WE DID BIZ WTH THE TALIBAN

[blueberryhill]

CNN reporting that some anchor (didn't catch name) at Fox News said that Bowe's dad did look like a member of the Taliban. (although he had liked beards on stars of Duck Dynasty).. I think Bowe is suffering from a mental breakdown and the Taliban wanted to get rid of him. I have no respect for Fox News; they lack credibility and too many crazies believe everything they say.
If we are bringing troops home by 2016 and phasing out the prison for detainees, we have to start thinking about what to do with these guys. We don't want to keep them so they are going to have to go home anyway and they probably will continue to rebel against their Gov't but they had nothing to do with ⁹⁄₁₁ and it is Al-Qaeda who want to kill us all. At any rate, Fox News is now equating wearing a beard to being a terrorist (this according to CNN).

[Duchess]

Fox News is now equating wearing a beard to being a terrorist

Jesus Christ

[Duchess]

Handover of Bowe Bergdahl -

[HairOfTheDog]

If we are bringing troops home by 2016 and phasing out the prison for detainees, we have to start thinking about what to do with these guys. We don't want to keep them so they are going to have to go home anyway and they probably will continue to rebel against their Gov't but they had nothing to do with ⁹⁄₁₁ and it is Al-Qaeda who want to kill us all.

Exactly. Those Taliban POWs would need to be transferred somewhere soon anyway with the official end of the "conflict" approaching and the planned closure of Gitmo. I think if the US would have been able to successfully prosecute them for any legitimate crimes, we'd have done so in the 12 years that we had them in our custody.

Plus, Obama reportedly wants to proceed with peace talks between the US, the Taliban and Afghanistan. The last two attempts didn't progress too far and the Taliban detainees/POWs were one of the major sticking points. Enter Qatar.

Anyway, we took those five key Taliban figures outta the mix for over a decade to increase our chances of success in Afghanistan. The Taliban kept what appears to me to be a mixed-up low-ranking kid from Idaho captive. The "conflict" couldn't be officially ended without addressing those POWs from both sides.

At any rate, Fox News is now equating wearing a beard to being a terrorist (this according to CNN).

Craziness. I associate with several terrorists, according to Fox News.

I'd like to see a news source dive a little more into Mr. Bergdahl's motives in modifying his appearance and language to be more similar to that of his son's captors. Guessing he wanted the captors to identify more with him so they'd be more inclined to consider his pleas; perhaps that was effective?. Anyway, I think there's an interesting possible back-story beyond the beard -- maybe later it'll be covered.

[Duchess]

I've tried to find out where these detainees will be going but I can't get a definitive answer. No one wants them in our country & I understand that.

I've been reading a little about this trade. Are any of you aware that many of the very same people who are outraged by it are the same people who encouraged it until it actually went down? I've always been aware that politicians are disingenuous but seeing it in black & white still holds the power to astound me. Lying liars.

[Adub]

I've tried to find out where these detainees will be going but I can't get a definitive answer. No one wants them in our country & I understand that.

I've been reading a little about this trade. Are any of you aware that many of the very same people who are outraged by it are the same people who encouraged it until it actually went down? I've always been aware that politicians are disingenuous but seeing it in black & white still holds the power to astound me. Lying liars.

It is all a political game by the GOP. Obama is used to it. And has learned to play it well.

A Trick Play to Close Guantánamo Bay
May 23, 2014 2:50 pm

The closing of the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay — promised by President Obama in 2008, prevented by Congress ever since — may still be far off, but on Thursday a bipartisan Senate committee laid out a pathway that could make it happen.

The idea is based on one of those reverse twists that lawmakers sometimes use when an unpopular action needs to take place — one they want to permit without taking direct responsibility. For example, when the debt ceiling needs to be raised, Congress has at times given the president the authority to do so, and then passed a measure voting down the increase. At that point, the president plays his part by vetoing the measure, knowing Congress won’t be able to form a supermajority to override him. Voters are gulled into believing their representative protested the increase, while the country averts a ruinous default.

The prison proposal would follow similar lines.

[Maggot]

I would close it and tell the prisoners if they can swim to Miami they will be free. Also I don't think its a good idea to negotiate prisoner swaps, it only opens the door for future bullshit like taking over an embassy and swapping prisoners for officials. They screwed up in this trade I would consider this guy a deserter even though he is not officially one in reality he is.

[Adub]

Good article on the suggestion that 6 soldiers died looking for Bowe.
It has a map. I like maps. And wikileaks,


Can Bowe Bergdahl Be Tied to 6 Lost Lives? Facts Are MurkyJUNE 3, 2014

Two soldiers died during the most intense period of the search after Sergeant Bergdahl’s June 30 disappearance. Both were inside an outpost that came under attack, not out patrolling and running checkpoints looking for him. The other six soldiers died in late August and early September.

Facts are often obscured in the fog of the battlefield, witnesses have incomplete vantage points and the events are five years in the past now. But an archive of military reports logging significant activities in America’s war in Afghanistan offers a contemporaneous written record of events in Paktika that summer. The archive was made public by Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Pvt. Bradley Manning, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence for the leak.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/world/....html?_r=0

[Duchess]

It is all a political game by the GOP. Obama is used to it. And has learned to play it well.

It's insane & they don't even care that voters are seeing their duplicity. I wouldn't lift a finger to vote for any of those bitches. They don't deserve to hold the positions they do. Liars can never be trusted and our body of government is filled with them. They all suck ass.

[Midwest Spy]

I've stated many times that I vote republican 90% of the time.

That being said, I really think our Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar is a sincere, genuine individual. Is she a little too liberal at times for me? Sure.

I used to have conversations in the sauna at Northwest Athletic Club with her dad Jim Klobuchar, a newspaper writer in MSP for years. He was a down to earth guy, and Amy reminds me a lot of him.

Anyway, there are so few politicians that are really in it for their country and the citizens. It's too bad.

[Duchess]

there are so few politicians that are really in it for their country and the citizens.

That's why I think very little gets accomplished. In the real world, most, if not all, would be fired. You can't have co-workers at each others throats and expect work to get done. You fucking work together for a common goal or get the hell out and that's as it should be.

[Duchess]

I don't want to feel snarky about my government but they made me feel this way.

[Adub]

I have not made up mind my yet if Bergdahl is a deserter/traitor. I go back and forth.

But this an interesting little wikiileak. It is what the US picked up on some radio traffic the day Bergdahl was captured. The Taliban is saying that they found Bergdahl taking a shit. And, they were about to make an attack on the post when they saw him...

UPDATE: 0433z LLVI TRAFFIC FROM C3 plt AT BAKI KHEL LLVI SUGGESTS THAT THE AMERICAN SOLDIER IS WITHIN TWO KM. BOLO FOR ANY WHITE VEHICLES

UPDATE: 0610z LLVI TRAFFIC FROM REDRIDGE: freq 162.1 1- W ARE READY FOR THEM. 2- ALL THE NUMBERS ARE MESS IT. WE ARE WWAITING FOR THEM. 1- LOL THEY KNOW WHERE HE IS BUT THEY KEEP GOING TO WRONG AREA. 2- OK SET UP THE WORK FOR THEM. 1- YES WE HAVE A LOT OF IED ON THE ROAD. 2- GOD WILLING WE WILL DO IT. 1- WE WERE ATTACKING THE POST HE WAS SITTING TAKING EXPLETIVE HE HAD NO GUN WITH HIM. HE WAS TAKING EXPLETIVE, HE HAS NOT CLEANED HIS BUTT YET. 2- WHAT SHEAM FOR THEM. 1- I DONT THINK HE W 2-YES LOOK THEY HAVE ALL AMERICANS, ANA HELICOPTERS THE PLANES ARE LOOKING FOR HIM. 1- I THINK HE IS BIG SHOT THAT WHY THEY ARE LOOKING FOR HIM. 3-CAN YOU GUYS MAKE A VIDEO OF HIM AND ANNOUNCE IT ALL OVER AFGHANISTAN THAT WE HAVE ONE OF THE AMERICANS. 1- WE ALREADY HAVE A VIDEO OF HIM.

[Duchess]

I would close it and tell the prisoners if they can swim to Miami they will be free. Also I don't think its a good idea to negotiate prisoner swaps, it only opens the door for future bullshit like taking over an embassy and swapping prisoners for officials. They screwed up in this trade I would consider this guy a deserter even though he is not officially one in reality he is.

I've been hearing similar comments from people I know so I'll ask you what I've asked them - those Taliban are going free, it's only a matter of time but it's preferable to do it that way rather than get an American back in exchange for cutting them loose now?

I've read that there are up to 154 prisoners left at Gitmo, they haven't been charged with anything and for the most part our government doesn't even know if they are guilty of anything. We have members of Congress and other government agencies that didn't even know there was an American POW. How about that shit.

[Duchess]

Never mind. Don't answer that. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I'm not going to argue about it anyway.

[Duchess]

Now Republicans are threatening to impeach Obama if any more prisoners are released. Hahaha! Do. It. Won't everyone be delighted to have Joe Biden as our leader. Retards.

[Maggot]

Now Republicans are threatening to impeach Obama if any more prisoners are released. Hahaha! Do. It. Won't everyone be delighted to have Joe Biden as our leader. Retards.

Not gonna happen, if they do the Dems will start blaming it on his skin color. They will wait till they win back the Senate then go for it. The racist card is all thats left.

[Maggot]

How about this couple of idiots, they went over thinking that love will cure all and are now in a pile of shit.

"They really and truly believed that if people were loved and treated with respect that that would be given back to them in kind," said Linda Boyle, Boyle's mother. "So as odd it as it may seem to us that they were there, they truly believed with all their heart that if they treated people properly, they would be treated properly."

[Duchess]

I think this might be the couple I read about yesterday. If it is, she was pregnant when they were taken.

I make jokes about people not being smart enough to cross the street on their own but I think it truly applies to this couple.

[Maggot]

I would close it and tell the prisoners if they can swim to Miami they will be free. Also I don't think its a good idea to negotiate prisoner swaps, it only opens the door for future bullshit like taking over an embassy and swapping prisoners for officials. They screwed up in this trade I would consider this guy a deserter even though he is not officially one in reality he is.

I've been hearing similar comments from people I know so I'll ask you what I've asked them - those Taliban are going free, it's only a matter of time but it's preferable to do it that way rather than get an American back in exchange for cutting them loose now?

I've read that there are up to 154 prisoners left at Gitmo, they haven't been charged with anything and for the most part our government doesn't even know if they are guilty of anything. We have members of Congress and other government agencies that didn't even know there was an American POW. How about that shit.

What did they do with all the German prisoners? or the Charlies that were held? I'm not sure.