Free Republic

President Obama’s record of lawlessness is prodigious. There is the assumption of a power to rule by presidential decree — unilaterally amending ObamaCare provisions, immigration statutes, and other enactments in flagrant disregard of Congress’s constitutional power to write the laws. There is rampant fraud on the American people — think: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan, period,” just for a start. In the Benghazi massacre, we see the arc of administration malfeasance: In the absence of congressional authorization, the president instigated an unprovoked and ultimately disastrous war in Libya, empowering virulently anti-American...

A captured American soldier is training Taliban fighters bomb-making and ambush skills, according to one of his captors and Afghan intelligence officials. Private Bowe Bergdahl disappeared in June 2009 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is thought to be the only U.S. serviceman in captivity. The 24-year-old has converted to Islam and now has the Muslim name Abdullah, one of his captors told The Sunday Times A Taliban deputy district commander in Paktika, who called himself Haji Nadeem, told the newspaper that Bergdahl taught him how to dismantle a mobile phone and turn it into a remote control for a...

Three years ago, a 23-year-old soldier walked off his base in Afghanistan and into the hands of the Taliban. Now he’s a crucial pawn in negotiations to end the war. Will the Pentagon leave a man behind? Bowe's own tour of duty in Afghanistan mirrored the larger American experience in the war – marked by tragedy, confusion, misplaced idealism, deluded thinking and, perhaps, a moment of insanity. And it is with Bowe that the war will likely come to an end. On May 1st, in a surprise visit to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, President Obama announced that...

At the end of brief event, the soldier’s father, Bob Bergdahl, recited the most frequent phrase in the Koran — “Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim” —which means “In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Compassionate.” After Bergdahl finished his statement and his praise for Allah, Obama hugged him. The Taliban echoed Bergdahl, saying the trade happened “due to the benevolence of Allah Almighty and the sacrifices of the heroic and courageous Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate.”

On Sunday’s “State of the Union” on CNN, House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) explained to moderator Candy Crowley why the Obama administration’s deal to secure American prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl’s release for five Guantanamo detainees was a bad deal and broke law. According to Rogers, this sends the wrong message to terrorists around the world. “[W]e have other means to use, and remember, they came to Congress about a year ago and we're thinking about doing these negotiations. And by the way, they didn't get a very warm reception from either party in the national security...

Flashback: A reminder about Bowe Bergdahl’s desertion problem By Michelle Malkin • May 31, 2014 08:51 PM While many people jumped aboard the Bowe Bergdahl bandwagon, I was not one of them. His release today in exchange for five Taliban commanders who had been in custody at Gitmo underscores troubling questions that have persisted since his alleged abduction. Longtime readers will recall questions raised here about the circumstances of Bergdahl’s disappearance. Here’s a flashback from my July 20, 2009 blog post:

1.) If they believe that the Taliban aren't terrorists, then is this behind their reasoning that no negotiations took place with terrorists in the release of Bowe Bergdahl for 5 GITMO detainees? 2.) If they state that there was a third party involved (Qatar) and thus neither side (the WH or the Taliban) spoke directly with each other, then does that constitute their position that no negotiations took place with terrorists? The problem with #1 is that when the WH slammed Karzai over some of his statements concerning joining the Taliban, what could/can the WH say to Karzai now? Breitbart.com...

The Taliban claimed in 2010 that [Sgt. Bowe] Bergdahl had converted to Islam and was teaching bomb-making to its jihadists. His father is a convert to Islam who has called for the release of the jihadists in Guantanamo and has implied that American troops are killing Afghan children. There is evidence that he was not captured, but walked away from his unit: “On July 2, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press the soldier had “just walked off” his base with three Afghans after his shift.” So we may have traded five jihadists for one jihadist.

As Twitchy has reported, President Obama ordered the release of five Gitmo detainees to secure the return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from his Taliban captors in Afghanistan. Recently, a tweet was published from the account of Bowe Bergdahl’s father, Robert, which stated a desire to see all Gitmo detainees released. Here’s the tweet from Bob Bergdahl’s account, which was published May 28 and deleted Saturday night (at the time of publication the deletion of the tweet has not been acknowledged on the account): @ABalkhi I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of...

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Considering Obama's bizarre release of terrorists, I remember some early scandals. Are they somehow related? Obama Signs Executive Order To Close Guantanamo Bay First Posted: 02/22/09 05:12 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 02:00 PM ET http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/22/obama-and-guantanamo-unde_n_159849.html I remember early scandals with Obama and Guantanamo. What ever happened with this Guantanamo closing - moving ? Moving Guantanamo activities to Bagram

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has issued a rare public statement hailing the exchange of five Guantanamo Bay detainees for a Taliban-held US soldier as a "big victory". Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, 28, was handed to US forces in Afghanistan on Saturday. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has defended the exchange amid criticism Congress was not given 30 days' notice before the detainees were released. He said the US had to act quickly to save the soldier's life. Sgt Bergdahl, who is said to be in good condition and has been flown to Germany for more treatment, was the only...

Emails an American soldier reportedly sent to his parents before he was captured by the Taliban three years ago suggest he was disillusioned and considering deserting. Bowe Bergdahl told his parents he was "ashamed to even be American" and was disgusted with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and with the Army, according to emails quoted in Rolling Stone magazine.

Early Saturday it was announced by the administration that the only American prisoner of war in the Afghanistan was released in exchange for 5 Guantanamo Bay terrorists being set free to Qatar. The circumstances of the capture of Bowe Bergdahl had been in question long before his release – supposedly he had wandered off and captured by the Taliban. But a soldier on Twitter is claiming that the official story is untrue, and has posted his version of the events that led to Bowe’s capture. Towards the end of his story, he says he fears reprisal from the Obama administration,...

A Twitter posting by the father of the serviceman released from Taliban captivity Saturday in exchange for five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay is raising deep questions about what exactly the Obama administration did to get Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl out of Afghanistan. Here’s the tweet, which Robert Bergdahl posted May 28 – before his son’s release – and deleted Saturday, according to Twitchy.com. Whatever else it might be, “God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen!” doesn’t sound like a rousing call to patriotism. ABalkhi is the Twitter handle of Abdulqahar Balkhi, a Taliban spokesman. It’s important...

<p>Amid jubilation Saturday over the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from captivity by the Taliban, senior Republicans on Capitol Hill said they were troubled by the means by which it was accomplished, which was a deal to release five Afghan detainees from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.</p>

On Saturday morning the Obama administration happily announced that we were now negotiating with terrorists and that Bowe Bergdahl would be freed in an agreement with the Taliban that would allow five dangerous terrorists to be released from Guantanamo Bay.

Father of American Soldier Freed From Taliban Deletes a Very Disturbing Tweet On Saturday morning the Obama administration happily announced that we were now negotiating with terrorists and that Bowe Bergdahl would be freed in an agreement with the Taliban that would allow five dangerous terrorists to be released from Guantanamo Bay. Bowe’s father Bob Bergdahl appeared with Obama for the announcement: Tarek S. Fatah @TarekFatah Follow Is @BobBergdahl, father of Sgt. #BoweBergdahl a Muslim? He opened his talk in Islamic greeting http://cnn.it/T2prlp

KABUL — They were among the Taliban’s most influential commanders — five men whom the United States succeeded in removing from the battlefield. But on Saturday, they were released from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — a deeply controversial decision that raised concerns in Kabul and Washington even as Bergdahl’s homecoming was celebrated. One of the freed men was the head of the Taliban’s army. Another arranged for al-Qaeda trainers to visit Afghanistan. Another has been implicated by the United Nations for killing thousands of Shiite Muslims. Although the five men...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed and is back in U.S. custody after nearly five years of captivity, U.S. officials said Saturday. The officials said the Taliban agreed to turn over Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The transfers happened after a week of intense negotiations mediated by