Obama’s deal with the devil puts the nation at risk

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President Obama may have believed that the release of captured American soldier Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, after five years in captivity by a Taliban group, would be a triumphant moment; instead, it has been an absolute debacle.

There will be no parades or hero’s welcome for Bergdahl, who disappeared from his base in Afghanistan in 2009 and fell into the custody of the Haqqani network, a group aligned with the Taliban.

Instead of weighing other options to bring Bergdahl home, President Obama negotiated, without the consent of Congress, with the Taliban to release him in exchange for five hardcore terrorists imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) described these terrorists as, “The Dream Team of the Taliban.”

These men have American blood on their hands and will most likely return to the battlefield to plot and kill again.

What kind of message does this send, trading troops for terrorists? Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Oman has labeled the release of the five terrorists a “significant achievement for the movement.”  

Six other U.S. servicemen died over the past five years while searching for Bergdahl. What about their families? They deserve more.

There has been growing concerns about Bergdahl’s disappearance. The President and his staff missed one important item before they set out to rescue Bergdahl—the fact that he may have been AWOL and this might not have been the first time he disappeared.

In fact, his fellow servicemen say he turned his back not only on the men he served with, but on his entire country.

If indeed he did abandon his troops, should he have been rescued?

President Obama said he makes “no apologies” for swapping Bergdahl. In his initial press conference after Bergdahl’s release, Obama said it is our obligation to “secure the release of American citizens who are unjustly detained abroad, and deserve to be reunited with their families.”

Did Bergdahl even want to be rescued? According to a classified 2010 Army investigation, Bergdahl had “willfully walked off base.” His fellow soldiers said at the time they believed he left out of “boredom.”

New reports show that in emails to his parents, Bergdahl expressed disillusionment over the war and shame for being an American.

While details are not completely clear over the conditions of his captivity, new reports indicated that he declared jihad while imprisoned.

Adding more mystery to the situation, the Washington Post stated that they spoke to a group of Afghan villagers who claim they spotted Bergdahl deliberately heading toward Taliban strongholds. Many soldiers in Bergdahl’s platoon said attacks seemed to increase against the United States in Paktika province in the days and weeks following his disappearance. Many members of the platoon added that they believe Bergdahl had provided the Taliban with intel that helped them successfully attack the Marines.

If these reports are all true, then Bergdahl is nothing more than a traitor to this country and should be imprisoned for the rest of his life.

President Obama’s decision makes me question the politics behind it. Was this an attempt to make the stories of corruption and manipulations surrounding the VA medical hospitals disappear? Was this the first step toward closing Guantanamo Bay? This could be the biggest foreign policy debacle of the Obama administration, comparable to Benghazi.

If this was really all about helping an innocent soldier, then President Obama should focus on Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, a true American hero. Sgt. Tahmooressi did not desert his fellow soldiers and should be coming back to the U.S. with a hero’s welcome. Unfortunately, he has still not returned because he unknowingly crossed the border into Mexico on March 31 while in possession of firearms. Since his arrest, he says he has been brutally beaten and punished.  

The White House has been ignoring this Marine who served two combat tours, but remains imprisoned in Mexico. Yet, Sgt. Bergdahl, who regularly expressed anti-American views, abandoned his post and may have helped Taliban forces attack that same post he left, was exchanged for five Taliban commanders.

Mr. President, we are still at war! Where is the logic in the President’s thinking? This type of decision making by the President and his administration shows that they are not competent enough to lead this nation and are putting our national security at risk.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. Comments about this column? ADAmato@liherald.com.