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Sgt Bowe Bergdahl released

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  • Sgt Bowe Bergdahl released

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/us...reed.html?_r=0

  • #2
    Welcome home Sgt Bergdahl. About damn time.
    "We are all special cases." - Camus

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    • #3
      Sgt Bowe Bergdahl was released in exchange for five detainees held at Gitmo. US intelligence had received information that the health of Sgt Bergdahl was deteriorating. The five Gitmo detainees were flown to Qatar with assurances from the Qatar government the the five would be banned from traveling abroad for a year.

      The released Gitmo detainees:

      Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa
      Khairkhwa was an early member of the Taliban in 1994 and was interior minister during the Taliban's rule. He hails from the same tribe as Afghan President Hamid Karzai and was captured in January 2002. Khairkhwa's most prominent position was as governor of Herat province from 1999 to 2001, and he was alleged to have been "directly associated" with Osama bin Laden. According to a detainee assessment, Khairkhwa also was probably associated with al Qaeda's now-deceased leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. He is described as one of the "major opium drug lords in western Afghanistan" and a "friend" of Karzai. He was arrested in Pakistan and was transferred to Guantanamo in May 2002. During questioning, Khairkhwa denied all knowledge of extremist activities.

      Mullah Mohammad Fazl
      Fazl commanded the main force fighting the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance in 2001, and served as chief of army staff under the Taliban regime. He has been accused of war crimes during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s. Fazl was detained after surrendering to Abdul Rashid Dostam, the leader of Afghanistan's Uzbek community, in November 2001. He was wanted by the United Nations in connection with the massacre of thousands of Afghan Shiites during the Taliban's rule. "When asked about the murders, he did not express any regret," according to the detainee assessment. He was alleged to have been associated with several militant Islamist groups, including al Qaeda. He was transferred into U.S. custody in December 2001 and was one of the first arrivals at Guantanamo, where he was assessed as having high intelligence value.

      Mullah Norullah Noori
      Noori served as governor of Balkh province in the Taliban regime and played some role in coordinating the fight against the Northern Alliance. Like Fazl, Noori was detained after surrendering to Dostam, the Uzbek leader, in 2001. Noori claimed during interrogation that "he never received any weapons or military training." According to 2008 detainee assessment, Noori "continues to deny his role, importance and level of access to Taliban officials." That same assessment characterized him as high risk and of high intelligence value.

      Abdul Haq Wasiq
      Wasiq was the deputy chief of the Taliban regime's intelligence service. His cousin was head of the service. An administrative review in 2007 cited a source as saying that Wasiq was also "an al Qaeda intelligence member" and had links with members of another militant Islamist group, Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin. Wasiq claimed, according to the review, that he was arrested while trying to help the United States locate senior Taliban figures. He denied any links to militant groups.

      Mohammad Nabi Omari
      Omari was a minor Taliban official in Khost Province. According to the first administrative review in 2004, he was a member of the Taliban and associated with both al Qaeda and another militant group Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin. He was the Taliban's chief of communications and helped al Qaeda members escape from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Omari acknowledged during hearings that he had worked for the Taliban but denied connections with militant groups. He also said that he had worked with a U.S. operative named Mark to try to track down Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
      sigpic

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      • #4
        Homeland anyone?
        No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

        To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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        • #5
          This morning I wake up to Ihofe and Mckeon trying to make political hay of it. They claim the President did not give them 30 days notice as required. HOGWASH

          US Constitution article 2 section 2 last sentence; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

          Obama called this one right, now just got a jailed wife of an American, an American pastor and an imprisoned marine left to free.

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          • #6
            This episode should put down any criticism of the GoI's handling of the IC 184 hijacking when it negotiated and released 5 terrorists in exchange for safe return of all passengers with the exception of one, Ripan Katyal who was initially killed during the hijacking part. If America, the mightiest and most powerful nation, would release 5 high value terrorists for the return of one soldier, true or not, got captured under suspicious circumstances, then the GoI during the day of IC 184 could not be termed as being weak or ill-advised.

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            • #7
              So at least two of these men are alleged war criminals. I am relieved for Bergdahl and his family but it is disturbing that war criminals like Noori and Fazl had to be part of the exchange. That cant go down well in Afghanistan, particularly among the Hazara's and other Shi'as.

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              • #8
                They are restricted to Qatar for the present, perhaps something will come up requiring their re-arrest or perhaps they will get in an accident. There are many hazards out there in the world after all. The President certainly had the authority to release the prisoners from US custody and as no country with an extradition treaty asked for them there are no obstacles to it. The common sense of it certainly can be questioned and I'm sure it will be as well as the timing of it. If Sgt Bergdahl could have been released by an exchange of prisoners, why wait until he was ill? Is it to offset the VA debacle? The news breaks about myriad abuses at VA hospitals resulting in the deaths of veterans and suddenly the president is visiting troops in Afghanistan, getting Sgt Bergdahl released. The cynical side of me says he doesn't care until there is some political benefit to him, but the bottom line to keep in mind is Sgt Bergdahl who was a POW to some of the most uncivilized people on the planet is now free and safe. The details and ramifications will sort out later.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by zraver View Post
                  This morning I wake up to Ihofe and Mckeon trying to make political hay of it. They claim the President did not give them 30 days notice as required. HOGWASH

                  US Constitution article 2 section 2 last sentence; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

                  Obama called this one right, now just got a jailed wife of an American, an American pastor and an imprisoned marine left to free.


                  The wife is being set free

                  Meriam Ibrahim: Sudanese woman sentenced to hang will be freed



                  I'm assuming the minister you mention is Kenneth Bae?

                  Which Marine? The idiot that went to Iran or the idiot that went to Mexico with weapons?

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                  • #10
                    Well those 5 can't be to Super Evil bad. We've had them for over 10 yeas and have done nothing with them.

                    If there were charges by the UN for War Crimes, why hasn't the UN brought charges?

                    Welcome back Sgt Bergdahl.

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                    • #11
                      On social networking sites, former soldiers of Sgt Bowe Bergdahl's unit in Afghanistan say he willingly deserted and moreover, the search to find him cost six soldiers their lives. They say that Bergdahl is not in anyway a hero and believe he should face charges under the UCMJ. Military officials are confirming to news agencies that Bergdahl left his unit voluntarily, but said they do not know why. In an e-mail to his parents in Idaho shortly before disappearing, Bergdahl said he was disillusioned with the military and he no longer supported the war in Afghanistan. Bergdahl closed the e-mail with: "I am ashamed to be an American. And the title of U.S. solider is just the lie of fools."

                      The Obama administration is quietly floating the notion that whatever happened, five years in Taliban captivity is enough punishment.

                      I'm curious how current and former US military personnel on this board view this indelicate situation.
                      sigpic

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                      • #12
                        I hope he stands trial.

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                        • #13
                          Sources: Intelligence community investigated Bergdahl

                          A senior official confirms to Fox News that the conduct of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl -- both in his final stretch of active duty in Afghanistan and then, too, during his time when he lived among the Taliban -- has been thoroughly investigated by the U.S. intelligence community and is the subject of "a major classified file."

                          In conveying as much, the Defense Department source confirmed to Fox News that many within the intelligence community harbor serious outstanding concerns not only that Bergdahl may have been a deserter but that he may have been an active collaborator with the enemy.

                          The Pentagon official added pointedly that no relevant congressional committee has sought access to the classified file, but that if such a request were made, key committee chairs would, under previous precedent, likely be granted access to it. Separately, the Pentagon confirmed Monday that it is looking into claims Americans died during the search for Bergdahl.

                          The administration announced over the weekend that Bergdahl's release had been secured, in exchange for five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. President Obama was joined by the soldier's parents in making a public statement on the release Saturday evening from the Rose Garden.

                          Sources told Fox News that many officials in the Executive Branch are "quite baffled" by the White House's decision to allow the president to stand alongside Bergdahl's father this past weekend, given the father's history of controversial statements, emails and online posts.

                          Asked Monday about reports that Bergdahl's father was communicating on Twitter with a man described as a Taliban spokesman, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declined to comment on those reports but defended the administration's handling of the release.

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                          • #14
                            The bottom line is we have him now. If he was a deserter or traitor, he will face our justice by our rules. If he was innocent or committed a lesser offense he has his freedom or at least a commensurate punishment. The funny thing (funny ironic) is that two of the prisoners exchanged for him are in the same boat he is. They may have been released from our captivity but they were reportedly cooperating with us prior to their capture and maybe they will be in jeopardy of their lives for treason.

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                            • #15
                              I was about to say that I was hearing rumbling about his release as mentioned.

                              As for those 5 pieces of evil released I don't think I'd want to go down a lite alley with anyone of them coming the other direction. Some of those faces just dripped terror. Hope they run into a drone in my alley instead.

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