My latest in PJ Media:
It was one of the worst trades in history, even worse than Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi or Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac: Back in 2014, Barack Obama traded five Taliban commanders for one American who, we were led to believe, had been captured by the Taliban. Obama did all he could to make the swap seem noble: He said at the time that the recovery of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was “a reminder of America’s unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield,” and the five Taliban jihadis were sent to Qatar, where they would ostensibly be kept out of trouble. Seven years later, Bergdahl is known as a deserter, not a hero: In 2017, he pleaded guilty to desertion and was given a dishonorable discharge. And now Khairullah Khairkhwa, one of the jihadis Obama traded for Bergdahl, is among the Taliban leadership that just took Kabul.
Obama’s deal was fishy from the start. Bergdahl was known as a deserter even at the time the deal was made. Former infantry officer Nathan Bradley Bethea, who served with Bergdahl in Afghanistan, wrote in the Daily Beast that Bergdahl was “a deserter, and soldiers from his own unit died trying to track him down.” Refuting reports that Bergdahl got separated from his unit while on patrol, Bethea declared: “Make no mistake: Bergdahl did not ‘lag behind on a patrol,’ as was cited in news reports at the time. There was no patrol that night. Bergdahl was relieved from guard duty, and instead of going to sleep, he fled the outpost on foot. He deserted. I’ve talked to members of Bergdahl’s platoon—including the last Americans to see him before his capture. I’ve reviewed the relevant documents. That’s what happened.”
Three days before he deserted, Bergdahl wrote to his parents: “I am ashamed to be an American. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools. I am sorry for everything. The horror that is America is disgusting.”
Then there was the Taliban’s 2010 claim that Bergdahl had converted to Islam and was teaching bomb-making to its jihadists. Documents revealed in 2014 corroborate the claim. According to one of these documents, dated August 23, 2012, “Conditions for Bergdahl have greatly relaxed since the time of the escape. Bergdahl has converted to Islam and now describes himself as a mujahid. Bergdahl enjoys a modicum of freedom, and engages in target practice with the local mujahedeen, firing AK47s. Bergdahl is even allowed to carry a loaded gun on occasion. Bergdahl plays soccer with his guards and bounds around the pitch like a mad man. He appears to be well and happy, and has a noticeable habit of laughing frequently and saying ‘Salaam’ repeatedly.”
The Obama/Biden administration ignored all this, made the lopsided deal, and treated Bergdahl as a returning hero at a Rose Garden ceremony featuring the deserter’s parents.
There is more. Read the rest here.
Emilie Green says
What a deal that was. Not only did we give the Muslims leaders who would haunt us in the future, but we also got a traitor.
Infidel says
Yeah, it was a win-win before that ‘deal’: we had a jihadist in custody, and they had our traitor. Neither should have moved
gravenimage says
Taliban Leader Obama/Biden Released from GITMO in Swap for Deserter Bergdahl Just Resurfaced
………………….
Again, I wish I could be shocked.
RichardL says
yup, Obama was a Taliban leader alright… Happy Hussein
Yohanan says
Israel’s worst swap was the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas. Israel later changed it’s prisoner exchange policy. The IDF revised and reinstated it’s Hannibal order after the abduction of Gilad Shalit in June 2006. In contrast to Obama on the deserter Bergdahl, it wasn’t under false pretense, but agreed to as a controversial heavy sacrifice. In retrospect a big blunder as many of the more than 1,000 terrorist prisoners that Israel released went back to terrorism…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilad_Shalit_prisoner_exchange
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Directive
savvyone says
Yohanan, Obama was pleasing the Muslims on both counts. I think most of us knew Bergdahl was a traitor. He did not get the punishment he deserved. All of that verbiage about Bergdahl being held in a cage by the Jihadis was just typical Muslim brouhaha; I have heard too many of those kinds of stories. Most of the stories (skits) they engage in are just downright foolish.
gravenimage says
Yohanan, Gilad Shalit was a good and loyal soldier–Bergdahl was a known deserter who had gone over to the Taliban.
Not the same thing.
Johnny B says
The Left will always go out of their way for traitors and Jihadis.
Isabella van der westhuizen says
How did Obama ever become president of the USA
He seems to have hated the USA more than the Taliban
savvyone says
Isabella, Obama got to be president because the media didn’t vet him. America didn’t know him. I read his book, Dreams from my Father, which was very revealing. He told us he would go with the Muslims if the political winds shifted. That should have been a heads up. We were too eager for a Black face in the White House that nothing else mattered. Wrong Black face. I wonder what our country would look like today, if Thomas Sowell had run and been appointed president. Those two men are night and day.
OLD GUY says
Barack Obama his name says it all, and he definitely leans towards the islamic ideology.