Posted on 06/03/2014 4:32:26 PM PDT by don-o
WASHINGTON — On Saturday, President Obama stood with the parents of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in the White House Rose Garden — a voluntary media event — to announce the deal that exchanged five Taliban detainees for Bergdahl’s release.
Days later, that feel-good event stands in contrast to the deal’s reception, with reports from soldiers he served with that Bergdahl may have been a deserter, and lawmakers demanding to know why the administration did not notify Congress of the deal in advance.
Tommy Vietor, one of Obama’s former top aides, said Tuesday the goal of Saturday’s event was to get in front of the story and take a moment to reflect on Bergdahl’s years in Taliban custody before the issue could be politicized.
“What they were trying to do was tell the story before it devolved into partisan attacks,” said Vietor, Obama’s former National Security Council spokesperson. “To tell a story about who Bowe is, what he’s endured, and what his family’s endured.”
Saturday’s White House event with Bergdahl’s family was about as high-profile as events get. Networks broke into programming and the White House got the time to make its case. Reporters traveling with the president said Tuesday that the White House didn’t expect the immediate criticisms of the Bergdahl swap that began before Obama had left the lectern.
Vietor said administration officials expected the heat to come, but he said the degree of the attacks on Bergdahl and his family before they have had a chance to speak was a surprise.
“I’m positive everyone knew that it was all going to come out,” he said. “But what’s the alternative? Are we going to preemptively sentence this kid to rot in in a Taliban jail?”
(Excerpt) Read more at buzzfeed.com ...
Bergdahl Sr. and Wife are originally from California.
Something’s wrong here. xero’s avoided any kind of karma period for six years, and this conveniently coalesces?
The Dude comes out and admits the whole thing was theater, staged to set the narrative. Too bad (for them) that it didn’t work so well.
To answer the idiot’s question..YES, he deserted his post, assisted the Taliban, and is a TRAITOR..if I had the power to do so I would ship his ass back so he can rejoin his buddies in the Taliban, oh and he can take his whack job daddy with him
“Reporters traveling with the president said Tuesday that the White House didn’t expect the immediate criticisms of the Bergdahl swap that began before Obama had left the lectern.”
Reporters TRAVELING with the PRESIDENT must think we all have STUPID tatooed across our foreheads.
He wasn’t a prisoner, he was a collaborator.
“But what’s the alternative? Are we going to preemptively sentence this kid to rot in in a Taliban jail?”
YES!!!!! AND TAKE OBAMA WITH HIM!!!!!!!!
Go in and extract him?
Contact allies for assistance?
Go to Congress for suggestions?
Trade something far less valuable than FIVE TERRORIST MASTERMINDS.
In terms Dems could understand, it's like trading Marion Barry for the Koch Brothers and the board of Halliburton.
‘What they were trying to do was tell the story before it devolved into partisan attacks’
Did ya ever notice that whenever the truth is brought to light, they are always accusing us of ‘partisan attacks’? And Big Media acts like a lap dog agreeing. Maybe not this time.......maybe Big Media realizes how dangerous this Regime is and how it is constantly putting our Military and our citizens in harm’s way to appease our enemies? Well, maybe they do this time..........
You mean like those who actually served with him calling him a deserter???
CY(fat)A. Dude is working for Hillary now. How does this all play with her secret WH lunch?
Dude, spin much?
https://twitter.com/TVietor08/with_replies
++++++++++++++
Does The Obama Administration Know the Difference Between The Taliban and Haqqani Networks?
by DEBRA HEINE 2 Jun 2014
EXCERPT
From CNN’s transcript of the interview:
CROWLEY: Point-blank, did the U.S. negotiate with terrorists in his release?
RICE: Candy, what we did was ensure that, as always, the United States doesn’t leave a man or a woman on the battlefield.
CROWLEY: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
RICE: And in order to do this, it’s very important for folks to understand, if we got into a situation where we said, because of who has captured an American soldier on the battlefield, we will leave that person behind, we would be in a whole new era for the safety of our personnel and for the nature of our commitment to our men and women in uniform.
CROWLEY: Sure.
RICE: So, because it was the Taliban that had him did not mean that we had any less of an obligation to bring him back.
CROWLEY: Right. In fact, it was the Haqqani Network, which is really listed as a terrorist. And this is not a judgment question. It’s just a question. You had to negotiate with terrorists to secure the release of the sergeant.
RICE: We actually negotiated with the government of Qatar, to whom we owe a great debt.
CROWLEY: Well, right.
RICE: But the point is, he was being held by the Taliban. We had the opportunity to bring him back. He’s back safely in the hands of the United States. And that’s a great thing.
CROWLEY: Yes, and I don’t think anyone argues.
I think the question now is — and you point to the kinds of warfare we’re having now — that no longer can it be said that the U.S. doesn’t negotiate with terrorists?
RICE: I wouldn’t put it that way, Candy. I wouldn’t say that at all.
CROWLEY: How would you put it?
RICE: Well, when we are in battles with terrorists and terrorists take an American prisoner, that prisoner still is a U.S. service man or woman. We still have a sacred obligation to bring that person back. We did so, and that’s what’s to be celebrated.
+++++++++++++++++
FLASHBACK:
July 20, 2009
Calling the Taliban’s capture of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl “a real sign of desperation,” Secretary of State Clinton said Monday the U.S. is working non-stop to find the Idaho soldier.
“We are attempting to do everything we can to locate him and free him,” Clinton said in New Dehli.
“I mean, it’s just outrageous. It’s a real sign of desperation and inappropriate criminal behavior on the parts of these terrorist groups, so we are going to do everything we can to get him.”
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/27/world/asia/us-afghanistan-pakistan/
Clinton: U.S. would negotiate with Taliban leader
October 27, 2011
Clinton last week disclosed a meeting this past summer between the United States and a representative of the Pakistan-based Haqqani insurgent network at the request of Pakistan’s intelligence service. She said such meetings are part of a strategy in which “we want to fight, talk and build all at the same time.”
“Part of the reason for that is to test whether these organizations have any willingness to negotiate in good faith,” she said. “There’s evidence going both ways, to be clear. Sometimes we hear that they will, that there are elements within each that wish to pursue that. And then other times that it’s off the table. So I think that with respect to the Haqqani network, it illustrates this point.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/29/some-taliban-at-gitmo-could-go-to-afghanistan/
June 29, 2012
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is considering a new gambit to restart peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan that would send several Taliban detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a prison in Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials told The Associated Press.
Under the proposal, some Taliban fighters or affiliates captured in the early days of the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and later sent to Guantanamo under the label of enemy combatants would be transferred out of full U.S. control but not released. It’s a leap of faith on the U.S. side that the men will not become threats to U.S. forces once back on Afghan soil. But it is meant to show more moderate elements of the Taliban insurgency that the U.S. is still interested in cutting a deal for peace.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others have said that while negotiations with the Taliban are distasteful, they are the best way to settle the prolonged war.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/07/haqqani-network-terrorist-hillary-clinton
Haqqani network is a terrorist body, announces Hillary Clinton
Afghan rebels allied to Taliban branded biggest threat to US-Nato forces and put under sanctions
7 September 2012
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607page=7#ixzz33a6NMMPf
By MICHAEL HASTINGS
JUNE 7, 2012
Some top-level officials within the administration, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are very wary about making a swap for Bowe. “Panetta and Hillary don’t give a shit about getting him home,” says one senior U.S. official involved in the negotiations. “They want to be able to say they COINed their way out of Afghanistan, or whatever, so it doesn’t look like they are cutting and running. (Both Clinton and Panetta, by law, would have to sign off on any exchange.)
Not clear from the article what the little Dude has to with this matter anyhow. Last I heard he got a gig shilling for Hillary.
What did Hillary know and when did she know it???
Got to protect her rather sizable flank...
Thanks Maggie - gonna plow through all of that.
Karma is your own personal look into the reality-mirror and the seeing of the inner you expressing itself within time and space. Time is an important factor here because the human karmic wave is on a seven-year cycle. Which means, every seven-years your general circumstances will change to reflect your actions from your previous seven-years. So, if you were kind to others, seven-years ago, your current reality will reflect that quality; others will be kind to you. More on karmic effect: http://www.wisdomsdoor.com/rc4/hrc4-17.shtml
” Are we going to preemptively sentence this kid to rot in in a Taliban jail?”
Kid? Really? This is a Soldier. A warrior. An oath taker. Vietor can’t be more than twelve i think. A milk drinker.
This Soldier abandoned his unit in combat, was accepted by the people killing Americans, and has helped the enemy get back valuable personnel. Obama loves this traitor, this oath breaker. Why? We know why.
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