Posted on 06/10/2014 7:23:42 AM PDT by RobinMasters
Facing growing skepticism on Capitol Hill about its decision to swap five Taliban prisoners for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the White House told lawmakers at a classified briefing late Monday night that some of the freed militants were political figures, not hardened soldiers, according to lawmakers who attended the session.
In the past several days, the administration has rolled out a number of reasons to justify swapping Bergdahl, a potential deserter, for the five Taliban officials. White House officials said they had concerns about Berdgahl's health, felt an obligation to never leave a soldier on the battlefield, and feared the militants were preparing to kill the missing soldier. But House lawmakers exiting a late Monday briefing said the administration was now shifting to a new defense that emphasized the lack of threat posed by the individuals that were released as part of the deal.
They discussed "the dangerousness of the individuals," or lack thereof, said Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) in an interview, referring to Abdul Haq Wasiq, Mullah Norullah Noori, Mullah Mohammad Fazi, Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa and Mohammad Nabi Omari, otherwise known as the "Taliban Five." While Turner said he didn't trust the way the administration characterized their rap sheets, other Democratic lawmakers were convinced that claims about the Taliban Five being "hardcore" terrorists were exaggerated.
"They don't seem to have been combatants at all," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who attended Monday's briefing. "The guys we traded, you hear all kinds of things about ‘they killed Americans.' Three of them were governors of provinces under the Taliban government...They were governors."
(Excerpt) Read more at thecable.foreignpolicy.com ...
“Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)
1. Health in danger1. Health in danger
2. Previously consulted with congress
3. Swiftboating
4. It was an oversight, sorry
5. Platoon full of psychopaths
6. Taliban threated to kill
7. "What difference does it make?"
8. Stockholm Syndrome
9. PTSD 10. No evidence converted to Islam, fraternized with Taliban, and declared jihad
11. Physically abused, confined in cage
12. Racism
13. Moderate Taliban
14. “Raggedy" platoon
15. "No matter what, to leave an American behind in the hands of people who would torture him, cut of his head, do any number of things"
16. Obama broke unconstitutional law (that he signed)
17. Wasn't only soldier to 'walk off' post
18. Only tenuous link to U.S. deaths
19. “PR campaign by Republicans” ... to “muddy the waters”
20. Hagel, NOT Obama, made the final call on #Bergdahl swap, (see also #16)
21. The Taliban Five aren't as bad as you think, three were governors
Tagline says it all. One long stream of lies
They were just turning their lives around and looking for nice American girls to settle down and marry and become loving and productive workers and gain citizenship here in the USA.
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