This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Does The US Negotiate With Terrorists?
"We don't negotiate with terrorists"
- Every US president in history
It was a good weekend for the friends and family of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl: after five years of being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan, on Saturday morning it was reported that the 28-year-old native of Hailey, Idaho was finally freed. In exchange for his freedom, the US agreed to also set free five Taliban militants - among which the Afghanistan deputy defense minister under Taliban rule and others who was said to be involved in the September 11 attack - held at Guantanamo. In other words, this was a pre-negotiated settlement or, stated otherwise, a negotiation.
Adding fuel to the fire is the realization that Obama was transacting largely alone: instead of abiding by a legal requirement to give Congress advance notice when prisoners are released from the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Obama once again took unilateral action. Actually it wasn't completely unilateral: it was revealed that the deal was bartered by America's new middle east BFFs (courtesy of the false flagged Syria conflict): officials from Qatar who agreed to keep the detainees in their country for a year.
And then the media circus took over.
On one hand, it was Republicans bashing Obama for keeping the prisoner swap secret and also for negotiating with terrorists. From the WSJ:
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), himself a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, voiced fears that the five prisoners sent to Qatar in exchange for Sgt. Bergdahl could rejoin terrorist networks. "It is disturbing that these individuals would have the ability to reenter the fight," Mr. McCain said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "And they are big, high-level people, possibly responsible for the deaths of thousands."
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), a potential presidential candidate in 2016, released a statement Sunday saying, "The release of five senior Taliban commanders to Qatar under unspecified conditions is very troubling and may endanger American lives. In the coming days the Congress must examine the circumstances under which Sgt. Bergdahl's release was achieved, and what conditions, if any, the administration secured to ensure these enemy combatants do not return to the battlefield."
Fellow Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, also a possible GOP presidential candidate, suggested in an appearance on ABC's "This Week" that there were better ways to free Sgt. Bergdahl.
"How many soldiers lost their lives to capture those five Taliban terrorists that we just released?" Mr. Cruz said. "What does this tell terrorists, that if you capture a U.S. soldier, you can trade that soldier for five terrorists we've gone after."
* * *
Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said administration officials indeed told Congress about a year ago that such prisoner negotiations were a possibility. "They didn't get a very warm reception from either party in the national security committees," Mr. Rogers said.
Mr. Rogers added that the administration was required "to keep Congress currently informed."... "Some notion that this was so secret and so sensitive that that couldn't happen is just wrong."
On the other hand, democrats scrambled to defend Obama's actions.
First and foremost, it was Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who on NBC's "Meet the Press" in a live feed from Afghanistan where he had made a surprise visit, said prisoner exchanges are a standard practice of warfare and added that "We didn’t negotiate with terrorists." He added that "America’s record is pretty clear on going after terrorists, especially those who take hostages, and I don’t think what we did in getting our prisoner of war released in any way would somehow encourage terrorists to take our American servicemen prisoner or hostage.”
The excuse: the swap had been worked out by the government of Qatar (to whose Amir, none other than the president gave his thanks yesterday).
Another person defending Obama was White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice who appeared earlier on CNN and said the Obama administration informed Congress after Sgt. Bergdahl was in U.S. hands. She said the urgency of the mission, coupled with concerns about Sgt. Bergdahl's health, made it necessary to rescue him without giving the required 30 days advance notice.
Wait, he was in captivity for 5 years, but suddenly 30 days was a matter of urgency?
Ms. Rice said that defense officials, however, consulted with the Justice Department before the operation. "It was determined that it was necessary and appropriate not to adhere to the 30-day notification requirement because it would have potentially meant that the opportunity to get Sgt. Bergdahl would have been lost," she said.
One wonders what other decisions are made in the secrecy of bilateral talks between Obama and the DOJ, which skip America's elected legislative body entirely.
And then the excuses branch out in the outright surreal: "The Taliban prisoners released weren’t mere bargaining chips: It’s quite possible that, as influential figures, they’ll facilitate a broader negotiated settlement,” in Afghanistan, said Blank, a former staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hagel said today it’s possible the agreement could lead to a new round of negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban about the organization’s rule in Afghanistan. “We have strongly supported an Afghan-led effort to come to an agreement with the Taliban,” Hagel said on NBC. “Maybe this will be an opening that can produce an agreement.”
Indeed: now that America is said to be departing Afghanistan (we will believe it when we see it), someone who is friendly to the US should maintain the record opium production: after all the poppy seed, and heroin, must flow and keep western populations drugged up and happy.
Recall the following charts: first, the surge in Heroin use in the US:
And then the following chart which shows opium cultivation in Afghanistan:
Surely there is no relation between soaring US heroin use, soaring Afghanistan opium production (under US supervision) and recent developments in Afghanistan.
But even more perplexing than the simple question of whether Obama negotiates with terrorists - he clearly does - is another question: are we now rerunning an episode of Homeland.
Recall the back in August 2010 when the news of Bergdahl's capture were first making the rounds, that the Sunday Times reported "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."
The rabbit hole gets deeper:
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 roadside bomb.
Nadeem claimed he also received basic ambush training from the U.S. soldier. 'Most of the skills he taught us we already knew,' he said. 'Some of my comrades think he's pretending to be a Muslim to save himself so they wouldn't behead him.'
Afghan intelligence officials also believe that Bergdahl is 'cooperating with the Taliban' and is acting as adviser to fighters at a base in the tribal area of Pakistan.
And then there was Bergdahl's video:
The seven-minute video of Bergdahl shows him sporting a beard and doing a few press-ups to demonstrate he's in good physical condition.
There was no way to verify when the footage was taken or if he is still alive.
In the sometimes choppy video, Bergdahl talked about his love for his family, his friends, motorcycles and sailing.
'I'm a prisoner. I want to go home,' he said. 'This war isn't worth the waste of human life that has cost both Afghanistan and the U.S. It's not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, all those places where we are keeping prisoners.'
At times speaking haltingly, as if holding back emotions, Bergdahl - clad in what appeared to be an Army shirt and fatigues - clasped his hands together and pleaded: 'The pain in my heart to see my family again doesn't get any smaller.
'Release me. Please, I'm begging you, bring me home.'
The good news is that four years later he is finally home. The questions remain.
»
- 25815 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Obama
When it gets the VA, NSA, and IRS off the front page, you bet!
Joebloinvestor +100
Zactly - we need a positive spin on Obomber and our troops.AQ goes all in at the right time and Obomber calls with a pair of dueces. Not saying iys not great that the guy is coming home, its just that this administration is such a clusterfuck that there is ZERO confidence in this working out positively.
that's what makes this even more nauseating. you know it was done solely, solely as a craven attempt to distract from the current news cycle. obama ignored the law that requires congressional notification only because this whole deal is unjustifiable, in the literal sense: no one in congress would accept the argument that releasing 5 high-level jihadist commanders back into the wild, and recklessly incentivizing future hostage situations, is worth it for a single deserter/traitor who got lots of Americans killed.
but obama had to get the VA out of the news, America's interests be damned.
phish!
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...
Frankly, I am more afraid of the Vichy DC Taliban.
They torture their prisoners and terrorize their own you know. I could go on, but you all know the sad state of affairs...
In that aspect, I completely agree. I definitely fear "our" government more than these guys. Who runs around caves in pajamas and AK 47's and who has all the real nasty shit? Still was an illegal deal brokered by an illegal president.
I honestly wonder if Barry has any plans to vacate office. He is acting like a guy getting very comfortable .
Imagine the shit storm if Bush (or any repib for that matter) was pulling this shit.
Yeah, the Repubs are held to such a high standard. Wait a minute, who the fuck was it that blundered into this fiasco with the whole country cheering them on?
Thats ok, Obama is gonna save us now.
Fuck Obama and the Dems but the revisionist fawning over everthing Republican by a bunch of folks here is nausiating.
It's looking like the Red Team will take the Senate in 2014...probably lining them up for a Presidential win in 2016, and I'll laugh my ass off if it's one of those Tea Party guys and they act just like Bush. Anyways, if the War Party comes screaming back then you'll know what's next...and I would imagine that when it happens and, of course, none of these fiscal or monetary shenanigans change, ZH will seem a lot more "Blue".
It's all bullshit.
The average grunt is just something to use and abuse, for the elites.
Poor fuck was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still is, IMHO. He'll be back in 'merca, but I doubt he'll ever see the home he left in the same way, ever again.
AT least Bowe was correct about this:
He said. 'This war isn't worth the waste of human life that has cost both Afghanistan and the U.S. It's not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, all those places where we are keeping prisoners.'
Just watched "The Beast of War" again. My best buddy wanted to watch "Lone Survivor" but I told him that The Beast was a way better flick. And no heroin either.
The Beast of War (1988) - IMDbWho cares? It's not "the U.S."...it's a government. That's all.
Been saying the same for quite a while.
The psychopaths running the US did this.....
The psychopaths running Russia did that......
The psycopaths running China did the other......
Meanwhile, about 7 billion people just wanted to get on with their lives and be left alone.
Funny old world.
One word applies here: alCIAda
Close Guantanamo Bay, send them all home with the message that we will stay here and they all stay there. Peace!
Of course the US negotiates with terrorists as long as it's politically expedient. I wonder if the Taliban promised they wouldn't attack the poppy fields or disrupt the CIA drug trade?
Of course the Criminal UNITED STATES, CORP. INC. negotiates with terro organizations.
More undeniable evidence that the Criminal Fraud entity UNITED STATES, COPR. INC., Criminal State Dept., CIA arm, fund & train the exact same terror organizations they claim to protect The American People from.
High Treson from a Criminal Fraud Corp. entity.
best get a "ransom ryder"
on the travel insurance...
I'm just surprised that we required them to release one of our guys. Springing the Gitmo detainees has been a goal of the administration from the get go.
You know, if we got rid of all the current prisoners we could start stocking it with Americans disappeared under the NDAA.
After the recent "VA" scandal, this is just a "hey look I care about the soldiers" ploy. Nothing more. As far as negoiate with terrorists... one word: SYRIA.
"Afghan intelligence officials also believe that Bergdahl is 'cooperating with the Taliban' and is acting as adviser to fighters at a base in the tribal area of Pakistan.
Nadeem also shed some light on how Bergdahl was captured.
After the serviceman left his post in Paktika's Yahya Khel district with an Afghan soldier he was spotted entering a nearby village.
A group of eight Taliban gunman in a nearby field were alerted and ambushed the pair, killing the Afghan soldier."
"The American was initially terrified that he would be beheaded, Nadeem said [Supposedly a Taliban deputy district commander in Paktika], but has since become 'very relaxed in our company'." [UK Daily Mail]
This "soldier" should have to spend his next few years in Guantanamo, rather than see his family.
As far as I'm concerned Obama should be impeached under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917...or was this deal licensed under the regulations of the Department of the Treasury?
Hmmm, makes one wonder. Lew is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and took the post after shit-monger Timothy Geithner AND Lew received over $900,000 in bonuses while working at Citigroup, which had been rescued under the Troubled Asset Release Program (TARP).
Coincidence?
The funniest part in all of this is liberals claiming it was legal because Obama issued a signing statement saying it was legal. A signing statement. You know, those things they constantly bitched about Bush using. It's OK when their guy uses it though.
Lets think this through from a government twisted thinking perspective...
1. I think it would be legit if we are negotiating through Egypt Al Queda (who are our friends) to Syria AQ + The Peoples Front of Judea et al (whom we support) to the Afghan Taliban, who some of the groups in Syria are allied. It will all be some simple trading between friends of allied soldiers.
2. Of course, we could be trading prisoners who are being held who have been cleared of all charges, that we are in the process of force feeding to keep them in tip top shape. We would be getting a man back who left his post (I am betting poon had something to do with iit) for returning 5 free men we are holding captive.
Either case would show that we are not "trading" for hostages.
I'mnot suprised! Nothing from this progtard admin suprises me anymore!
It wasn't even really negotiating, it was more like , they demanded, and Obama caved. . .
In all honestly it doesn't matter, all the parties involved are playing on the same team anyway.
Of course we negotiate with terrorists. I do it every time I get a loan from a bank...
We can all wish this had some altruistic redeeming quality. I don't think so.
righty-o... so let's
Print up the jingo, fire up the band
let's negotiate with the taliban.
Idaho Statesman sunday... (Pravda for the potato people) headlines: "Hurrah! For Bowe". Hailey, ID. will probably give him a parade. how.fucking.sad. Stupid Idahoans.
This guy bailed on his unit: didn't have the balls to shoot himself in the foot, or just refuse to fight and go to prison. What a coward. Enjoy your shit sandwich life, Bowe.
AWOL... maybe, if this isn't a declared war (do we have these anymore?)... regular war it's called desertion.
If they run Al-Queda then they must negotiate with terrorists. No?
does the usa let terrorists control-issue their money
and supply through the facade of the title "central bank"?
negotiate, never, but is because the terrorists are the
ones who refuse to negotiate. terrorists never negotiate,
that is part of what makes up their terror. no?
does the taliban negotiate with satanic terrorists in washington,london and tel aviv?
sure thing helmand heroin is the bomb man.
Obama talks to himself in the mirror...
Life immitates art = Homeland?
Trade off GITO prisoners to prevent new mannequin hangings from drug cartel.
Overall... Bravo, ZH
This isn't shocking when u understand how the phony "war on terror" works. We not only negotiate with terrorists but we fund them, arm them, train them & provide international immunity for them if we feel like that. This HAS to happen in order to keep the illusion of the war on terror going so that we can expand the American Empire. False Flags, Cold War, War on Terror, War on Drugs are all parts to the illusion of "freedom & Democracy". WE ARE THE TERRORISTS and until we can agree on that, we can never start fixing our military or any of the alphabet(CIA,FBI, DHS, NSA) agencies. But until then, all of us should continue supporting the troops, acting as if they are fighting for our freedoms & continuing the massive war debts to fund the illusion. Smedly Butler wrote about the corrupt US military policies way back then & aint nothin' changed homey!! Same policy, different President
Give me Librium or give me Meth. Heroin is for the dark orcs.
http://youtu.be/TUCO1hjzb9k
Theres......no business like show business, like show business I know....
people stupid watching all the TV Hypes...
boobs liars, crooks on welfare, scamming EBT Swiipes,
Welfare, dependents, foodstamps, QE, Turban Senators kvethcing.
Dancing with the Stars is most soap to watch while hi,
theres not business like show business I know,
Janet Yellen print the moon, to Grease QE,
Go take a pee and watch Congress Ho's
and Go on with the Show......
Bowe Bergdahl is a POS. He went AWOL. He wasn't captured. I hope the Talaban raped his POS ass every day for the last five years.
You are an asshole.
Does the Taliban negotiate with global terrorists?
It is all about intelligence gathering. From what I've read this guy deserted his post to go join the Taliban. Either he was active in their operations or when he joined up they decided he was worth more as a trade chip than as an active soldier. The point is those 5 people they exchanged most likely had been interogated to the point they had no more actionable information to be of any use holding them. You exchange them in a so called 'swap' for a 'deserter' of your own so you can now interogate that 'deserter' for more pertinent and current actionable intelligence like names, locations, etc.
I am from Hailey. And I am good friends with Bob Bergdahl, Bowe's dad. I am also well aware of how this incident came about.
On the ground at a human level, I'm glad its over. The family stress was enormous and I prayed everyday that those assholes wouldn't behead him and put it on some fucking video. Five years of emotional anguish is more than anybody should have to bear.
Our war economy rolls on.
Sorry for your sorry choice of friends.
So..."lunaticfringe" how did it "come about"(your words)??? Did he bail on his unit or not?... did he just decide to "go walkabout"? Did he desire to change his status mid-deployment from soldier to conscientious objector? Please explain.
You can't be this naive in spite of observing this so close to your own home. There are consequences to stupid actions. Little Bowe is lucky he didn't have his severed dick and balls shoved down his throat before being decapitated.
Have a nice fucking time waving your yellow ribbon and jingo flag at the "Welcome Home Bowe" parade in Hailey, Idaho, home of the most special kind of stupid in the state...
as I said in my earlier post "how.fucking.sad. Stupid Idahoans." and you proved my point.
You called someone an asshole in a previous post on this thread. I would reciprocate, however you are clearly too fucking low-fidelity to be classified as an asshole. Go beat yourself in the head with a hammer.
I heard he tried to throw in The Wookie, but AQ has read the Ransom of Red Chief.
For a deeper understanding of what's been going on in Afghanistan I recommend this interview with ANAND GOPAL, longtime Afghanistan correspondant, aired on Democracy Now last Wednesday:
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/28/obama_extends_nations_longest_war_to
Negotiate with terrorist or provide material aid to terrorists. Channeling Hillary Clinton, "What difference does it make?" /Sarc off
Ministry - So What
Kenyan nigger is out of options.
it's always depressing when i happen on posts from those that i gained insight from and apprecaited posts from - only to find out they are ignorant fucking racists.
Just don't let it turn you against Al Jourgensen
As for the DC US negotiating with "terrorists":
The DC US is the "terrorist" in the mirror.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e9CkhBb18E
It's amazing how this feel-good attempt to distract from the VA et.al fell apart so quickly. This current group that is "in charge" is truly incompetent. Wherever you stand on "their all the same" the fact that the media has covered so much for this administration has left them unable to even stage manage the most simple things-they must have thought nobody was going to give more than a glance to this story...
Agreed! They appear to me as clearly a gang that can't even shoot straight or tie their shoes!
It appears based on the mainstream press reports of the last few days that the answer is YES, it is the foreign policy of the United States to negotiate with terrorists and everyone else that can blackmail the country or take American hostages that have political value. The poor Marine in Mexico is the example of a hostage that has no political value and thus will be ignored until that situation changes. I wonder when that policy was established with the State Department since these negotiations had been allegedly (per the administration and the kid's father) going on for some time? Is this one of the reasons why the Benghazi terrorists have not been pursued? The problem with secret negotiations and lack of transparency is that now the boundaries of the US Foreign Policy are essentially unknown to American citizens.
I suggest that the boundaries of America's foreign policy have never been known to the common American citizen
I suggest that we give back 13,000,000 Mexicans in exchange for this one US Marine.
I'm a US expat and I thank the U.S. Government for painting a big target on my back.
The US doesn't negotiate with terrorists? Impeach this incompetent POS!
Obomba, scummander in chief.
All good in my book. One american back home where he belongs. Five Afghans back home where they belong. End of story
Amen.
IMPEACH THE BASTARD!!
this is nothing new. people just have a short memory span.
the negotiations have been ongoing for at least the last 2 years:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/us/bowe-bergdahls-unlikely-journey-to-...
the us has also been trying to negotiate a graceful exit with the taliban via peace talks since at least a year as well...
junked for truth telling?
ZH members have gone to shite...
I dunno about Negotiating, but they do run training camps for Terrorists
They even train them on US Soil. As long as the Terrorists are on the side of the USA then they are Good Terrorists. And Good Terrorists attack anybody except the USA and Israel, everybody else is up for grabs.
First and foremost, it was Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who on NBC's "Meet the Press" in a live feed from Afghanistan where he had made a surprise visit, said prisoner exchanges are a standard practice of warfare and added that "We didn’t negotiate with terrorists." He added that "America’s record is pretty clear on going after terrorists, especially those who take hostages, and I don’t think what we did in getting our prisoner of war released in any way would somehow encourage terrorists to take our American servicemen prisoner or hostage.”
'We didn't negotiate with terrorists' NO not at all, we got someone else to negotiate on our behalf and we would be grateful if you would not dig any deeper into whether that constitutes negotiating with terrorists or not, because obviously we did and I'm a huge fat lying piece of crap, but I'm relying on you being too thick to realize.
' I don’t think what we did in getting our prisoner of war released in any way would somehow encourage terrorists to take our American servicemen prisoner or hostage.” NO, not at all, just because we negotiated a five for one swap does not mean we would swap five for one, well OK. it actually does mean that, because that is exactly what we did, but once again we want you to believe that a five for one swap does not mean future swaps would be five for one, we might have to do ten for one for example and that's why we need a good stock of terrorists on hand for swaps. Besides by doing a swap we are able to tell who the real terrorists that we have are, well had in our procession as opposed to farmers etc swept up for reward money as they are never requested as swap candidates, so its all good. Also US soldiers will be seen as far too important to actually kill due to their hostage and propaganda value in the future, so win win, and terrorists after being lovingly water boarded a couple of hundred times by us in the search for freedom would surely never think ill of us and return to their terrorist ways, they took the time in captivity to learn to knit and learn other crafts and we are sure that is the direction they will move now they have been released.
Its all just a big game, need some good Political currency with the voters, no worries, five killers for one US soldier is just fine, because its that Political warm feeling for five minutes that counts, the war on terror was never important, just propaganda to justify ever higher military spending and General Hagel has just confirmed it.
Who says the Taliban are Terrorists?
They do.
I just wanna know, where the hell's Chuck Norris when you need him?
"What difference does it Make?"
One Soldier is returned and will be used for 2-3 days. He will be debriefed and return to "Normal" life. Against, 5 Religious driven fighters send back to plan, fight and lead attacks against people. Five new recruiting agents for jihad.
Difference is we are distracted for 3-5 days to years of further attacks
Taliban in Afghanistan is not defined as a terrorist organization,
http://www.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/367
Designated/ListedThe Afghan Taliban, not to be confused with the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban in Pakistan) is not designated as a terrorist group by the United States Department of State or any other U.S. government entity. Additionally, the Taliban is not designated by the United Nations, European Union, or other major foreign government as a terrorist organization.
Note: Tehrik-i-Taliban in Pakistan so Pakistan not Afghanistan.
Interesting that all the photos of Mr Bergdahl he is in Civilian clothes and unshaven. Usually they clean the returning POW to look like a clean cut soldier not like a "Duck-dynasty" look alike. Is this deliberate?
next they will be trading
big bags of dicks
for opium , or some thing
I suspect this guy is going to turn out to be a fruit fly.
Nice precedent to set, Barry. Especially a 5:1 ratio. Max trade is 1:1. Idiot.
This is all about providing political cover for the VA scandal.
And it looks like any price would have been okay, because this was a totally one sided trade.
I'm thinking its more about keeping the guy from being the poster soldier against the Afghanistan war as we approach the elections.
re Does US Negotiate With Terrorists..
Orwellian Doublespeak at its finest.
The Show Must Go On...
Why does anyone give a shit about Obama giving the finger to CONgress, when CONgress does not represent us anyway ?
FUCK CONgress.
FUCK Obama too.
Congress (the same people you keep voting back in) GAVE War Powers to the Executive Branch. Presidents can now do anything they want in the name Of WAR POWERS. Pandora's Box has unlimited interpretation.
Sensationalistic title.
Do 'americans' negotiate with terrorists?
The answer is easy and it is a yes, they do.
1-'Americans' negociate with themselves.
2- 'Americans' are terrorists.
It follows that 'americans' can do nothing but negotiate with terrorists.
Taking a break from perusing the turds along the roadside? How many turds on floor when cHinEse citizinisms exit elavator? Answer= >1, <100 since only room for 88 cHiNee in said elavator...
Didn't know the Taliban were terrorists. Oh yeah, everyone the U.S doesn't like (at least officially) is a terrorist. That guy in Nevada with his cattle is called a terrorist. Hell, I am sure the U.S govt would say the Durdens of this site are terrorists.
tangent : imho, that drug distribution graph is a more accurate indicator of the current state of america than any other economic statistic out there.
look how heroin's spike coincided with dives in coke & meth.
shit's gettin dark, folks.
when hallucinogens eventually spike, you'll know that Project Bluebeam won't be far behind.
notice what they didn't include however : antidepressants. probably because it blows away all the others in nominal terms.
Ronald Reagan - We don't negotiate with terrorist.
Barack Obama - We don't negotiate with terrorist.
Same as it ever was.
At least Carter sent helicopters.
I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who was first to tell the Barbary pirates to piss off (first Barbary war)...
Before that we were paying tribute.
5 top level AL QUEDA terrorists = 1 TRAITOR deserter.......
typical obama deal
ousting Khadaffy
ousting Mubarak
red line Syria
Russia reset
unilateral reduction in nukes
no east europe anti missle shield
BENDOVER BONG BATH HOUSE BARRY STRIKES
...A G A I N
obama has done more for al queda and the muslim brotherhood than obl..
he said he would stand with them when push came to shove... the only promise he keeps
"Does The US Negotiate With Terrorists?"
Why not? "We" sponsor, support, train, and arm them when it suits "us".
How can you negotiate for a POW swap when your administration explicitly rejected the term "Global War on Terror" and instead insisted we were engaged in "Overseas Contingency Operations?" Is POOCO to long of an acronym?
"A Taliban deputy district commander in Paktika, who called himself Haji Nadeem"
heh heh heh.
I wonder if he's still working with Johnny Quest.
NONE of this would have happened if we had gotten out of Afghanistan. Now you never know what the next thing will be. All it does for sure is produce hate and ruin peoples lives.
When the story makes no sense, I just assume that there's a covert CIA operation, and then it's obvious:
Bergdhal is an undercover operative, and Obama is told by his CIA masters to save him. Meanwhile, one or several of those five other guys are not who they say they are, either.
Analogy
Like trading 5 Viet Cong Majors for 1 John McCain.
Seriously weird shit, here.
I'm not gonna wade into the pros and cons here, but just a thought...
The guys they freed to get the soldier have almost surely been thoroughly "milked" for any useful info. And they know where those guys have BEEN for the past few years, right?
So, if you wanted to get hold of some FRESHER info, you'd want to get your hands on the guy who has been LIVING with your enemy for the past few years, no?
That just seems obvious to me. All political considerations aside, this seems like a pretty good trade-off.