We have never charged these Talib with either war or international crimes. They are detainees and their detention can only last as long as we conduct direct combat operations in Afghanistan.
3 of them were detained in Pakistan, 2 by the Northern Alliance that didn’t represent the government of Afghanistan either.
That’s the law. We would have to let them go anyway when we cease combat ops in Afghanistan next year.
They are the very worst Talib and we can’t punish them. It is up to the government of Afghanistan to do so.
We have been negotiating their release since before Bergdahl deserted. We moved their families to Qatar two years ago last December. At that time they were to be kept in Qatar for two years. That has been pushed out to let them leave Qatar as we are leaving Afghanistan.
Bergdahl was collateral, we didn’t want him back. He was originally sold by the Afghan Taliban to the Haqqani’s. They moved him about to protect themselves from drone strikes. We did find out where he was at times and that is when very effective drone strikes took place.
So the Haqqani’s realized he wasn’t much of a shield. But....no chance the Haqqan’s gave him up without a ransom. By some secretive path there was money paid for Bergdahl.
If they just wanted Bergdahl as a boy toy why didn’t we trade him for Justin Bieber or an entire boy band?
Aren’t the detainees at Gitmo “enemy combatants” and thus not POW’s captured from an enemy nation (like Afghanistan)?
They should never have gone to Gitmo. They should not have lived that long. And our soldiers would have come home long ago.