Several Republican lawmakers have already raised concerns that President Obama violated U.S. law by approving the exchange of prisoners at Guantanamo without notifying Congress 30 days in advance. Others are worried that it violates a U.S. precedent not to negotiate with terrorists. For McCain, the chief concern is what will happen to the detainees once they are released.
We just had a captured soldier released as part of a prisoner exchange. He was the only one left from Afghanistan. A prisoner exchange is not an unknown thing in the history of this country and of other countries. For instance, in 2011, Israel negotiated a prisoner exchange with Hamas. And, quite shockingly they exchanged 1,027 prisoners, including various sentenced to life in prison, for one (1) Israeli prisoner. Yes, many were shocked, but it worked. He had been held for five years also when the exchange was made. But, there is a history that dates back centuries of prisoner exchanges. There comes a time when the appropriate thing to do is to exchange prisoners, even if you know that various of the prisoners exchanged may return to the battlefield eventually. That was true in Israel three years ago and it is true in the USA today.
Of course, for a Republican Congress member, this was a wonderful opportunity. The President has violated the law by not notifying us 30 days in advance, they claim. Frankly, even if he did, I am happy he did it, and I doubt that the courts would uphold such a limitation on his powers as both commander-in-chief and chief executor of our foreign policy. I am happy he did it for two reasons. One, is that Sgt. Bergdahl needs to be free. An exchange of five prisoners who have been in Guantanamo for years is a reasonable exchange, and certainly much better than the Israeli exchange of over a thousand for one prisoner. We do value human life. We value it highly enough to pay price higher than one for one. Please try to explain to me that the Israeli government is soft on terrorism, why don’t you? Yet, they certainly valued their troops enough to trade highly, even to those they call terrorists.
The second reason that I am happy he did it is because I do not trust Congress. Any requirement for a 30 day notification is a guarantee of a quick leak to the appropriate opposition blogger, cable news channel, etc. Just like the Israeli government kept their trade a deep dark secret until it was announced, so it was necessary for the President to keep such a trade a deep dark secret. Any other action would simply have cancelled the swap and endangered Bergdahl’s life.
As a veteran, I am most disappointed in Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war. The man whom I used to think stood on principle has simply turned out to be a man who swings with the political winds, and has become a caricature of himself. Rather than rejoicing over the release of a fellow prisoner of war, he is seeking political capital to use against the President who approved the release. As a man who knows his history, he well knows that in 1953, even though peace had not been declared (just a truce) thousands of soldiers were exchanged between North Korea and South Korea. In October of 1943, prisoners were exchanged between the Allies and the Axis, even though the war was still going on. In fact, the Geneva Convention provides for prisoner exchanges while hostilities are still ongoing. Do not try to tell me that we should not follow the Geneva Convention just because others may not. That is like arguing that we may sin just because others sin.
What we did was right and correct. That Congress had to be kept out of the loop is totally understandable. I seriously doubt that President Obama violated any law, or at least any law that would be Constitutionally upheld. If the few Republicans in Congress who have tried to take political advantage of this exchange really think he broke the law, then they ought to take action. I doubt they will. They get more mileage out of making the claim than out of trying to prosecute it.
I do hope they remember the Israelis. I hope they remember compassion. I hope they remember waiting parents and relatives. Finally, I hope they remember the Geneva Convention and our commitment to follow it even if others do not.
From what I am hearing from friends in the US Army, Bergdahl was not a POW. He was a deserter.
I do not believe Bergdahl was a POW. He was a deserter.
More than one news post has commented that radio communications intercepted by the US Armed Forces and leaked by Wikileaks have him as captured while sitting on a latrine.
There is no doubt that he wrote e-mails questioning the war and what we were doing. The final question is whether he deserted or not. Note that even Fox News is not willing to go there at this point.
Well said!