Trading 5 Taliban Mass Murderers For 1 US Deserter

[Reub]

A good deal?

[Reub]

Negotiating with terrorists.  Check.

Violating law that requires informing Congress with 30 days notice.  Check.

Endangering thousands of Americans and others in the future with this action. Check.

Increasing the risk of Americans being taken hostage in the future.  Check.

Giving terrorists a new propaganda tool. Check.

Making a very bad deal. Check.

[moda0306]

A conservative who would change his tune if Bush were doing what Obama did.

Check.

[LazyInvestor]

removed

[Kshartle]

It seems like a good way to save face and let people go that you can't press charges against.

The Gitmo fiasco is a huge black eye on the US and just another Obama lie. I would say he's probably embarrassed by it but it's doubtful he can be embarrassed.

Releasing them for captured soldiers or whatever at least dwindles the population of human beings being held in cages without charges.

[Mountaineer]

A conservative who would change his tune if Bush were doing what Obama did.

Check.

Wow!  Still focused on Bush after 6 years.  Impressive.  Why not go back further to King George III or Charlemagne? 

... Mountaineer

[Kshartle]

A conservative who would change his tune if Bush were doing what Obama did.

Check.

Wow!  Still focused on Bush after 6 years.  Impressive.  Why not go back further to King George III or Charlemagne? 

... Mountaineer

Charlemagne ahahahahahahahahah

I will laugh about this all day long.

[Reub]

The reports are that at least 6 US servicemen died in Afghanistan trying to recover this deserter.  How many people will die in the future as the result of releasing these mass murderers back into the field?

Sometimes wild animals belong in cages.

[Pointedstick]

The reports are that at least 6 US servicemen died in Afghanistan trying to recover this deserter.  How many people will die in the future as the result of releasing these mass murderers back into the field?

Sometimes wild animals belong in cages.

Why not just put them down, then? Serious question.

If I were the POTUS, I think the first thing I would do would be to issue an executive order saying that everyone in gitmo needed to be immediately executed or released, but the prison's administrator would have sole discretion to choose. That would really shine a light on which ones really were "animals" and which ones were just poor schlubs didn't pose much of a threat to anyone.

[clacy]

A conservative who would change his tune if Bush were doing what Obama did.

Check.

This is nonsense.  Bush wouldn't have done this, but if he did, I wouldn't be too happy about it.  I can't say I'm upset about him being freed, but we shouldn't have negotiated with the Taliban for him, IMO.

Now that he's freed, his desertion can be investigated and maybe he'll be charged. 

[moda0306]

A conservative who would change his tune if Bush were doing what Obama did.

Check.

Wow!  Still focused on Bush after 6 years.  Impressive.  Why not go back further to King George III or Charlemagne? 

... Mountaineer

Nope... Focused on Reub's obnoxious bias in any issue he posts on that induces galore.

Bush is just a good reference point for conservatives who want to make obnoxious comments about Obama. I did the same with obnoxiously anti-war liberals who had nothing to say when Clinton smacked Iraq. 

[Kshartle]

I did the same with obnoxiously anti-war liberals who had nothing to say when Clinton smacked Iraq.

Serbia, Lybia, others................

just saying 

[moda0306]

I did the same with obnoxiously anti-war liberals who had nothing to say when Clinton smacked Iraq.

Serbia, Lybia, others................

just saying 

Yeah all that. Look at the war presidents over the last 100 years. Even one of my favorites... Teddy Roosevelt... Was one of the strongest progressives out there... And was a huge supporter of our involvement in the debacle called The Great War (WWI).

[Mountaineer]

I did the same with obnoxiously anti-war liberals who had nothing to say when Clinton smacked Iraq.

Serbia, Lybia, others................

just saying 

Yeah all that. Look at the war presidents over the last 100 years. Even one of my favorites... Teddy Roosevelt... Was one of the strongest progressives out there... And was a huge supporter of our involvement in the debacle called The Great War (WWI).

Don't leave out the great debacle of the "Chicago Politics" wars; dear leader fought there. 

Do you think it would be a fair trade if we gave up Gore, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and Biden and agreed to take the 5 Taliban and give them hi ranking positions?

... Mountaineer

[Tyler]

Now that he's freed, his desertion can be investigated and maybe he'll be charged.

You really think a president who broke laws to bring him back and took pictures like this with his family will allow him to be prosecuted and put back in a cell?

http://www.trbimg.com/img-538a5c3a/turb ... s-20140531

[Kshartle]

Now that he's freed, his desertion can be investigated and maybe he'll be charged.

You really think a president who broke laws to bring him back and took pictures like this with his family will allow him to be prosecuted and put back in a cell?

http://www.trbimg.com/img-538a5c3a/turb ... s-20140531

If he thought he could gain a single penny's worth of value from it, yes.

It's hard to say that Obama has less scruples than any previous president because they're such disgusting humans. I will say it's probably a challange to think of one though.

If he and Charles Manson both witnessed a crime and had conflicting stories I would trust Manson to tell the truth far more. I don't think Obama is even capable of telling the truth at this point, about anything.

just read that special forces, special operations command new his location and how many armed terrorists were in the area he was being held, on several occasions, over the time he was gone.... but did not send troops in because they didn't want to risk top level solders for a deserter..

the "he was a "hero" that had to be rescued" spin is getting wobbly..

[dualstow]

A good deal?

Perhaps I'll never know what's really behind all this.
It's a good deal for all the actors who get residuals from Homeland. That's all I know.

[Ad Orientem]

I have no real objections to exchanging prisoners which is a humane and venerable custom of war that dates to antiquity. But I am compelled to agree that it was a bad deal. Such exchanges should be equitable. Such was clearly not the case here.

[Kshartle]

I have no real objections to exchanging prisoners which is a humane and venerable custom of war that dates to antiquity. But I am compelled to agree that it was a bad deal. Such exchanges should be equitable. Such was clearly not the case here.

Do you think we'd all be better off if Gitmo was shut down and all these people let go?

Do you think there are negative consequences to having Gitmo open besides the obvious enormous cost?

[Reub]

No.

No.

[Benko]

Do you think the bottom line results of this trade are:

1. in the best interest of the country?

2. Is the answer to the above any different to the bottom line results from virtually all the fireign policy decisions of this administration?

[Pointedstick]

If you ask me, this whole thing is stupid political theater, but unfortunately for Obama, the show's all about his colossal incompetence. I mean, think about it. He's handed the Republicans a set of perfect talking points:

Negotiating with terrorists. Boom!

Giving the enemy more than we're getting in return. Boom!

Going behind congress's back, probably violating a dozen laws in the process. Boom!

Doing all of this for a likely deserter! Boom!


Forget the country… what was the gain for Obama himself? I would posit that the answer is nothing, and that's exactly why he's such a lightweight. He has pleased nobody and unnecessarily created a controversy that harms him and his party, and plays right into his opponents' stereotypes. He should have seen this coming a mile away.

[Benko]

PS

if he said, we hate to do this, but we don't want to leave anyone behind, so we feel it is worth it, much of this mess would not have happened, or at least not the way it did. 

What did Obama gain?  a taste of what will happen when he tries to release rhe rest of people there, which sounds like he wants to. 

[Reub]

He is a total ideologue and doesn't really care about what anyone else thinks. That is what makes him so particularly dangerous.

[Pointedstick]

He is a total ideologue and doesn't really care about what anyone else thinks. That is what makes him so particularly dangerous.

I think that is a complete and total misreading of Obama. On the contrary, I think he's an insecure, inexperienced narcissist who does what he thinks will make him personally popular (short term) or contribute to a "legacy" of some sort (long term). He has a savior complex but his naiveté and inexperience hurt his ability to actually do what people truly want. Rather than an ideologue, he is an ineffectual waffler who attempts to compromise when he has the upper hand and tries boldness when his power is weak.