was upset to learn on Monday that 80 to 90 people in the Obama administration knew of the exchange - but that no Republicans or Democrats in the House were told.

'It strikes me as unfortunate that they could have 80 to 90 people in the administration aware of what was happening and not be able to trust a single Republican or Democrat in the House or the Senate,' Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), said, Reuters points out.

''There was a sense of anger that members of Congress didn’t know about this,' Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) said to reporters after the briefing, ABC notes. 'Obviously, if there is secure information — members of Congress knew about the capture of Osama bin Laden — and yet 80 to 90 staff in the White House knew about this.'

Hagel is expected to defend the prisoner exchange on Wednesday in an appearance before the House Armed Services Committee.

Read the full story:  www.dailymail.co.uk

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'I've Had Enough': When Democrats Quit on Obama --Still none dare go on the record

June 10, 2014 Democrats , Hostage Exchange 0 Comments
President Barack Obama
By Ron Fournier, Jun. 9, 2014, Nationaljournal.com

 The email hit my in-box at 9:41 p.m. last Wednesday. From one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, a close adviser to the White House, the missive amounted to an electronic eye roll. "Even I have had enough."

 Another Democrat had quit on President Obama.

 The tipping point for this person was the Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl case—not the soldier-for-Taliban swap itself as much as how the White House mishandled its obligation to communicate effectively and honestly to Congress and the public. More than that, Obama's team had failed once again to acknowledge its mistakes, preferring to cast blame and seek cover behind talking points.

 "DC is hard, and depressing," the Democrat wrote. "I still believe good comes from government (e.g. 8 million in ACA). But that Politico story is a cautionary one: good reminder that you can't go so in the bunker [and] no longer identify legitimate criticism." That day, Politico had posted a story channeling the White House communications team's response to the Bergdahl backlash.

 To this senior Democrat, the Politico story showed the White House to be both tone-deaf and arrogant, two vices that are undermining what could have been a great presidency.

 I share this email to make the broader point and to offer a disclosure: In the 18 months since I began writing columns focused on the presidency, virtually every post critical of Obama has originated from conversations with Democrats. Members of Congress, consultants, pollsters, lobbyists, and executives at think tanks, these Democrats are my Obama-whispers. They respect and admire Obama but believe that his presidency has been damaged by his shortcomings as a leader; his inattention to details of governing; his disengagement from the political process and from the public; his unwillingness to learn on the job; and his failure to surround himself with top-shelf advisers who are willing to challenge their boss as well as their own preconceived notions.

 "Dem Party is F****d," wrote a Democratic consultant with strong ties to the White House and Capitol Hill during the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act website.

 Read the full story:  www.nationaljournal.com

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Monday, June 9, 2014

Arsenio Hall Deletes Lame Taliban Joke In Favor Of Lamer Taliban Joke

June 09, 2014 Arsenio Hall , Guantanamo Bay 0 Comments
Read all the tweets on Twitchy:  www.twitchy.com

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Friday, June 6, 2014

Leon Panetta: Opposed Deal--'Assumed It Was Never Going To Happen' --Thought price too steep

June 06, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Obama Administration 0 Comments
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images
By David Conti, Jun. 4, 2014, Triblive.com

A former top adviser to President Obama on Wednesday questioned the release of dangerous terrorists in exchange for an imprisoned American soldier as anger spread among lawmakers in Washington over the secret deal to free Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

“I don't fault the administration for wanting to get him back. I do question whether the conditions are in place to make sure these terrorists don't go back into battle,” former CIA director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told a gas industry gathering in Pittsburgh.

Panetta, who was in the Cabinet for four of the five years Bergdahl spent in Taliban custody, said he opposed a swap for the terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when he was Defense secretary.

“I said, ‘Wait, I have an obligation under the law,'” Panetta said during a lunchtime address at the Hart Energy Developing Unconventionals DUG East conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. “If I send prisoners from Guantanamo, they have to guarantee they don't go back to the battlefield. I had serious concerns.”

He said talks fell apart because the Taliban “asked for five top guys.” He did not say when during his 2011-13 tenure in the Pentagon that discussions took place.

“I just assumed it was never going to happen,” Panetta said.

News of Bergdahl's release broke Saturday, and questions escalated into criticism and rebuke as members of his unit said the last American prisoner of war in Afghanistan had left his remote base intentionally. Lawmakers complained they weren't advised of the swap in advance.

“This is one of the reasons why a number of us have been so strongly opposed to the release of individuals there,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said as renewed opposition grew to Obama's goal of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Read the full story:  www.triblive.com

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Biden 'Neutral' On Taliban-Bergdahl Swap --Joe ain't taking no bullet. He wants to be prez, waits for HRC to fall.

June 06, 2014 Hostage Exchange , Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl 0 Comments
Vice President Joe Biden
By Daniel Halper, Jun. 5, 2014, Weeklystandard.com

Not even the vice president supported the trade of the Taliban 5 for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. According to a new report, Vice President Joe Biden remained "neutral on the prisoner swap."

"While Vice President Joe Biden was neutral on the prisoner swap," Reuters reveals, "Obama and two top White House advisers, then-national security adviser Thomas Donilon and his deputy Denis McDonough, were all in favor, one official said. Donilon resigned a year ago, but McDonough went on to become Obama's chief of staff."

It does not appear that Biden has publicly commented on the controversial trade so far.

But another possible 2016 Democratic presidential candidate has. As the AP reported earlier this week:
Clinton said she did not second-guess people who make such tough decisions, but said the American tradition of caring for its citizens and soldiers was a "noble" one.
"This young man, whatever the circumstances, was an American citizen — is an American citizen — was serving in our military," Clinton said. "The idea that you really care for your own citizens and particularly those in uniform, I think is a very noble one."
She added that she understood regrets about the deal but that the Obama administration feared Bergdahl wouldn't survive much longer. She described it as an example of the "hard choices" in government that is also the title of her forthcoming book.
Since making that statement, Clinton allies have slightly walked back her support of the deal.

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