Awesome to read this kid has been freed.

After nearly five years in captivity, the last servicemember unaccounted for from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been freed in exchange for five Guantanamo Bay detainees who will be transferred to Qatar, a move that helped facilitate the deal.

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Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was handed over to U.S. special forces by the Taliban Saturday evening, local time, in an area of eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. Officials said the exchange was not violent and the 28-year-old Bergdahl was in good condition and able to walk.

In a statement, President Barack Obama said Bergdahl's recovery "is a reminder of America's unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield."

The handover followed secret and indirect negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban, with the government of Qatar serving as the go-between. Qatar is taking custody of the five Afghan detainees that had been held at Guantanamo Bay.

According to a senior defense official traveling with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in Singapore, once Bergdahl climbed onto the noisy helicopter he took a pen and wrote on a paper plate, the "SF?" – asking the troops if they were special operations forces.

They shouted back at him over the roar of the rotors: "Yes, we've been looking for you for a long time."

Then, according to the official, Bergdahl broke down.

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That's awesome news, Duchess.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I read today about a suicide bomber in Syria -- an American who decided to join the legitimate rebels and the Qaeda terrorists in the effort to oust the government.


Apparently, the American citizen from Florida ^ is not the only Syrian "rebel" fighter from the US and other western countries to have been successfully recruited by Islamic fundamentalists -- it's a growing problem.

The war on terror -- I don't think it's one with an end date and it's not so easy to spot the "enemy" anymore.

Ref:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/30/world/...an-jihadi/

Some members of Congress criticized the prisoner exchange. Rep. Howard P. McKeon (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. James Inhofe (R., Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the means by which Sgt. Bergdahl's freedom was secured need to be examined. They said that U.S. adversaries now have a strong incentive to capture Americans.

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Are these Republicans saying the exchange shouldn't have happened? If they didn't swap Taliban prisoners for an American hostage can I take that to mean the prisoners are worth more than an American soldier? Would everything be peachy had John McCain brokered the deal?

Fuckin' Republicans. I say fuckin' Democrats with the same tone so don't any of you red people give me any shit. I hold both parties in the same low regard.

Mixed feelings on this, the dude is an I-dee-hoan...and I'm glad that he's finally coming home. The precedent concerns me though. Also, seems to me that if we've changed our stance on not negotiating with terrorists, this shit could have been wrapped up years ago.

I have mixed feelings about it as well.



It is truly awesome that Sgt. Bergdahl ^ is alive and will be reunited with his family after 5 years.

But, I understand the concern that a prisoner of war exchange including senior Taliban officials is the equivalent of negotiating with terrorists and could be incentive for terrorists or enemies of any sort to take Americans hostage as a bargaining chip.

Obama used Qatar's leadership as brokers/middlemen to orchestrate the deal so as not to legitimatize the ousted Taliban in the eyes of the current Afghan leadership, and to stave off criticism of negotiating with terrorists, IMO. I think it was still a negotiation with a deemed "terrorist" organization, no matter who was standing in the middle. And the "terrorists" did well, 5 for 1.

But, Obama also declared yesterday that all troops will be out of Afghanistan in 2 years and the prison at Guantanamo, where the Taliban prisoners were being held, will be shut down. So, seems to me that Sgt. Bergdahl's return is being positioned as an act associated with closing out a long-standing war/military operation and continuing to clear out the prison camp.

If the enemy in this case weren't labeled as "terrorists", I wonder if it would make any difference to those Republicans who are objecting? There were prisoner of war exchanges after the Vietnam War, the Korean War... It's not new to broker POW exchanges in traditional war; luckily in the case of the Afghanistan "conflict", there was only one American POW.

I'd like to see the exchange terms, but those are classified other than the fact that the Taliban prisoners cannot leave Qatar for at least a year. Hard to say without seeing the terms if this negotiation is likely to soften/weaken the US in the eyes of terrorists.

I don't think any American is going to be cool with having made a deal with the devil, the alternative would have been to let an American soldier remain in the hands of the Taliban. There will be those (probably many) that find that more palatable than the trade.

IDK. There seem to be a lot of people who don't think we should have been in Afghanistan in the first place and don't necessarily see the former Afghan leadership as "the devil".

Maybe somebody who's got a few years on me or a better grasp on war history can jump in here, but AFAIK in the past, the American public and most US politicians encouraged and supported POW release exchanges with "enemies" at the end of wars.

If the enemies in this case weren't labeled as "terrorists" and Afghanistan had formally been a "war" rather than a "conflict" or "occupation", I really wonder how differently this POW exchange would be viewed.

Personally, I think when it comes to American soldiers you do what has to be done in order to bring them home. They are owed that.

I understand your point and want to see all Americans who fight for our country come home safely.

But, I disagree with doing whatever it takes to bring POWs home.

I think the circumstances and the potential cost in terms of opening the door to the loss of more lives has to be considered when ruling in and ruling out what should/can be done to bring POWs home.

I'm not doing a good job of keeping in mind the risks these soldiers are made aware of before they even sign on the dotted line. Even knowing that I am still hugely bothered by the thought of them being left there because America doesn't want to cut a deal with terrorists. I'm illogical in regards to this.

You're a woman, not being logical is in your nature

I would have rather seen us just being pure assholes, and once we got our soldier back, flip off the fucking Taliban, and Qatar (from what I understand, they were the broker in this deal), and shout out SUCKERS! And reneged on the deal. All's fair in love and war, and we are, technically, still at war with these rag-head motherfuckers.

(06-01-2014, 10:01 AM)thekid65 Wrote: You're a woman, not being logical is in your nature

I want to nail you right square in the balls. Come closer, I have a sammich for you.

Why is it women always go for the nutsack?

Err....thanks but no thanks on the sammich...something tells me it wouldn't be safe to eat. Mens intuition, ya know....

^ Plus, you're probably already full from having your cake and eating it too, up there in post 11.

(06-01-2014, 10:05 AM)thekid65 Wrote: Why is it women always go for the nutsack?

Speaking only for myself...cuz it hurts like a mutha. What the hell else can make a man drop to his knees like that. Except a proposal. Hahahaha!

(06-01-2014, 10:01 AM)thekid65 Wrote: I would have rather seen us just being pure assholes, and once we got our soldier back, flip off the fucking Taliban, and Qatar (from what I understand, they were the broker in this deal), and shout out SUCKERS! And reneged on the deal. All's fair in love and war, and we are, technically, still at war with these rag-head motherfuckers.

There wouldn't be a country or organization worth its salt who would favor negotiating or partnering with the US again.

I know you're Kidding...

There were reportedly historical connections between some of those Taliban prisoners and the US-backed Northern Alliance, btw. Interesting to read their profiles and why they were detained. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/01/us/ber...?hpt=hp_c1

Nope, not kidding at all. Fuck those guys. With the improvements we've made in extracting oil from shale, hopefully it won't be long before we can flip the motherfucking bird at the middle east. And when you get right down to it, oil is the only reason we give a rats ass about the middle east. Our allies would continue to make deals, and do business with us regardless if we we're dicks on a prisoner/prisoner exchange.

"The US shale boom has led some to predict that it will overtake Saudi Arabia as world’s largest oil and gas producer by 2020"

Source

I think it's important that we be honorable. You can't put a price on that. Would you stop being honorable just because the people you were dealing with aren't?

Fuckina I would be...these fuckers would kill an American at the drop of a hat. Honor?? Are you fucking kidding me? Had we known the location of this soldier, do you not think we would have gone in there and wasted every fucking towel head on site in order to set him free? Or, would you have had us be nice, and politely knocked on the tent flap and asked them to free our boy....

That's not what my comment applied to.