President Barack Obama said Friday that he decided to keep Congress in the dark about the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl because pulling off the sensitive deal “required no publicity.” (This reinforces reports that the Taliban had threatened to kill Bergdahl if the deal was leaked to the press.)
“As I said before, the main concern was — is that we had to act fast in a delicate situation that required no publicity,” the president said in an interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams that aired Friday when asked why he had not communicated with Congress.
In the interview, Obama said securing Bergdahl’s release is part of the country’s obligation to do everything to bring home members of the military who are in captivity. “This is something that I would do again and I will continue to do wherever I have an opportunity,” Obama said.
And let's face it there was NO WAY the news would not be leaked by a member of Congress. More than half of them would do almost anything to sabotage a deal the President made, even if it meant a soldier would end up dead for it.
By the way after some initial indications she might leave Obama hanging, Hillary has come out in support of the deal as well:
“If you look at what the factors were going into the decision, of course there are competing interests and values,” Clinton told anchor Diane Sawyer. “One of our values is, we bring everybody home off the battlefield the best we can. It doesn’t matter how they ended up in a prisoner of war situation.” “It doesn’t matter?” Sawyer asked.
“It does not matter,” Clinton said again.
“We bring our people home.”
This is good since the Right Wing is looking for any indication that the President does not have support from the Democratic base over this exchange. With Hillary on board, though she has not necessarily embraced the entire prisoner swap, it gives them less to work with in attempting to fan the flames of dissension.
Which may prove necessary because it looks like the Republicans are going to go all Benghazi on this deal.
Holy crap, they were all for it for years until he DID it.
ReplyDeleteFOOLS, every last one of them.
That includes YOU, $arah!
For it before I was against it if I get money in the process......
The comments on Politico are so stupid. No matter, their racist attitude still shows and will continue to show.
ReplyDeleteI wish he had come right out and said it - congress can't be trusted.
ReplyDeleteAnon 3:01 Soooo True!!!!!
DeleteHe did....two weeks ago? Memory not what it used to be.
DeleteWhen a child is kidnapped and the media gets wind of it, the police ask them not to print or broadcast anything about the kidnapping while it is in progress-- because if might endanger the recovery of the child. After the kid is safe, write and broadcast all you want.
ReplyDeleteThe negotiations about Bergdahl had been going on for years. Both congressmen and senators knew about it and we all for his being returned to the US, then. I don't know why they all suddenly flip flopped. Was it the exchange for 5 Gitmo Guys? We've done that before, exchanged prisoners. Haven't you ever seen that scene on the foggy bridge where the spies from each side are swapped for each other?
Sarah, Bristol and Nancy have been going on and on about Christians being held captive in Muslim counties. How about this guy? Same story, yes? What were we going to do with the guys in Gitmo? Wait for them to die? They never were going to get a fair trial since they were tortured. Anything learned as a result of torture cannot be introduced as evidence in court.
It's interesting that they have all tried this guy without any evidence and a trial. Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence?
'I don't know why they all suddenly flip flopped.'
DeleteWell THAT'S easy. It was Barack Hussein Obama that managed to get the job done. And it will go down in history that he got the job done. And they hate that. They can't use it anymore to flog him about it NOT being done, with their bullshit patriotism and support the troops crap. They don't give a rat's ass about the troops, they just use them (and this poor young man) as political footballs. And Sarah is the worst offender of them all.
I'm behind the president's decision. I'm sure there's a think tank behind this before he acted
ReplyDeleteAlso in this interview didn't President Obama say that prisoner exchanges ALWAYS involve "negotiating with the enemy"? (May not be his exact quote.)
ReplyDeleteThey talked through a third party, I think Qatar? This is how we talked to other countries when we didn't have diplomatic relations with them.
DeleteHillary Clinton Lays Out Republicans For Wanting to Leave Soldiers Behind
ReplyDelete' This young man, whatever the circumstances, was an American citizen — is an American citizen — was serving in our military. The idea that you really care for your own citizens and particularly those in uniform, I think is a very noble one.
….
You don’t want to see these five prisoners go back to combat. There’s a lot that you don’t want to have happen. On the other hand you also don’t want an American citizen, if you can avoid it, especially a solider, to die in captivity. I think we have a long way to go before we really know how this is going to play out.'
The great hypocrisy is that the “controversy” over Bergdahl is being whipped up by many of the same conservatives who were calling for his release by any means necessary. Of course, when conservatives say any means necessary, they mean military force and bloodshed.
Republicans are trying to smear Sgt. Bergdahl because his release was obtained by President Obama. If a Republican president had made the same deal, conservatives would be waving the flag while dancing in the streets over the release of an “American hero.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/03/hillary-clinton-lays-republicans-wanting-leave-soldiers.html
Saxby Chambliss said that if he had been told of the exchange of the Gitmo prisoners for Sgt. Bergdahl, he’d have raised “holy hell” in “public opposition”.
ReplyDeleteChambliss, who swiftboated Vietnam veteran and triple-amputee Max Cleland to get his seat in 2002, told Politico:
If he had gotten notice, Chambliss said he would have gone public in opposition — just as he did two years ago when rumors of the release of Taliban fighters from Guantanamo rippled through Washington.
“I’d have raised holy Hell,” he said. “Absolutely. I did last time and I would again.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/06/veteran-swiftboater-real-heroes-saxby-chambliss-confirms-obama-trust-republicans.html
Look, you KNOW that had he revealed the plan to the GOP they would have hightailed it on to Fox or spilled the beans to Rushbo in a heartbeat. They would have done EVERYTHING they could to sabotage the deal and so President Obama was wise to keep things quiet until the deal was done, because then they couldn't really do much about it. THAT is why they are so spittin' mad, they weren't given the chance to sabotage him and the deal.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite clear that he made the correct choice by the unhinged reaction that is happening on the right. Barack has learned his lessons well. He sees the GOP and the right wing for exactly who they are, treasonous, racist, lying assholes doing all they can to diminish and bring down ANYthing, and I mean ANYTHING, that he (or Michelle) does. They are hell-bent on not only destroying his presidency (which, thankfully, they haven't achieved), but also his legacy.
Fortunately, history will not be kind to these traitorous, treasonous beasts that have done all they can to stop President Obama from enjoying a successful presidency.
Correct amundo and that is what they HATE.
DeleteNot to mention that the Taliban threatened to kill Bergdahl if plans for the swap were leaked.
DeleteOh, look, now Obama is 'insane':
ReplyDeleteOn Lou Dobbs’ Fox Business show, Dr. Gina Loudon - whose work is featured in World Net Daily
Dr. LOUDON: 'You know, I will say to you, Lou, I am very, very concerned about the mental stability of this President at this point. Some of his behavior seems irrational to me. It seems beyond that of just a typical narcissistic, arrogant, sort of, ‘I’m a leader of a big country and I feel tyrannical at the moment’ kind of attitude. It really seems to me like this President is demonstrating behavior that is not only anti-American, but irrational and erratic and perhaps not exactly what we might want to deem sane.'
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/43466_Foxs_Dr._Gina_Loudon_is_Very_Concerned_About_the_Mental_Stability_of_Obama#rss-sm
What kind of horseshit medical expert is this fucking bitch? They are so threatened by Obama's leadership and power that they are doing all they can to paint him as mentally incompetent? Unbelievable how far they will go.
This is the medical expert who went on "Wife Swap" and played the part of the persecuted christian, she's also,too, bff's with vinegar tits (Sarah Palin). They're both cut from the same cheap cloth.
DeleteYes, Anita, and she is the only person on Wife Swap to quit halfway through the taping.
DeleteIsn't gina loudon Sarah Palin's Tri-g connection?
DeleteAnd after all the right-wing outrage at Bob Bergdahl, Bowe's bearded father, it turns out that Bob Bergdahl is a longtime staunch Republican! He supported Reagan ( in a time and place--surfer California) when that position was not popular, and more recently, since his son's capture, he has spoken before Republican political groups where he strongly criticized the Obama administration.
ReplyDeleteFunny how things work out.
Chuck Jr. is chiming in on his fellow Republican family, the Bergdahls and President Obama. Jr. is not as vicious as sissy, rather lite. With Mr. Bergdahl in the picture with our President in the Rose Garden you get why Jr. (talking for our servicemen/women) is using the word betrayed. Of course his remark is without merit and Palins don't discuss. How was that idiot ever allowed to teach at any school?
DeleteThe Rosetta Stone remark was product placement?
Chuck Heath, Jr. quote "Can our servicemen/women and vets feel anymore angry and betrayed?"
http://us4palin.com/chuck-heath-jr-betraying-servicemen-women/
And now we know why Chucktard Junior retired. Aiming for the Oval, $arah? Good luck with that.
DeleteBob Berghdal’s Compassion And Deep Thoughts Confound The GOP
DeleteBob Bergdahl, the father of rescued POW, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, may just be a little too intelligent and a little too understated and not nearly enough of an angry white dude to satisfy the GOP’s blood lust.
Mr. Bergdahl is an interesting character. Unfortunately, it’s his character that’s being slandered by the right, mainly because the GOP hasn’t a clue what to do with a guy who is soft-spoken and not hell-raising, has compassion for his son’s captors, is a deep thinker, appears to have the ability to walk in others’ shoes, and – most importantly – isn’t an ass-kicking, gun-wielding red-faced blowhard. All of this is very novel – strange, scary, therefore bad – for their very narrow mindsets and sliver-thin world views.
Republicans and right-wing pundits and commentators have tuned out and ignored so very much of the back story in their zeal to brand Sgt. Bergdahl as a traitor/deserter/jihadist, and his father as a terrorist sympathizer; what they’ve missed is the core of strength residing within Mr. Bergdahl, and the resilience and tenacity which must also be residing within his son, Sgt. Bergdahl.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/06/07/bob-bergdhal-intelligent/
The Palins don't even respect or honor the guy they worship. They are Alaskan Independence Party. They do a crappy job of playing Republican but everyone thinks they are. I almost feel sorry for Reagan since Heath/Palins have turned so vile against his commandment.
DeleteThe Eleventh Commandment (Ronald Reagan)
Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eleventh_Commandment_(Ronald_Reagan)
Cruel and desperate for media attention, Sarah Palin mocked Sgt. Bergdahl’s rumored lack of English language skills by saying he should “Call 1-800-RosettaStone” and learn to speak “KickAss against those who would destroy the red, white and blue.” Yeah, what a wimp. Survived five years in a Taliban prison camp. Palin, on the other hand, couldn’t even hack a full term as governor – and branding herself as a hearty Alaskan (traipsing around in expensive hiking boots and playing in the snow in a top of the line snowsuit and baking moose brownies) is a far cry from the fortitude someone would need to endure what Sgt. Bergdahl endured — and yet, here she is, ridiculing a soldier who came back broken, invoking the colors of the U.S. while she mocks the rescue of one of its soldiers.
Deletehttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/06/07/bob-bergdhal-intelligent/
Let them go all Benghazi. They will come out being the fools. No way can they look good and it reflects on the entire party. They might as well be throwing turd balls at Ronnie's grave and official portrait or burning him in effigy. Speaking ill of another Republican is an absolute no-no and when they know nothing they only make it worse.
DeleteThey spit and drool like crazy Sarah because they don't want Sgt. Bergdahl to have a inquest or trial before the out of control crowd does him in. Sarah and Bristol are so smart they know he doesn't need medical attention and that he isn't suffering from PTSD. He just needs Rosetta Stone (do they get paid for using that product?)
It is getting interesting how Sarah Palin treats the troops. Sgt. Bergdahl brought this back to our attention but it is also very important to revisit how she treated Jeremy Morlock. He was possibly suffering PTSD, in any event what she did when he appealed to her was enormous human cruelty. Her whole military use and she never goes near PTSD issues that I am aware of. There is something wrong with her son and it is hard to believe she wouldn't know a great deal about PTSD.
It is a complex situation that needs another look. As I understand the families, relationships were close between the Palins and the Morlocks.
(Mrs. Morlock) Mother blames Army
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2014556068_morlock21m.html
Chuck Heath Jr. Betrayed his 1st wife and their 2 kids for a romp in the Sack with a young adulterer. How dare Creepy Chuck Jr. cast aspersions upon the Bergdahl Family. Doesn't Creepy Jr. have enough problems to solve in his own Dysfunctional Family?
DeleteWhy didn't Chuck Heath Jr. serve his country?
DeleteHe selects some military persons to label partriot and all that, yet, he is a traitor when it comes to others and our system. His sister married a pimp, CH Jr. may have the illusion that his sins with a Jezebel adulteress gives him some moral ground above the family pimp. He conceived a bastard daughter and he is one of those that thinks because he managed to divorce and leave his sons to marry the tart, that makes his daughter not another bastard in their family. The sins of the father are on the daughter. If they allow her to learn to read she may see the world outside of her family cult dogma. She will see her mother who will no doubt be bored with the unattractive old guy she thought of as famous. Like she would never do what she does again, lol.
Why didn't Chuck Heath Sr. serve his country? Both men are selfish blowhards with their meaningless dribble and books of lies.
http://themothchase.com/2009/11/30/the-sins-of-the-father-will-be-borne-by-his-sons-and-daughters/
Fox News smear rapidly coming unglued
ReplyDeleteFormer CENTCOM Commander Gen. Mattis: No Evidence of Bergdahl Collusion With Taliban
“I have never seen one bit of verified or confirmed evidence of that,” Mattis said in a phone interview with The Tampa Tribune. “Not one bit. You hear things and it was second- and third-hand.”
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/43465_Former_CENTCOM_Commander_Gen._Mattis-_No_Evidence_of_Bergdahl_Collusion_With_Taliban
Mattis: No evidence of Bergdahl colluding with Taliban
...“The partisan bickering” over the circumstances of Bergdahl’s recovery is hard to fathom, said Mattis, one of the Marine Corps’ most beloved generals — widely respected for his vision, courage and telling it like it is.
“I don’t know what to think,” said Mattis. “It is a bit perplexing to me.”
For Mattis, the decision to bring Bergdahl home was simple.
“Bottom line, we don’t leave people behind, that is the beginning and that is the end of what we stand for,” he said. ”We keep faith with the guys who sign on, and that is all there is to it.”
http://tbo.com/list/military-news/mattis-no-evidence-of-bergdahl-collusion-20140606/
I heard a Navy Commander say yesterday on the Pentagon Channel: "...We don't care if you jumped, were pushed, or fell overboard. We are going to turn this ship around and come get you." He said it calmly, but very forcefully. I nearly stood up and cheered! This other crap is making me SO VERY DISGUSTED!
DeleteIn the Washington arena it is clear that President Obama is the ONLY adult in any room filled with media or politicians, especially those of the GOP sort. How many times does he have to tell reporters: "We bring our soldiers home. Full stop." That should have sufficed days ago and yet they are still at it. What imbeciles.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
Our President is sane and reasonable. He is confident he did the right thing, why would anyone think he would backtrack?
ReplyDeleteAnd why would anyone think that he needs the approval of private citizen Clinton before accepting that he did the right thing.
DeleteThe President thinks before he acts. If he had NOT brought home Bergdahl the GOP would be screaming - he brought him home - the GOP are screaming.
Mrs Clinton says whatever she thinks will get her the most support.
Jim Wright at Stonekettle has the best article about the Bergdahl situation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stonekettle.com/
DeleteNegotiating With Terrorists
http://www.stonekettle.com/2014/06/negotiating-with-terrorists.html
See that face,$arah? Ooh la la! Your troll has been on here saying he's nothing but a community organizer. He's also a constitutional scholar, of which you are not. Anything to discredit, right, Miss Heath "God didn't let the right person win," jealous of how he is admired? You help aligning those against when you profess to love this country, Three letters: AIP. You don't care about this country at all, only your bank account in the name of the Lord you profess. It is comical that you can't figure out why things are going bad for you. Hel-LO!
ReplyDeleteSnort another line, sista, as the Eagles sang, "We'll talk about a low-down bad refrigerator, You were just too cool for school...."
This of off topic but I though some of you would appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteFormer Reagan Advisor: Tea Partiers Are "Morons, Stupid, Ignoramuses, Bigots, Dying Off." http://shar.es/PqQKI via @sharethis
I'm so grateful to you for posting this, it makes me happy to hear someone really going to bat, no hold barred, for the soldier and his family and 'telling it like it is' about the horrific behavior of the GOP and the toxic right wing traitors.
DeleteThis is also off topic but it is a good read.
ReplyDeleteOne Veteran's Epic Rant to the Repuli-Tea Party on their disgrace ful treatment of #Bergdahl
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/06/1304819/-One-Veteran-s-Epic-Rant-to-the-Repuli-Tea-Party-on-their-disgraceful-treatment-of-Bergdahl via @dailykos
Thank you SO much for posting this article, detroitsam, it really spoke to me. I'm horrified at the feeding frenzy that has been going on with the disgraceful behavior of these so called 'americans'. I find myself truly revulsed at the media, the GOP, the right wing, and anyone else who has played judge and jury when it isn't there place. They are despicable.
DeleteThis part of the article stood out for me:
<< But these same people, these very same people, would leave an American soldier to die at the hands of the Taliban and they refuse to cheer his safe return, solely because they hate Barack Obama beyond all rational bounds and they will not allow this administration any victory no matter how small – even when they themselves have been condemning Obama for leaving an American serviceman in the hands of our enemies.>>
and this:
<< We don’t negotiate with terrorists, what a fucking joke.
Answer me a question, if we can sell arms to terrorists, to our own enemies, then you tell me why we can’t negotiate with those same terrorists for the return of our own people.
If our people aren’t worth it, if they aren’t worth more than the value we place on arm sales and political maneuvering, then you go right on and tell me what all the shouting is about over Benghazi. Go on, I’ll wait.
If our people aren’t worth four or five terrorists sitting in a Gitmo prison cell, then you tell me why we’ve spent the last twelve years in two wars, why we traded the lives of six thousand servicemen and why we killed hundreds of thousands Iraqis and Afghans to avenge three thousand Americans. Go on, tell me why it was okay for the previous administration take a hundred enemy lives for every one of ours, but it’s not acceptable for the current administration to trade five terrorists for the life of one American soldier >>
653 Drugs and weapons are totally doable. We don't negotiate with terrorist if it is a human being.
DeleteIt isn't a "Democrat" nor "Republican" issue, it's an "American" issue. We leave no POW behind. Fox News, every show, are twisting this pretzel and blasting President Obama and Hillary Clinton every chance they get, which is fine with me because what matters most is President Obama's doing his job and doing it well.
ReplyDeleteImagine, for one second, if they left this soldier behind. Would Fox News give President Obama Credit? OR keep twisting this pretzel? I go for twisting the pretzel.
"wow. Will this email exchange hit the newsrooms? It SHOULD!!"
ReplyDeletehttp://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2011/06/sarah-palin-ignored-jeremy-morlocks.html
It got the silent treatment!
My heart absolutely aches for this poor young man. He's endured five years of imprisonment and god knows what, and then he comes home to having his name dragged through the mud by Congressional lawmakers, media pundits and everyday americans. He has been tried and convicted, tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail, before he's even set foot back in the USA. He is being mocked, threatened, raged at, verbally abused and that's his homecoming?
ReplyDeleteI won't be at all surprised if when he does return, he ends up taking his own life, which would be horrific in and of itself, but it would be perceived by the haters as admission of guilt and therefore, they would be 'vindicated' in their hate and abuse. His parents are only just getting him back and then they lose him again.
But how could anyone endure what awaits him? How can he ever feel safe again, when people are threatening his life? How can he live in the world of the internet, when he's been dragged across it until his persona is shredded? How can he find any sort of peace when he is being reviled and verbally assaulted by the media and his fellow americans. Americans that he thought he was fighting for. Americans who are harshly judging him and smearing his name around the globe. How? How can anyone endure that? Attacked by other military members. Friendly Fire in a whole new way, destroy someone's life, reputation, legacy. How can he ever heal? How can he not fear some soldier with an ax to grind and the proliferation of guns, decide to take it on himself to avenge what he thinks is a 'deserter'. Just imagine not being able to ever truly 'rest' again, feel safe, feel finally 'home'. But home has become more of a nightmare than you ever could have imagined.
And the agony his parents have gone through all these years, to have the rush of joy that their son was rescued and then to hear their son's character and service be slandered and smeared all across the world, on their TV, Facebook, Twitter. They must be in a whole new kind of agony.
Being shunned is one of the most painful things a human being can experience, and being shunned by the very people who he believed he was serving when he enlisted...well that is so many kinds of wrong, it makes me nauseous.
And for all that he must have hoped and dreamed and imagined maybe, somehow, someway, coming home, being rescued, because that IS what we do with our troops, we bring them home. Until now. Until this hysteria of outrage has gripped a part of the country, and is being fed by the media loop (because we know how voraciously the media feasts on outrage and sensationalism, the internet and dinner table conversations. And the halls of Congress.
So all he had in mind when he enlisted, and what he's endured as a soldier and as a captive has got to have crushed some part of him. And then to come home to THIS nightmare that has been created for him....well it's almost unbearable for me just to THINK of it, much less be in his shoes. It truly makes me physically ill to imagine what awaits him and the rest of his life. I wish him only the deepest and most sincere strength, he's gonna need it.
8:22 I so agree with you. I'm horribly embarrassed how Americans (military, politicans and media) have come out against this POW and his family. I'm embarrassed for our nation!
DeleteAnd, I bet President Obama wishes he had never brought our POW's family to the forefront by appearing w/him at the White House. I know his heart was as happy as theirs as to the pending release.
I cannot imagine what he and his family are going to go through once he is reunited w/them.
I agree - they should go under cover and change their identities. There will be no peace in their lives if they don't!
I'm not a religious person, will keep them all in my positive thoughts.
America should be ashamed of itself!
That Time Reagan Lied to America: ‘We Did Not, Repeat, Did Not Trade Arms for Hostages’ (Video)
ReplyDelete“Ronald Reagan doesn’t see the world that you and I see,” says Sam Donaldson, a journalist whose words are every bit as salient then as now, “He sees a world through rose colored glasses. It’s a wonderful world. But it’s not the real world that exists out there. And so he didn’t want to see a world in which he had traded arms for hostages. That ran against his grain. That’s not his world. And yet, he did it.”
With all the criticisms being aimed at Obama for the Bowe Bergdahl release and the trading of five Taliban in order to retrieve Bergdahl, it’s easy to overlook that this isn’t the first time this has happened. Bush released over 500 Taliban warriors, but even before that, before Obama, Bush, and the Afghan War, there was Reagan and Iran-Contra. Lionized and canonized by the American right-wing, Reagan found himself embroiled in the Iran-Contra scandal after trading arms for hostages. Then, he denied it. That was nearly 30 years ago.
To this day, the Republicans are still in denial.
http://aattp.org/that-time-reagan-lied-to-america-we-did-not-repeat-did-not-trade-arms-for-hostages-video/
Okey, Reagan was senile, who knew that was how he governed for years? Until it was over. He bought the mujahideen freedom fighter crap and had them over for a sit down @ 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
DeleteCharlie Wilson, the drunken duffus, coke snorter Texas red neck, Anastasio Somosa, the Nicaraguan dictator, Oly North, G Gorden Liddy... all these geniuses knew that for the future of US control of the opium trade, the Taliban are our heroes!
Trained by Osama bin Ladin with your tax dollars!
On Jeremy-- maybe he did choose to do the things he did, but he was also shining some light on a real problem that SP could have called attention to behind the scenes. . . and we'd see it and progs and conserves would all say this was a good thing. He asked for help. She was his lifeline, and the lifeline for a few others. She failed. She will be judged for that, if not by us
ReplyDeletehttp://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2011/06/sarah-palin-ignored-jeremy-morlocks.html
KUDOS TO JUAN WILLIAMS
ReplyDeleteQuestion: If President Obama went to Congress regarding the exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl , how many Congressmen and women would oppose President Obama's decision?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: The number of Congressmen and women who would oppose President Obama's exchange for the Army sergeant would equal the number of Republican men and women in Congress.