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Ukraine managed to exchange 215 prisoners of war from Russian captivity. The head of Zelenskyy’s Office, Andrii Yermak, said that 108 of them served in the Azov regiment including its commanders, 124 of the freed PoWs are officers. Yermak also told that the five commanders were exchanged for 55 Russian PoWs, 200 PoWs were exchanged for “Putin’s man in Ukraine,” pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. The remaining 10 are foreigners who fought on Ukraine’s side.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged 10 prisoners of war each on Thursday in what Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk called the first full-fledged swap of the month-old conflict. The exchange also freed 19 Ukrainian civilian sailors who were captured as their ship tried to take Ukrainian troops off of Snake Island in late February. Ukraine released 11 Russian civilian sailors as part of the deal, Vereshchuk said as she announced the transfer. The civilians had been rescued from a ship that sank near Odesa, she said. Russia's takeover of Snake Island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, was much-discussed in the...

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — An American soldier is released in a prisoner exchange with the Taliban. The U.S. government is under fire for how they got his freedom.

U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed Obama administration insists there was no quid pro quo, but critics charge payment amounted to ransom By Jay Solomon and Carol E. Lee Aug. 2, 2016 7:51 p.m. ET 52 COMMENTS WASHINGTON—The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran, according to U.S. and European officials and congressional staff briefed on the operation afterward. Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane,...

CNSNews.com) – Republicans lashed out Tuesday at the Obama administration over a news report claiming it airlifted $400 million in foreign currency to Tehran on the same day the regime released five imprisoned Americans. On that day in January, the U.S. agreed to settle a 37-year-old Iranian legal claim worth $400 million, plus an additional $1.3 billion in interest. The two developments also coincided with the “implementation day” for the nuclear deal struck between Tehran, the U.S. and five other nations. The administration has long denied that the $1.7 billion settlement was related to the prisoner releases, or that it...

What Donald Trump has proclaimed the worst deal ever made, may just have become worst-er. The shocking truth behind the US-Iran nuclear deal, as WSJ reports, is that John Kerry and the Obama Administration airlifted $1.7bn of cash in 'compromise' payments (read - bribe) to Tehran to ensure the release of 4 captured sailors coincidentally the same weekend as the signing of the nuclear deal. < - SNIP -> Of course, senior U.S. officials denied any link between the payment and the prisoner exchange. They say the way the various strands came together simultaneously was coincidental, not the result of...

Thank you for contacting me to relay your concerns regarding Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, prisoner of war who went missing in Afghanistan in 2009. I appreciate you taking the time to share your views with me. As you know, on June 20, 2009, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl went missing while serving in Afghanistan. Since that time, Islamic militant groups have released multiple videos showing Sergeant Bergdahl, the most recent of which was released in January with a reference date of December 14, 2013. As a former POW, please rest assured that I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to...

President Barack Obama says Americans long held in Iran will soon be reunited with their families and says "tireless" diplomacy made it possible. [...] Under the deal, the U.S. was pardoning or dropping charges against seven Iranians citizens accused or convicted of violating U.S. sanctions.Obama says the released Iranians weren't charged with terrorism. He says their release is "one-time gesture" to Iran. ...

Investor’s Business Daily has put together facts to demonstrate that the release of Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity was just a ruse to provide cover for President Obama to release the Taliban commanders, a goal he had long pursued. Here is the timeline they provide: January 2009: Obama signs executive order calling for Gitmo to be shuttered within a year, while his national security team considers if five Taliban leaders are safe for release. 2011: White House and State Department officials open secret talks with the Taliban in Germany and the Persian Gulf to discuss their release from Gitmo...

(Reuters) - Iranian-American Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine whose previous death sentence in Iran on espionage charges was overturned, has been secretly retried, convicted of collaborating with the U.S. government and sentenced to 10 years in prison, the New York Times reported on Friday, quoting his lawyer. The newspaper quoted lawyer Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei as saying Hekmati, held since 2011, was not told by Iranian officials about the retrial, conviction or prison sentence. The Times quoted Tabatabaei as saying Hekmati was retried by a revolutionary court in December and convicted of "practical collaboration with the American government." :snip: The...

This week, multiple news outlets independently reported that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would be charged with desertion. It was a charge that almost everyone saw coming and one that comported with what the soldier’s former colleagues had told media outlets. Within hours of this report, the Pentagon insisted that no formal decisions had been made with regards to Bergdahl’s case. It is a relatively safe bet, however, that the Pentagon will not be reiterating National Security Advisor Susan Rice’s claim that Bergdahl served with “honor and distinction” on the battlefield in Afghanistan. Bergdahl’s release from captivity was controversial. Not because,...

The mother of James Foley -- an American journalist beheaded by ISIS militants -- said she is "embarrassed and appalled" by how the U.S. government dealt with her son's case, telling CNN that officials even suggested family members could be charged if they raised ransom to free him. "I think our efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance" to the U.S. government, Diane Foley told CNN's Anderson Cooper, during part of an interview that will air on CNN at 8 p.m. ET. "It didn't seem to be in (U.S.) strategic interest, if you will." Officials told Foley family members...

The US has agreed in principle to release high-ranking Taliban officials from Guantánamo Bay in return for the Afghan insurgents' agreement to open a political office for peace negotiations in Qatar, the Guardian has learned. According to sources familiar with the talks in the US and in Afghanistan, the handful of Taliban figures will include Mullah Khair Khowa, a former interior minister, and Noorullah Noori, a former governor in northern Afghanistan. More controversially, the Taliban are demanding the release of the former army commander Mullah Fazl Akhund. Washington is reported to be considering formally handing him over to the custody...

Regarding the Bergdahl prisoner swap, most conservatives are criticizing Obama's deal because Bergdahl might have been a deserter, or even a traitor. That might be true, but it's the wrong way to go. The swap is bad mainly because of the price that the USA paid. Suppose it were 1942 and the Germans had captured an American sailor who had fallen (or jumped) overboard. Would FDR had swapped that sailor for, say, five crack U-Boat commanders? No way. But that's just what Obama did.

Come and Get Your Jewish Life Here, Cheap! By Norma Zager "I do not believe in loving enemies; I have pretty hard work to love my friends. Neither do I believe in revenge. No man can afford to keep the viper of revenge in his heart. But I believe in justice, in self-defense." Robert Ingersoll Just days after the Gilad Shalit homecoming, Israel and Egypt struck a deal to swap 25 Egyptian prisoners in Israeli custody for one U.S. Israeli dual national Ilan Grapel, held by Egypt. Okay and now we’re at a 25 to one ratio. The numbers are...

No Equality in Gilad Shalit’s Exchange By Norma Zager “We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.” Aristotle So many, including Ari, are incensed about Israel’s deal to retrieve Gilad Shalit. Somehow I am not, for I do not see any equality between human life and that of a sub-human species. Perhaps the problem actually lies in believing terrorists are human. I would have to differ with this appraisal. I do not believe they can be classified as even equal to an animal. Animals are way above...

God Weeps and We with Him By Ari Bussel “There are some 5,000 more prisoners in Israeli prisons. We thus need to kidnap five more Israeli soldiers and every single one will be set free. This is our promise.” Hamas “You do not understand,” say parents to children who are below the age of mandatory draft, “if it were your son, you would stop at nothing to bring him back, even release all those terrorists.” They refer to Gilad Shalit who returned to Israel from Hamas captivity. They are right: I do not understand, why Israel ignored the warning calls...

The US government wanted to remove Hamas from the Iranian/Syrian camp and place it in the Egypt/Muslim Brotherhood camp. Was achieving their goal contingent in getting Israel to accept the release of 1000 terrorists, or would it have taken place regardless, If the latter, it was a window of opportunity. If the former, Bibi was forced into accepting the deal. By the way Bibi had to agree not to pursue or kill these terrorists after their release. Of course Hamas was not asked to agree not to use these people to commit more terrorist attacks or not to take new...

Gilad Shalit and a World Full of Crazy By Norma Zager “We are especially not going to tolerate these attacks from outlaw states run by the strangest collection of misfits, Looney Tunes and squalid criminals since the advent of the Third Reich.” President Ronald Reagan Opportunity knocks. At times it is at a moment when it can be used for great advantage. The release of Gilad Shalit is one such moment. What most fail to realize is there are two great lessons to be learned from this so-called exchange of prisoners. First and foremost the Gazans wouldn’t dare show the...

It is a Very Sad Day By Ari Bussel “Those released will return to armed struggle. It is a great national achievement.” Khaled Mashal, Chairman, Hamas Political Bureau, Damascus, Syria “The Nation of Israel is a unique people. We are all mutually responsible for each other, as our Sages said: ‘He who saves one soul, it is as though he saved an entire world.’ Tonight, I bring the Government a proposal to save Gilad Shalit, to finally bring him home to Israel after five years.” Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Jerusalem, Israel The family of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier that...