Free Republic

Both libertarians and conservatives want to keep America safe. We differ on how best to do that. Most libertarians believe our attempts to create or support democracy around the world have made us new enemies, and done harm as well as good. We want less military spending. Some conservatives respond to that by calling us isolationists, but we're not. I want to participate in the world; I just don't want to run it. I'm glad Americans trade with other countries -- trade both goods and people. It's great we sell foreigners our music, movies, ideas, etc. And through dealing...

Walid Shoebat has had a look at Bob Bergdahl’s playlist and it’s ugly and uglier. It’s a mix of Islamism videos and moonbat materials. Bergdahl favorited Anwar Al-Awlaki’s “Why The World Hates America” uploaded by HayaAlalJihad. He also subscribed to more Westernized Islamic propaganda channels like Deen and Journeyman Pictures. Some of his channels were about learning Arabic. Others were full of technical Islamic material unlikely to be of any interest or relevance to non-Muslims. He appeared to be drawn in particular to Salafist materials which would match his beard. Then he subscribed to leftist outlets like Brave New Films...

A memorandum of understanding between the United States and Qatar on the deal that freed Bowe Bergdahl offered "no guarantee" that the five Taliban commanders exchanged for the captured Army sergeant would be tracked, a Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee told CNN....

Obama administration officials refused to fully explain to key senators the justification for freeing five senior Taliban leaders that the White House had once considered to be among the most dangerous prisoners being held in the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, according to senior Senate insiders familiar with a closed-door briefing held Tuesday for members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Top Obama administration officials continued to defend the decision to skirt U.S. law and not inform Congress about the deal, telling lawmakers that “it was worth it; period,” according to one Senate insider familiar with Tuesday’s classified briefing. Officials maintained...

Those of you old enough to have loved the hapless deputy might bristle at the insult of comparing Barney Fife to President Barak Obama. An insult to Barney, that is. The latest self-inflicted White House wound is the bumbling President Barney’s swap of five high-level enemy Taliban leaders held at Gitmo for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, held by the Taliban for five years, and the clearly unsuitable White House Rose Garden press event to celebrate. For starters, President Barney circumvented Congress, yet again, after receiving a loud and bipartisan “NO” from Congress in prior years when the same swap...

Welcome home, Sergeant, and you're under arrest. Which sums up the two polar reactions you can see and hear all over the papers, news channels, Internet, talk shows and Washington, that other swirl of confusion. All of 'em are bustin' out all over with fact-free, equal-but-opposite opinions about what th' heck to do with Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, United States of Agitation. If it's not too much to ask, supposed ladies and gentlemen and quick-on-the-draw opinionators, could we all just settle down, president and senators and distinguished and undistinguished kibitzers alike, and let the sergeant settle in at...

Was Bergdahl Addicted to Heroin? Why is he Being Sequestered? Detox? While serving at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an Army Captain, and the ranking U.S. Army Medical Department officer with the Joint Detainee Operations Group, in February 2002, I was aware of a detainee we called “Wild Bill” who came to us from Afghanistan a drug addicted schizophrenic. It took us a while to figure out what his problems were. We were distracted by his bizarre behavior: eating his flip flops, hanging objects from his genitals, making strange, random sounds, and, like many other...

Secretary of State John Kerry's dismissive "baloney" response to whether five Taliban members released from Guantanamo pose a risk to American troops is receiving pushback from, of all places, Obama administration officials.

Defenders of President Obama's release of five Taliban terrorists from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl cite as justification Israel's history of swapping hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for one or two Israel soldiers. As strong an ally and example of democracy as Israel is, especially in a region sorely lacking in either, Israel is not the United States. Israel has its own interests and purpose for its actions. The world looks to the United States for leadership and in this president and his administration it has found little. There are important...

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...

A lawyer for one of the so-called Taliban Five released from Guantanamo Bay wants his client to be compensated for his detention at the facility. Khairullah Khairkhwa is said to be the most senior of the men exchanged for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl. He is described in US government documents, that were released by WikiLeaks, as being of high risk and high intelligence value. But lawyer Frank Goldsmith says Mr Khairkhwa was a Taliban political figure, and hadn't been charged with any offences by US authorities in the 12 years he was detained in Guantanamo Bay. SBS reporter Kristina Kukolja...

WASHINGTON - The House Armed Services Committee will investigate the Obama administration's swap of an American prisoner held for five years for five Taliban leaders that caused a political firestorm over the lack of congressional notification and fears the high-level Taliban could return to the Afghanistan battlefield. "We ought to look at the price," Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the panel, told reporters after administration officials held a tense 90-minute, closed-door briefing for House Democrats and Republicans. Officials from the White House, State and Defense departments and the intelligence community defended the exchange of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who...

Since his release nine days ago, many have been wondering why Bowe Bergdahl has been so quiet! Latest reports say he hasn’t even spoken with his parents since being handed over by the Taliban! Well, according to one caller allegedly familiar with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Bergdahl’s silence is due to the fact that he has already been put under arrest! On Monday’s show, “Richard from Saginaw”, called in and told Tom he understands that Bergdahl is expected to be charged with 11 counts — all related to his mysterious 2009 disappearance. Richard said he worked with the...

President Obama has been trying to close Gitmo for years, which means finding a way – any way – to free the terrorists from that prison. Regrettably for Obama, try as he might, he has been unable to obtain Congressional approval to release Gitmo detainees back onto the battlefield to recommence the murder, mayhem, and destruction. Thus far, the United States Congress thinks it is in the best interest of the American people to keep highly dangerous Taliban fighters locked up for as long as possible. Barack “I won” Obama thinks otherwise. That’s why founding member of the Taliban Khair...

Sometimes there is a price too high to pay, even to save a human life. In the case of Obama releasing five of the most dangerous criminals on the face of the planet, who will no doubt return to their scorched earth terror campaign in Afghanistan just as soon as they are able, Obama not only crossed the line, he made a mockery of human morality. The Taliban terrorists Obama let go in order to secure the release of Bowe Bergdhal, whose loyalty as a soldier many have questioned, are among the worst trash the world has seen in the...

The email hit my in-box at 9:41 p.m. last Wednesday. From one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, a close adviser to the White House, the missive amounted to an electronic eye roll. "Even I have had enough." Another Democrat had quit on President Obama. The tipping point for this person was the Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl case—not the soldier-for-Taliban swap itself as much as how the White House mishandled its obligation to communicate effectively and honestly to Congress and the public. More than that, Obama's team had failed once again to acknowledge its mistakes, preferring to cast blame and...

Most reliable reports suggest that five years ago, as the battle against the Taliban was fully underway, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl voluntarily left his post after becoming disillusioned with what he viewed as the enormous damage the United States had done to Afghanistan. In other words, he deserted. He may have defected; that is unknown for the moment. In recent days, the Administration has justified releasing five top terrorist commanders to return to the battlefield (after a fig-leaf stopover in Qatar) on the grounds that Bergdahl was still an American soldier, and America does not leave its people behind. The President's...

Hand signals often have important meanings that say a great deal without using words. We all know what “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” mean. In the United States, touching the tips your forefinger and thumb while raising the other three fingers means “everything is OK.” In other cultures that sign is a serous profanity. Winston Churchill used to use the “V for victory” sign with his forefinger and middle finger. And then there is President Obama, who has mastered the “half V” to the American people. On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, while speaking at...

Details in the Taliban-produced video that shows a U.S. Special Forces unit picking Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban fighters in Afghanistan last week raise serious questions about the risks those Special Forces took on a supposedly dangerous mission into enemy territory. Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck on Thursday described a conversation he had with a Special Forces source who said a number of things about the video don’t jibe with the training and tactics Special Forces units normally employ in a situation like the Bergdahl pickup. “The guys I talked to … said, ‘what is happening here? This...

The mother and father sit at the kitchen table in their Idaho farmhouse, watching their son on YouTube plead for his life. The Taliban captured 26-year-old Bowe Bergdahl almost three years ago, on June 30th, 2009, and since that day, his parents, Jani and Bob, have had no contact with him. Like the rest of the world, their lone glimpses of Bowe – the only American prisoner of war left in either Iraq or Afghanistan – have come through a series of propaganda videos, filmed while he's been in captivity. Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607#ixzz34APXclT2 Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone...