Ontopic Thoughts on the US doing a terrorism prisoner exchange for a US POW

Do you think they made the right now


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Sep 1, 2006
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For those who don't know Army Sgt. Bergdahl was taken hostage in 2009 while in Afghanistan. It is unknown how he was taken due to conflicting reports. The majority say he either deserted or walked off base. There are also others that say he was taken inside the wire while heading to the bathroom. Yesterday the Administration did a prisoner exchange of the top 5 Taliban officials being held in GITMO (selected by the hostage takers) for Bergdahl.

Now on to the two current stances on the event.

  • You have one that is super happy the Administration did whatever they could to bring him home after so many years.
  • On the other side you have people crying foul for 2 reasons. One it's required that the President give at least 30 days notice to Congress prior to moving anyone out of GITMO. 2nd and by far the most concerning to some is that they broke the long standing rule of the US does not and will not negotiate with terrorists.

My stance is I'm super glad this guy and home I and hope to know the circumstances on his why he was taken in the first place. But I am outright disgusted that the Administration did the trade. I'm not concerned with the intelligence value of the guys in GITMO. We've already got what we needed out of them. I am a bit concerned that these guys will immediately go back into the terror mix and potentially harm others. My main concern is now we've opened the door on every terror group in the world to kidnap Americans both civilian and military because they know we will give in and meet their demands for either prisoner exchanges or other items. The reason we've always held the stance to never negotiate with them is because we never wanted to open that door. I really do feel for the former POW and his family but I really hope this doesn't backfire.
 
My stance is I'm super glad this guy and home I and hope to know the circumstances on his why he was taken in the first place. But I am outright disgusted that the Administration did the trade. I'm not concerned with the intelligence value of the guys in GITMO. We've already got what we needed out of them. I am a bit concerned that these guys will immediately go back into the terror mix and potentially harm others. My main concern is now we've opened the door on every terror group in the world to kidnap Americans both civilian and military because they know we will give in and meet their demands for either prisoner exchanges or other items. The reason we've always held the stance to never negotiate with them is because we never wanted to open that door. I really do feel for the former POW and his family but I really hope this doesn't backfire.

This!
 
You've got to laugh at the Dept of Defence spokesman who had the gall to say "They are exploiting the soldier in violation of international law" while Gitmo is presumably totally consistent with international law.
 
"Do not negotiate with terrorists" is not a rule, it's a line invented by Hollywood. There is no DOD or State Dept policy codifying that nor is this the first time that a prisoner exchange has been conducted. The Taliban was the legitimate - albeit brutal - government of Afghanistan before the invasion, classifying them as "terrorists" alongside Al-Queda is a matter of convenience and semantics, nothing more. This won't open any doors that haven't been open for decades.

That being said, I hope Bergdahl has a damn good explanation because a lot of guys died trying to find him and a lot of missions were ultimately put on hold to do so.
 
"Do not negotiate with terrorists" is not a rule, it's a line invented by Hollywood. There is no DOD or State Dept policy codifying that nor is this the first time that a prisoner exchange has been conducted.

No it's not a hollywood line it's an actual thing. We had to learn about it and become very familiar with the reports pertaining to the CTF and other task forces since the 80's. The modern version came out the Task Force on Combating Terrorism headed by GW when he was vice. It was a collection and report he had to do that they utilized to turn most of the findings into policies under Reagan.
 
It's an idea, it's not a policy. Especially since the definition of "terrorist" is pretty fluid at times. We've exchanged prisoners with organizations that today would be labeled as terrorists many times. Hell, considering the Taliban's previous status any dealings with the Soviet government could be construed as negotiations with terrorists.

Basically, the only legal issue is the one about prisoner movements from GITMO. The "negotiating with terrorists" bullshit is something the GOP decided to harp on because it was done by someone they don't like this time. it won't change a damn thing, no one's going to get kidnapped in Paris because of this.

My main concern is why this guy got captured and if he was there willingly. If so a lot of guys with 4-25 died trying to save him for nothing and that pisses me off more than this silly idea that we're altering US policy or some shit.
 
It's an idea, it's not a policy. Especially since the definition of "terrorist" is pretty fluid at times. We've exchanged prisoners with organizations that today would be labeled as terrorists many times. Hell, considering the Taliban's previous status any dealings with the Soviet government could be construed as negotiations with terrorists.

Basically, the only legal issue is the one about prisoner movements from GITMO. The "negotiating with terrorists" bullshit is something the GOP decided to harp on because it was done by someone they don't like this time. it won't change a damn thing, no one's going to get kidnapped in Paris because of this.

My main concern is why this guy got captured and if he was there willingly. If so a lot of guys with 4-25 died trying to save him for nothing and that pisses me off more than this silly idea that we're altering US policy or some shit.

I'm trying to find the policy definition but it adheres to a terrorist being a person or group acting outside of a sovereign nation. I know when I was at DIA we had a clear definition and set of actions between a nation, a terror group, and a state sponsored terror group.
 
That's what a lot of people believe, so like I said...he better have a damn good reason.

If he's still attached to 4-25 he'll get to meet up with them in Alaska.
 
That's what a lot of people believe, so like I said...he better have a damn good reason.

If he's still attached to 4-25 he'll get to meet up with them in Alaska.

I'm sure at this point it's either discharge or punishment depending what they find. But honestly at this point even of he was trying to go AWOL I'm sure they would do time served and a dishonorable discharge.
 
I'm sure at this point it's either discharge or punishment depending what they find. But honestly at this point even of he was trying to go AWOL I'm sure they would do time served and a dishonorable discharge.

I imagine so, unless it was found that he gave up operational info when he was first "captured".
 
Weird choice of dude to trade for
Weird choice to trade with non state actors
Whole thing reeks of there being a lot more to it
 
How is it a weird choice? He's literally the only known POW. And it's not the first time dealing with non state actors...besides, it's the organization that held him. Nothing strange about it at all. Controversial, sure, but not weird.
 
How is it a weird choice? He's literally the only known POW. And it's not the first time dealing with non state actors...besides, it's the organization that held him. Nothing strange about it at all. Controversial, sure, but not weird.
I remember them talking about trading for him in 2012, then the presidential race happened.

The timing of this is with the news blitz about:
Obama's visit to Afghanistan on Memorial Day
Obama announcing withdrawal plans from Afghanistan

It just seems like a move of convenience. Makes it all very odd timing when they couldve got him (Im assuming) anytime in the past two years.
 
it's taken nearly two years of negotiations to get this agreement made. that's another reason I don't buy the fear mongering about this leading to other organizations trying to kidnap americans. the taliban is not al queda, they've been to the white house before. while they're no longer a legitimate legal authority in this country they still know how to negotiate like one. if some little aq cell in paris decides to take a vacationing couple hostage thinking this is a good sign for them the only thing they'll get is a seal team up their buttholes.

the withdrawal was publicly known since at least the state of the union, the recent announcement was merely that we're going to keep a certain number in theater

as for the visit, I apparently just missed getting to see air force one land, that would have been pretty cool
 
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