• Republicans attack US prisoner swap deal
    32 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27658821[/url] [quote]The main US political parties have clashed over the deal to swap five Guantanamo Bay detainees for a Taliban-held soldier, with Republicans warning it could put American lives at risk. Senator John McCain said the detainees, who were transferred to Qatar, were some of the "highest high-risk people". Afghanistan also attacked the deal, saying handing prisoners to a third country was against international law. Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, 28, was handed to US forces in Afghanistan on Saturday. In an emotional address on Sunday, his father, Robert Bergdahl, said he was proud how far his son was willing to go to help the Afghan people, but warned that his recovery would take a long time. ... Several Republicans have spoken out against the deal, warning that it set a worrying precedent and amounted to negotiating with terrorists. Mr McCain said the Taliban released were "possibly responsible for the deaths of thousands" and may have "the ability to re-enter the fight", in comments to CBS TV. Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee Mike Rogers told CNN that Washington had "now set a price" for al-Qaeda ransom threats. Republican representative Adam Kinzinger said he would celebrate Sgt Bergdahl's return but called the release of the Afghans "shocking". Questions were raised over the legality of the deal, after the Obama administration did not give Congress sufficient notice about the transfer of the Taliban detainees. But US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is currently in Afghanistan, was quick to dismiss allegations of wrongdoing, saying the military had to act quickly "to essentially save his life".[/quote]
Fuck off Republicans. We brought home a human being, and one that you fucking pricks would hold above us all as a hero if he was coming home by any other means.
[QUOTE=draugur;44973947]Fuck off Republicans. We brought home a human being, and one that you fucking pricks would hold above us all as a hero if he was coming home by any other means.[/QUOTE] Yeah, fuck off with your trying to abide by the law...
You would think they would realize that at this point, the people who would support them are in the minority. The bleeding hearts of the American public are weary of war, and they want everyone home. Republicans are digging a deeper hole.
So bringing home a soldier from enemy captivity is bad how? Yes they are back in the hands of the enemy and who cares if they start fighting again, the important thing is you brought back someone who shouldn't be there and could've just as easily died there and ended up on a Live Leak video, which I'm glad didn't happen.
It's not like we still have a fleet of drones and nearly ten thousand soldiers still in Afghanistan that could obliterate five men in the space of five seconds. Nah, guess the United States lost this battle. War's over, everyone go home.
[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;44973999]So bringing home a soldier from enemy captivity is bad how? Yes they are back in the hands of the enemy and who cares if they start fighting again, the important thing is you brought back someone who shouldn't be there and could've just as easily died there and ended up on a Live Leak video, which I'm glad didn't happen.[/QUOTE] Well, some people are questioning whether he should've been released, there's some saying he wasn't "captured" so much as willingly deserted.
"Those prisoners were high risk, the highest high risk, SUPER high risk if we had a list of high risk high risk prisoners, they would be the highest on that list they're the worstest prisoners ever it's possible they've killed hundreds, no thousands, no TENS OF THOUSANDS EACH impeach obama"
I can't believe John McCain had something critical to say about this. I can, but what the fuck, did you forget you can't raise your arms past a certain point from your 5-6 years of captivity. Now try to imagine that same 5-6 years alone.
To be fair, the prisoners the Taliban wanted were probably actually dangerous terrorist and not the bullshit detainees held in Guantanamo. It's not a justification, just something to take into account.
[QUOTE=Explosions;44974150]To be fair, the prisoners the Taliban wanted were probably actually dangerous terrorist and not the bullshit detainees held in Guantanamo. It's not a justification, just something to take into account.[/QUOTE] And knowing our government, if they were really dangerous, they'd have implanted them with tracking chips or something.
If they where really dangerous, we would likely just blow them up as soon as we got our own guy out of there.
We should have hit them with a cruise missile as soon as the deal was completed.
[QUOTE=Sir_takeslot;44974216]If they where really dangerous, we would likely just blow them up as soon as we got our own guy out of there.[/QUOTE] The Taliban prisoners were released in Qatar so that wasn't an option. And as said in a previous thread, no one would ever do another prisoner swap with the United States again after that.
[QUOTE=outlawpickle;44974105]I can't believe John McCain had something critical to say about this. I can, but what the fuck, did you forget you can't raise your arms past a certain point from your 5-6 years of captivity. Now try to imagine that same 5-6 years alone.[/QUOTE] I remember when John McCain was the hard hitting middleman between Republicans and Democrats who often acted like the only sane person in DC and was brave enough to do things like challenge Bush over Iraq and the Patriot Act. Then 2008 happened and he was lobotomized or something.
I thought America doesn't negotiate with terrorists
[QUOTE=meppers;44974413]I thought America doesn't negotiate with terrorists[/QUOTE] Steven Seagal is not all of America.
stupid overused Hollywood line has no basis in reality
[QUOTE=outlawpickle;44974105]I can't believe John McCain had something critical to say about this. I can, but what the fuck, did you forget you can't raise your arms past a certain point from your 5-6 years of captivity. Now try to imagine that same 5-6 years alone.[/QUOTE] John McCain was shot down in a bombing campaign, and was captured. [quote]Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, beating and interrogating him to get information; he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral. His status as a prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of major newspapers. McCain spent six weeks in the hospital while receiving marginal care. By then having lost 50 pounds (23 kg), in a chest cast, and with his hair turned white, McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week. In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years. In mid-1968, John S. McCain, Jr. was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and the North Vietnamese offered McCain early release because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes, and also to show other POWs that elite prisoners were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain turned down the offer; he would only accept repatriation if every man taken in before him was released as well. Such early release was prohibited by the POW's interpretation of the military Code of Conduct: To prevent the enemy from using prisoners for propaganda, officers were to agree to be released in the order in which they were captured. In August 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain. He was subjected to rope bindings and repeated beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery. Further injuries led to the beginning of a suicide attempt, stopped by guards. Eventually, McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession". He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he later wrote, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine." Many American POWs were tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements; virtually all of them eventually yielded something to their captors. McCain subsequently received two to three beatings weekly because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements. McCain refused to meet with various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, wanting to give neither them nor the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory. From late 1969 onward, treatment of McCain and many of the other POWs became more tolerable, while McCain continued actively to resist the camp authorities. McCain and other prisoners cheered the U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972, viewing it as a forceful measure to push North Vietnam to terms. Altogether, McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. He was released on March 14, 1973. His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. [/quote] Bowe Bergdahl went AWOL, went looking for the Taliban, and was captured. [quote]"Forwarded from Jeff Howard. "We were at OP Mest, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It was a small outpost where B Co 1-501st INF (Airbone) ran operations out of, just an Infantry platoon and ANA counterparts there. The place was an Afghan graveyard. Bergdahl had been acting a little strange, telling people he wanted to "walk the earth" and kept a little journal talking about how he was meant for better things. No one thought anything about it. He was a little “out there”. Next morning he's gone. We search everywhere, and can't find him. He left his weapon, his kit, and other sensitive items. He only took some water, a compass and a knife. We find some afghan kids shortly after who saw an american walking north asking about where the taliban are. We get hits on our voice intercepter that Taliban has him, and we were close. We come to realize the kid deserted his post, snuck out of camp and sought out Taliban… to join them. We were in a defensive position at OP Mest, where your focus is to keep people out. He knew where the blind spots were to slip out and that's what he did. It was supposed to be a 4-day mission but turned into several months of active searching. Everyone was spun up to find this guy. News outlets all over the country were putting out false information. It was hard to see, especially when we knew the truth about what happened and we lost good men trying to find him. PFC Matthew Michael Martinek, Staff Sgt. Kurt Robert Curtiss, SSG Clayton Bowen, PFC Morris Walker, SSG Michael Murphrey, 2LT Darryn Andrews, were all KIA from our unit who died looking for Bergdahl. Many others from various units were wounded or killed while actively looking for Bergdahl. Fighting Increased. IEDs and enemy ambushes increased. The Taliban knew that we were looking for him in high numbers and our movements were predictable. Because of Bergdahl, more men were out in danger, and more attacks on friendly camps and positions were conducted while we were out looking for him. His actions impacted the region more than anyone wants to admit. There is also no way to know what he told the Taliban: Our movements, locations, tactics, weak points on vehicles and other things for the enemy to exploit are just a few possibilities. The Government knows full well that he deserted. It looks bad and is a good propaganda piece for the Taliban. They refuse to acknowledge it. Hell they even promoted him to Sergeant which makes me sick. I feel for his family who only want their son/brother back. They don’t know the truth, or refuse to acknowledge it as well. What he did affected his family and his whole town back home, who don’t know the truth. Either way what matters is that good men died because of him. He has been lying on all those Taliban videos about everything since his “capture”. If he ever returns, he should be tried under the UCMJ for being a deserter and judged for what he did. Bergdahl is not a hero, he is not a soldier or an Infantryman. He failed his brothers. Now, sons and daughters are growing up without their fathers who died for him and he will have to face that truth someday."[/quote] I get that both are POWs and shit, but the starting story for Bergdahl, makes him look like a goddamn idiot who got a ton of our own killed searching for his ass.
[QUOTE=Last or First;44974082]"Those prisoners were high risk, the highest high risk, SUPER high risk if we had a list of high risk high risk prisoners, they would be the highest on that list they're the worstest prisoners ever it's possible they've killed hundreds, no thousands, no TENS OF THOUSANDS EACH impeach obama"[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/freed-prisoners-were-battle-hardened-taliban-commanders/2014/05/31/d52b3005-636e-4c65-a1da-2b9ace667e4d_story.html?wpisrc=nl_hdtop[/url] [QUOTE]One of the freed men was the head of the Taliban’s army. Another arranged for al-Qaeda trainers to visit Afghanistan. Another has been implicated by the United Nations for killing thousands of Shiite Muslims.[/QUOTE]
this is looking worse by the minute. for once i sort of agree with the repubs
Yeah, the five released prisoners were all high-ranking Taliban officials captured at the start of the war.
The Americans probably installed a GPS on/in the prisoners.. GBU-12's will head their way in a few months, to avoid looking like they've been duped.
[QUOTE=Explosions;44974600]Yeah, the five released prisoners were all high-ranking Taliban officials captured at the start of the war.[/QUOTE] not to mention the guy sounds delusional, deserted and put a lot of fellow soldiers at risk. it sounds like they don't want to admit that
I think they bring up some fair points and I also doubt the majority of Republicans find the deal controversial.
So we traded 5 HVT's for one guy who went AWOL and got 6 soldiers killed in the search for him. I mean yea, he was an American but I think it was just dumb to release that many HVT prisoners for him.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;44974506]John McCain was shot down in a bombing campaign, and was captured. Bowe Bergdahl went AWOL, went looking for the Taliban, and was captured. I get that both are POWs and shit, but the starting story for Bergdahl, makes him look like a goddamn idiot who got a ton of our own killed searching for his ass.[/QUOTE] Damn, thanks for posting that. I had only heard about this at work today and it seemed like he was a little off, but this is much more clear that he was a complete idiot.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;44974506]John McCain was shot down in a bombing campaign, and was captured. Bowe Bergdahl went AWOL, went looking for the Taliban, and was captured. I get that both are POWs and shit, but the starting story for Bergdahl, makes him look like a goddamn idiot who got a ton of our own killed searching for his ass.[/QUOTE] Shit, I knew about him walking off the outpost but I didn't know that so many people died because of his stupidity.
Oh yeah and another thing.. [img]http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bergdahltweet0601.jpg[/img] Not exactly "evidence" but his father is taking a few steps over the, "helping my son out" line
[QUOTE=Explosions;44974600]Yeah, the five released prisoners were all high-ranking Taliban officials captured at the start of the war.[/QUOTE] Yes, at the start of the war. 13 years ago. They've been languishing in prison, completely out of the loop, that entire time. What could they possibly have to offer? They aren't magic. The Taliban won't suddenly become more capable or successful just because they got 5 people with no up-to-date information or expertise. Hell, maybe the CIA shoved a GPS transmitter up every one of their asses before they were cut loose, I don't know. We're wrapping up this year, the Taliban aren't our fucking problem anymore. I think the President wants to pack our shit and leave that worthless country behind, and the last last thing he needs is an American prisoner left behind. We've traded for POWs at the conclusion of every war, win or lose. If this were a war like those of the past, this is roughly the time we'd be settling a peace agreement and returning everyone from Guantanamo we aren't actively charging with war crimes in the international criminal justice system. The war is ending. Fuck them all, as far as I'm concerned we should charge the people we're going to charge and let the rest go. The Taliban can be Karzai's successor's problem. Ha.
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