Bergdahl Charges Again Raise Questions Over GITMO Transfers

Update: The Pentagon denies a decision has yet been made in the Bowe Bergdahl case despite claims by media sources.

Multiple sources are saying that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is expected to be charged with desertion, over his leaving his post prior to being abducted by the Haqqani network, which is tied to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Bergdahl was swapped by Obama Administration in exchange for five high-level Taliban leaders being held at Guantanamo Bay. As the Center has previously pointed out, the insistence by the Administration that the Bergdahl swap take place is a byproduct of its increased urgency to move Gitmo detainees to third countries and finally close the camp for good. The administration was ultimately dishonest with the American people, sending National Security Advisor Susan Rice out to claim Bergdahl served “with honor and distinction,” while administration supporters, and President Obama himself, attempted to push the meme that the swap was merely a prisoner transfer as the expected outcome of war’s end:

“You don’t do prisoner exchanges with your friends, you do ’em with your enemies,” Obama told NBC’s Brian Williams. “It’s also important for us to recognize that the transition process of ending a war is going to involve, on occasion, releasing folks who we may not trust but we can’t convict.”

Ironically, also recently released (early, for time served) was a Al Qaeda sleeper agent, who was in fact convicted. meanwhile, freed fighters continue to return to the battlefield despite misleading claims to the contrary. The reality is that far from the war coming to an end as the Administration claims, the United States has indeed never been further from victory over the Global Jihad than it is right now, thanks to a lack of overarching strategy. And with the Bergdahl release, The United States placed itself in a hypocritical position of urging other nations to refrain from the same kind of hostage negotiations, in order to free innocent civilians,that the U.S. used to release a known defector.