Terrorist and The United States: Open for Negotiations

There’s no denying that Americans should celebrate the return of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, but the process in which he was released leaves unanswered questions.  The President announced the return of Bergdahl surrounded by a father and mother that we are certain are relieved at the least and most likely happy to have their son coming home.  While Americans should be giving Obama and his staff the good old knuckle-bump for the work, it seemed to be almost immediately overshadowed by what might have been done wrong.

So, to avoid a constant bash the Obama Administration, let us stop and look for a moment at the positive aspect of this deal.  First, and foremost, regardless of circumstances, an American soldier is coming home.  There is no denying this is good news.  In a nation where we still have missing and unaccounted soldiers going back to Vietnam, Korea, World War II and even World War I, knowing that this young man will not be among those lost forever is great news.  So, kudos to Obama and company for the work in this area.  It is also nice to see the President with the soldier’s family, encouraging them in the national spotlight.  It is further nice to know that we will not have to house or feed five prisoners anymore on the U.S. tax dollar.

Ok - Enough feel good - now let us take a moment to question some things that Americans at large, and both Democrats and Republicans should be questioning in Congress.  First, why is this President being allowed to run around Congress?  Law requires that Congress receive a 30-day notice of any prisoners being moved, exchanged, or taken out of Guantanamo.  It does not allow the President to do this and then tell Congress later he did it.  It has already been said that time was sensitive and that this had to be done quickly so there was no time to notify Congress in advance.  Why?  Bergdahl has been held since 2009.  That is five years in captivity and suddenly it was vital to do this exchange immediately, again why?   The Taliban prisoners have been held for no telling how long with various dates of capture we are sure, but many of them have been there throughout most of the war.  Again, this urges the question of why Congress could not get a 30-day notice as required by law?  Even if the President had told Congress he wanted to do it now, they could have said, “Yes, Mr. President, we’ll accept this as notice.  Please move ahead with your plans” at any point after being notified.  Naturally, there are already rumors that “key” members were notified, but then we have to question that these “key” members were, and were they all Democrats who support Obama?  The facts at this point at least, appear to point to clear violation of U.S. law by the President-an item that the mainstream media should be yelling about across the television stations, radio stations, newspapers, and the Internet.  

The next major concern becomes the trade itself.  The United States just negotiated with terrorist.   Read that line again, “The United States just negotiated with terrorist.”  There has been a long-standing refusal to negotiate with terrorist going back to at least the Carter Administration.  Carter did not negotiate, Reagan did not, Bush did not, Clinton did not, and Bush did not.  So where is the media uproar?  More importantly, why are we as Americans not in an uproar?  President Obama and his administration just set a new standard for the United States.  While most of our allies do not negotiate with terrorist, while it is frowned on by most Americans, and while we have not negotiated before, we suddenly have a new standards all thanks to President Obama.  We now negotiate with terrorist.  

Finally, and likely the worst part of the concerns we should have, is those five terrorist.  We just released five terrorists back into the world.  These are the type of men who blow our military members up with children and bombs, they attack our military with roadside bombs, and further they prepare, plan, and initiate terrorist attacks like the ones we have seen in the United States - Remember September 11?  That is right, these are the type of men who would obtain an airplane, and send it into a building full of civilians simply because they want to send a message!  We did not exchange one person for one-person….no, we gave them five of their leaders.  Consider that again “Five of their leaders.”   This means we handed back to the terrorist organization five individuals who plan, train, and prepare their volunteers to start the terrorist attacks.  

Hopefully Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will return to the United States, reunite with his family (despite their questionable tweets), and receive what he deserves for being a POW for all these years.  We are happy to see him return.  Hopefully, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will not wake up one day to the realization that the five terrorists given in exchange for his freedom have become the masterminds behind another September 11 styled attack.  Hopefully, he will not feel the blood of thousands of Americans was spilled for his release.  Hopefully….