America will always be a target for terrorism. Nothing will change that, ever. We tell our armed forces to never fear. We’ll bring you home. You’d leave a soldier behind, because what might happen in the future? Or because of conceived political wrongs or outright stupidity?
As someone who served 8 years in the military including a year in Vietnam and 28 years in the Foreign Service including a posting in Tehran when our Embassy was first overrun on February 14, 1979, I am well acquainted with the military ethos and terrorism.
Of course I don't want to leave anyone behind (although we probably did in Vietnam) and I am happy for Bergdahl and his family. Five years being held by the Taliban is a terrible thing. But you must consider the price we paid to get one man home. If our position is that we will give the enemy anything he wants just to get one of our own back, then we leave ourselves open to similar situations in the future. When you reward something, you get more of it.
We have been negotiating with the Taliban for some time over Bergdahl. The question remains, did we give too much to get him back? I can't answer that now. We will have to wait some time to see how it all plays out.
I am most concerned that Obama did not follow the law and consult Congress before agreeing to the exchange. Why didn't he? I suspect he knew that there would be some blowback on who was released. I would like to know if the intelligence community and DOD were consulted and what were their recommendations. Who signed off on it within the Executive Branch? These are important questions that need answers.
Obama and Dems often use emotion to sway the public and some Freepers I gather. Obama did the same thing with his backdoor amnesty for over 1.8 million "Dreamers." 500,000 have already received legalization, SSNs, and work permits--all without Congressional approval. He should be impeached for that alone.
No doubt Obama will declare anyone who even questions what he did as being hard-hearted and not patriotic. The VA scandal has certainly cast the Administration in a bad light. What better way to burnish Obama's image as someone who cares about the military than to get the lone US POW released a day after Shinseki resigned. A coincidence? I think not.