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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStating the obvious: The administration couldn't win on Bergdahl
If they hadn't negotiated for his release: The administration would have been subject to charges that they broke faith with our troops by abandoning Bergdahl.If the war in Afghanistan had ended and the Taliban prisoners were repatriated and Bergdahl was still a prisoner: First, conservatives would have criticized the administration for prematurely ending the war (hint: they still will); then, they'd criticize the administration for releasing the prisoners. "The war on terror is different", they'll say, and we'll be told we should have kept the terrorists imprisoned (by which the conservatives really mean "quietly killed and dumped into shark infested waters" . After these arguments are exhausted, someone will point out that "common business sense" would dictate that we should have traded the terrorists for our POW while we had leverage.
If the Taliban said "Bergdahl came to us willingly and he wants to stay here": The right would immediately contend that the terrorists had kidnapped and brainwashed Bergdahl, and refer to the entire event as "Obama's Hostage Crisis."
If the Administration said they weren't trading anyone to return a deserter: Republicans would claim that the administration was too incompetent and incapable of securing his release, and indicate that the desertion story was a vicious slander that was part of an administration cover up.
I'm not sure a Delta-force commando rescue led by Chuck Norris flown in a plane piloted by Bruce Willis would be sufficient to please the Republicans.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,257 posts)investigation so that nothing gets done until the next Republican either takes the White House, or the Repukes take control of the Senate.
That's what BENGHAZI....NSA....IRS....EPA....BERGDAHL are all designed to do. If he's tied up in investigations, he won't have time for anything else. At least, that's what they think.
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,795 posts)After 6+ years of finding a whole lotta nothing on Whitewater, the GOP found that "gasp" Bill Clinton was getting a little on the side and then lied in an attempt to save his ass from an enraged wife. I remember then when a humiliated, humbled Clinton was removed from office by a righteously enraged Senate....no wait, that's not how it went, is it?
Tarheel_Dem
(31,257 posts)genwah
(574 posts)to endorse meat. He goes out to a lot of burger joints and when he travels he eats at local joints. I want him to stand up and say, "Hey, I enjoy eating meat!"
I just want to see the Republican party endorse vegetarian/vegan-ism.
Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)Algernon Moncrieff
(5,795 posts)...who could have imagined?
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)Algernon Moncrieff
(5,795 posts)Unless he was court-martialed in absentia and none of us know about it, he's first-and-foremost an American soldier being held against his will. We have the responsibility to bring him home.
If his behavior broke military law, he will face a court martial, and he will be dealt-with accordingly.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)The story is very complicated but I am glad they got him out.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)1) Let him rot/get killed/commit suicide. 2) Rescue Attempt that may kill soldiers AND Bergdahl 3) Some sort of negotiated deal/prisoner swap. Republicans need to clarify which option they would have chosen, bearing in mind on Option 2 that part of their trashing Bergdahl is in relation to troops who may have already died looking for him.
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,795 posts)...and then he traded missiles to the Iranians to get hostages released in Lebanon.
Being cynical, one could assert that option 1 would give us a martyr. Reality, however, is that the Taliban prisoners will be sent back when the Afghanistan war ends. Option 3 makes sense at several levels.
Cha
(298,021 posts)damned. This was the right thing to do no matter what Bergdahl's history is.. which Hagel says we'll sort out in time.
Bergdahl reaches Germany; Obama aides defend prisoner exchange
snip//
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sgt. Bowe Bergdahls health was deteriorating and that his life was in danger, while White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the deal met a a sacred obligation to bring Bergdahl home.
snip//
Obama advisers fired back by saying Republicans would be in full attack mode if the U.S. government had squandered an opportunity to gain Bergdahls release.
Speaking to reporters traveling with him in Asia, Hagel also left open the possibility that the circumstances of Bergdahls capture might one day be investigated, but said that was not the Pentagons first priority. Bergdahl was first noticed missing from his base in Afghanistan June 30, 2009, amid allegations that he left the base voluntarily.
Sgt. Bergdahl is a member of the United States Army, Hagel said. He's a sergeant in the United States Army. Our first priority is assuring his well-being and his health and getting him reunited with his family. Other circumstances that may develop and questions, those will be dealt with later.
Miami Herald
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,795 posts)..and now can we bring the rest of our troops home?