5 high level Taliban commanders for 1 low level deserter?

Not fair to the Taliban...5 time bombs vs 1 firecracker.

You really think we are getting the whole story about this? Come on. Haven't you yet become aware that the government and the mainstream media is always telling us lies big and small?

Of course we're not getting the whole story. That's the point of the thread. Try to keep up. M

Congratulations, Mr. President! And identical congrats to your sorcerer’s apprentice, National Security Adviser Susan Rice. By trying to sell him as an American hero, you’ve turned a deserter already despised by soldiers in the know into quite possibly the most-hated individual soldier in the history of our military.

I have never witnessed such outrage from our troops.

Exhibit A: Ms. Rice. In one of the most tone-deaf statements in White House history (we’re making a lot of history here), the national-security advisor, on a Sunday talk show, described Bergdahl as having served “with honor and distinction.” Those serving in uniform and those of us who served previously were already stirred up, but that jaw-dropper drove us into jihad mode.

But pity Ms. Rice. Like the president she serves, she’s a victim of her class. Nobody in the inner circle of Team Obama has served in uniform. It shows. That bit about serving with “honor and distinction” is the sort of perfunctory catch-phrase politicians briefly don as electoral armor. (“At this point in your speech, ma’am, devote one sentence to how much you honor the troops.”)

I actually believe that Ms. Rice was kind of sincere, in her spectacularly oblivious way. In the best Manchurian Candidate manner, she said what she had been programmed to say by her political culture, then she was blindsided by the firestorm she ignited by scratching two flinty words together. At least she didn’t blame Bergdahl’s desertion on a video.

The president, too, appears stunned. He has so little understanding of (or interest in) the values and traditions of our troops that he and his advisers really believed that those in uniform would erupt into public joy at the news of Bergdahl’s release — as D.C. frat kids did when Osama bin Laden’s death was trumpeted.

Both President Obama and Ms. Rice seem to think that the crime of desertion in wartime is kind of like skipping class. They have no idea of how great a sin desertion in the face of the enemy is to those in our military. The only worse sin is to side actively with the enemy and kill your brothers in arms. This is not sleeping in on Monday morning and ducking Gender Studies 101.

But compassion, please! The president and all the president’s men and women are not alone. Our media elite — where it’s a rare bird who bothered to serve in uniform — instantly became experts on military justice. Of earnest mien and blithe assumption, one talking head after another announced that “we always try to rescue our troops, even deserters.”

Uh, no. “Save the deserter” is a recent battle cry of the politically indoctrinated brass. For much of our history, we did make some efforts to track down deserters in wartime. Then we shot or hanged them. Or, if we were in good spirits, we merely used a branding iron to burn a large D into their cheeks or foreheads. Even as we grew more enlightened, desertion brought serious time in a military prison. At hard labor.

This is a fundamental culture clash. Team Obama and its base cannot comprehend the values still cherished by those young Americans “so dumb” they joined the Army instead of going to prep school and then to Harvard. Values such as duty, honor, country, physical courage, and loyalty to your brothers and sisters in arms have no place in Obama World. (Military people don’t necessarily all like each other, but they know they can depend on each other in battle — the sacred trust Bergdahl violated.)

President Obama did this to himself (and to Bergdahl). This beautifully educated man, who never tires of letting us know how much smarter he is than the rest of us, never stopped to consider that our troops and their families might have been offended by their commander-in-chief staging a love-fest at the White House to celebrate trading five top terrorists for one deserter and featuring not the families of those soldiers (at least six of them) who died in the efforts to find and free Bergdahl, but, instead, giving a starring role on the international stage to Pa Taliban, parent of a deserter and a creature of dubious sympathies (that beard on pops ain’t a tribute to ZZ Top). How do you say “outrageous insult to our vets” in Pashto?

Nor, during the recent VA scandal, had the president troubled himself to host the families of survivors of those vets who died awaiting care. No, the warmest attention our president has ever paid to a “military family” was to Mr. and Mrs. Bergdahl.

(I will refrain from criticism of the bumptious attempts to cool the flames of this political conflagration by Secretary Hagel: I never pick on the weak.)

What is to be done? Behind the outrage triggered by Team Obama’s combination of cynicism and obliviousness (Bergdahl was so ill we had to set those terrorists free immediately, without notifying Congress, but now he’s chugging power shakes in a military hospital . . . and all this just happened to come at the peak of the VA scandal . . . ), military members don’t really want to lynch Bergdahl. But they want justice.

Our military leaders need to rediscover their moral courage and honor our traditions, our regulations, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We need a fresh, unprejudiced 15-6 investigation (the military equivalent of a grand jury). We already know, as the military has known since the first 24 hours after Bergdahl abandoned his post, that sufficient evidence exists for a court-martial, but it’s important to do this by the numbers.

+++++ 10000

Ralph Peters smacks the ball out of the ballpark. Notice how horribly wrong the Obamamites were about the expected reaction.

http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2014/06/04/a-clash-of-cultures/

Is he a deserter and, if so, why does it matter? He's an American.

Also remember that although some Taliban leaders were tied to Al-Qaeda, the country they ruled was invaded by foreign forces.

I do not endorse their stinking regime.

At the end of the day, the Taliban did offer to hand over Bin Laden to Bush after 9/11, if the US could provide evidence that he was guilty.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5

Burley Burt wrote:

But pity Ms. Rice. Like the president she serves, she’s a victim of her class. Nobody in the inner circle of Team Obama has served in uniform. It shows. That bit about serving with “honor and distinction” is the sort of perfunctory catch-phrase politicians briefly don as electoral armor. (“At this point in your speech, ma’am, devote one sentence to how much you honor the troops.”)

Is George W. Bush also a victim of his class with his "service in uniform" by having his pappy keep him out of combat, then deserting his Nat. Guard unit?

How about Cheney? Multiple deferments because he was too busy to serve his country.

Romney? "I had better things to do than being drafted into the army." He went to France to dodge the draft, but did march in pro war gatherings.

Limbaugh? He dodged the draft by claiming that the pimple on his butt was 4F.

Reagan? Spent WWII lounging by his Beverly Hills pool.

rupp rides the short bus wrote:

Limbaugh? He dodged the draft by claiming that the pimple on his butt was 4F.

Reagan? Spent WWII lounging by his Beverly Hills pool.

It appears that Obama was duped also by the Deserter/Traitor's captors making him look haggard in a recent video to make the issue more pressing when he was instead in good health. Did you see him get into the helicopter? LOL - Obama got duped! His captors kept him in good health SO he may be part of an exchange for some very bad Senior Taliban Commanders/Terrorists/Killers.

muslim terrorists outsmart the community organizer!

If Barry's mother married a Hawaiian, he'd never have been elected !

Burly Burt wrote:

It appears that Obama was duped also by the Deserter/Traitor's captors making him look haggard in a recent video to make the issue more pressing when he was instead in good health. Did you see him get into the helicopter? LOL - Obama got duped! His captors kept him in good health SO he may be part of an exchange for some very bad Senior Taliban Commanders/Terrorists/Killers.

You're the one who's been duped, my friend. Even a 5-year-old can tell that there's more to this story than meets the eye. There's a reason the US was anxious to send those 5 back.

The whole point is to try to make peace with the Taliban to help end the war and create a lasting peace in the country.

Vertere wrote:

Burly Burt wrote:

It appears that Obama was duped also by the Deserter/Traitor's captors making him look haggard in a recent video to make the issue more pressing when he was instead in good health. Did you see him get into the helicopter? LOL - Obama got duped! His captors kept him in good health SO he may be part of an exchange for some very bad Senior Taliban Commanders/Terrorists/Killers.

You're the one who's been duped, my friend. Even a 5-year-old can tell that there's more to this story than meets the eye. There's a reason the US was anxious to send those 5 back.

Of course there was a reason for Obama wanting to release the 5 most dangerous Gitmo prisoners. He has been wanting to do it since he was elected and thought this was his perfect opportunity. He hoped holding the Rose Garden ceremony with the parents and proclaiming a hero was coming home would give him political points with the American people. Unfortunately, he broke the law by not contacting Congress and didn't anticipate the "hero" would be outed as a deserter by his fellow soldiers. His PR stunt backfired.

The only ones I feel for are the soldiers (and their families) who were injured or killed while searching for this deserter.

Peece wrote:

The whole point is to try to make peace with the Taliban to help end the war and create a lasting peace in the country.

Lasting peace? With the Taliban? Aren't they the ones who poison 100s of young schoolgirls simply for wanting to learn?

Wow, you sure have a lot of inside information. Either that or you're a looney.

U.S. Constitution - Article 3 Section 3

Article 3 - The Judicial Branch

Section 3 - Treason

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

Peece wrote:

The whole point is to try to make peace with the Taliban to help end the war and create a lasting peace in the country.

That Barry is a great negotiator! Give them what they want before you start peace talks. Heckeva job Barry!

Why is your knee jerk reaction to bring up George Bush or your other list of republicans.

You don realize it's possible to dislike both a George Bush and Obama. Or your entire list and Obama.

It's fine that you want to defend him but you don't have to bring in an entire list of people irrelevant to the topic at hand. Poor form and debating skills at it's finest.

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The Obama administration continues to take heat following the trade of five Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl last weekend, and a top Democratic official from Maryland fears the move could have serious consequences.

Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, calls this a “dangerous precedent that puts all Americans at risk throughout the world.”

Ruppersberger is one of a growing chorus of critics who say five Taliban prisoners is too high a cost.

“Since World War Two we have not negotiated with terrorists or other groups,” Ruppersberger said, according to WJZ’s media partner the Baltimore Sun. “What concerns me is the future. This puts all Americans at risk throughout the world, including our men and women on the front line…for kidnapping.”

Bergdahl, who left his Army base in 2009 before being captured by the Taliban, was released after the U.S. exchanged five high-level Taliban members kept at Guantanamo Bay.

What the administration thought would be “euphoria” over the successful release of Bergdahl instead brought a wave of criticism that flooded the White House for exchanging terrorists for an accused deserter.

Sally Vixxxxxens wrote:

Peece wrote:

The whole point is to try to make peace with the Taliban to help end the war and create a lasting peace in the country.

Lasting peace? With the Taliban? Aren't they the ones who poison 100s of young schoolgirls simply for wanting to learn?

You're not just going to be able to kill them all. They're going to be there for a while. The US needed to do something different to jump start negotiations with the Taliban.