Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Sun 06/01/2014 View Sat 05/31/2014 View Fri 05/30/2014 View Thu 05/29/2014 View Wed 05/28/2014 View Tue 05/27/2014 View Mon 05/26/2014
1
2014-06-01 Afghanistan
U.S. soldier freed by Taliban in GITMO detainee swap.
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by Besoeker 2014-06-01 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ]  Top

#1 Law Broken: Congress Not Notified of Gitmo Swap Tyrants try to influence the natives that the tyrant is the only representative they need, not a House, not a Senate by doing great deeds by decree at first. And if the Democracy is crushed in favor of tyranny, all hell breaks loose on down the road once the checks and balances no longer exist. The freeing of the POW may seem like a nice thing, but it masks a greater sinister plot to indeed fundamentally change the government.
Posted by Bubba Graiting8281 2014-06-01 00:21||   2014-06-01 00:21|| Front Page Top

#2 Five of the most dangerous Taliban Commanders exchanged for American POW.

The Taliban has long demanded that the “Gitmo 5” be released in order for peace talks to begin in earnest. The Obama administration has desperately sought to engage the Taliban as American forces are drawn down in Afghanistan, but those talks have gone nowhere to this point. At first, the administration set preconditions for the talks, including that the Taliban break its relationship with al Qaeda. When it became clear that this was a non-starter, the administration decided to make the Taliban’s desired break with al Qaeda a goal, and no longer a precondition, for its diplomacy.

There is little hope that the peace talks will be more successful now. But the president seems to believe that Bergdahl’s exchange for the Gitmo 5 (who are reportedly being transferred to Qatar) may break the ice. “While we are mindful of the challenges, it is our hope Sergeant Bergdahl’s recovery could potentially open the door for broader discussions among Afghans about the future of their country by building confidence that it is possible for all sides to find common ground,” Obama said in his statement.

The Obama administration says that security measures have been put into place to make sure that the Gitmo 5 do not pose a threat to American national security. Let’s hope that is true; it certainly has not been the case with many ex-Gitmo detainees in the past.
Posted by Bubba Graiting8281 2014-06-01 00:24||   2014-06-01 00:24|| Front Page Top

#3 The Obama administration says that security measures have been put into place to make sure that the Gitmo 5 do not pose a threat to American national security.

...and if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Period.
Posted by tu3031 2014-06-01 01:02||   2014-06-01 01:02|| Front Page Top

#4 Well, Obama did say when he signed the bill, that he was going to ignore the part about notifying Congress
Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2014-06-01 01:43||   2014-06-01 01:43|| Front Page Top

#5 I'll bet Obean thought he'd be a hero.
Posted by gorb 2014-06-01 02:56||   2014-06-01 02:56|| Front Page Top

#6 Donald Sterling got a better deal for the team.
Posted by Procopius2k 2014-06-01 08:31||   2014-06-01 08:31|| Front Page Top

#7 Way to go, Chump, I mean Champ. Now the Taliban know all they have to do is capture US citizens and Chump, I mean Champ, will cave to their demands. Bugwit.
Posted by Deacon Blues 2014-06-01 09:10||   2014-06-01 09:10|| Front Page Top

#8 Two can play that game, Deacon, though I doubt Champ understands that.
Posted by Steve White 2014-06-01 10:14||   2014-06-01 10:14|| Front Page Top

#9 Could be seen as: Obama Restores Afghan Taliban Government in Exile

The "Gitmo 5"

Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa
May have been directly associated with Osama bin Laden. Khairkhwa was an early member of the Taliban in 1994 and was interior minister during the Taliban's rule.

Mullah Mohammad Fazl
Fazl commanded the main force fighting the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance in 2001, and served as chief of army staff under the Taliban regime. He has been accused of war crimes during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s. Fazl was detained after surrendering to Abdul Rashid Dostam, the leader of Afghanistan's Uzbek community, in November 2001. He was wanted by the United Nations in connection with the massacre of thousands of Afghan Shiites during the Taliban's rule. "When asked about the murders, he did not express any regret,"

Mohammad Nabi Omari
He was the Taliban's chief of communications and helped al Qaeda members escape from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

Abdul Haq Wasiq
Wasiq was the deputy chief of the Taliban regime's intelligence service. His cousin was head of the service. An administrative review in 2007 cited a source as saying that Wasiq was also "an al Qaeda intelligence member"...

Mullah Norullah Noori
Noori served as governor of Balkh province in the Taliban regime and played some role in coordinating the fight against the Northern Alliance.

This could also be considered an Obama slap at Karzai by releasing people who could at the very least be a Taliban government in exile. The Taliban sees them as people who can restore the Taliban in Afghanistan and aid Al Qaeda again.
Posted by Bubba Graiting8281 2014-06-01 10:15||   2014-06-01 10:15|| Front Page Top

#10 After thousands of US and Allied casualties from around the world, Obama has opened Pandoras Box upon the world.

Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa
Posted by Bubba Graiting8281 2014-06-01 10:22||   2014-06-01 10:22|| Front Page Top

#11 The "POW" was a hard-line muslim convert!
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2014-06-01 10:34||   2014-06-01 10:34|| Front Page Top

#12 Champ needed a convenient media diversion from the VA scandal. Any event in the WH rose garden should be seen as psychological warfare and those involve as props an useful idiots.

Where is the outrage to be found from the Nazi hunters who continue their relentless searches some 70 years after the end of WWII. No defense of the Nazis intended, but the hypocrisy is obvious and palpable.
Posted by Besoeker 2014-06-01 12:01||   2014-06-01 12:01|| Front Page Top

#13 Looks like he's going to close Gitmo after all...by releasing all the hard boyz.
Posted by Spot 2014-06-01 12:02||   2014-06-01 12:02|| Front Page Top

#14 So, a brokered trade of five killers for a dubious "prisoner of war" and a tenuous agreement that the Taliban might pick up the phone when Washington calls to beg for terms.

Y'know, the Left pilloried Nixon and Kissinger when they did something similar with the North Vietnamese.
Posted by Pappy 2014-06-01 12:35||   2014-06-01 12:35|| Front Page Top

#15 There's a very slight difference Pappy:





A big difference I suspect.
Posted by Shipman 2014-06-01 12:57||   2014-06-01 12:57|| Front Page Top

#16 Ooh graphics - color me impressed.

The Left still howled (and howls) about Nixon and Kissinger, Ship - Daniel Ellsberg in particular leading the pack.

There was also a stick along with the carrot to N. Viet Nam. Not so in the case of the Talibs.
Posted by Pappy 2014-06-01 16:05||   2014-06-01 16:05|| Front Page Top

#17 Interesting example of how the empty suit's security advisors cannot think in a global sense or even connect the dots on a coherent policy.

So, we are going to abandon Afghanistan to the Taliban and leave a sacrificial lamb token military force AND we are releasing their five most important Taliban leaders to go back and make Afghanistan hell on earth for our remaining forces.
Posted by Bill Clinton 2014-06-01 16:33||   2014-06-01 16:33|| Front Page Top

#18 My point Pappy, as obscure as it was, is sometimes it really is worth dealing with the devil. I think in this case the devil dealt with us.

Ima glad you like the graphics. :)
Posted by Shipman 2014-06-01 17:56||   2014-06-01 17:56|| Front Page Top

#19 I don't disagree.

My point was that it was (and still is) wrong for Nixon and Kissinger, but okay for Obama and Kerry?
Posted by Pappy 2014-06-01 18:06||   2014-06-01 18:06|| Front Page Top

#20 I see. We are in violent agreement, but I have graphics, so I win.
Posted by Shipman 2014-06-01 18:17||   2014-06-01 18:17|| Front Page Top

#21 All I know is that any time this asshole has taken an interest in anything outside of his golf game, it usually ends up blowing up in his face.
Posted by tu3031 2014-06-01 18:37||   2014-06-01 18:37|| Front Page Top

#22 Well, at least Blinky's happy...
Posted by tu3031 2014-06-01 18:59||   2014-06-01 18:59|| Front Page Top

#23 Obama "I have a pen and a phone" did not consult Congress, did not consult our allies who fought along side the US to take these extremely dangerous terrorists out of circulation.

If America does not do something about Obama now, America will have no friends, especially if these people start striking our allies again with major 9/11 style attacks.
Posted by Bubba Graiting8281 2014-06-01 19:43||   2014-06-01 19:43|| Front Page Top

#24 Why is it ok to negotiate with Mullah Omar and not Osama Bin Laden?
Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-06-01 20:53||   2014-06-01 20:53|| Front Page Top

#25 "because the VA shut up", he explained
Posted by Frank G 2014-06-01 21:38||   2014-06-01 21:38|| Front Page Top

#26 Desertion aside, his personal angsts + being a US Soldier reminds me of the attributes of the future Islamic Mahdi = Hidden Imam.

The Bammer says the US can lead the world for the next 100 years, IMO presum iff it can survive the premises + perils of OWG Globalism, as opposed to indirectly mistakenly helping Radical Islam conquer the world vee Global Nuclear Jihad.

[Again, 1960s-70's = 2014 TOM CRUISE'S NEW MOVIE "EDGE OF TOMORROW" here].

EYES WIDE OPEN, N-O-T EYES WIDE SHUT.

* WORLD NEWS > THE BIRTH OF THE EURASIAN CENTURY?
Posted by JosephMendiola 2014-06-01 22:49||   2014-06-01 22:49|| Front Page Top

23:56 Zhang Fei
23:54 trailing wife
23:46 BigEdLB
23:28 BigEdLB
23:06 BigEdLB
23:05 CrazyFool
23:04 BigEdLB
23:03 Pappy
23:00 Pappy
22:58 BigEdLB
22:55 746
22:55 BigEdLB
22:54 JosephMendiola
22:50 JosephMendiola
22:49 JosephMendiola
22:48 746
22:46 746
22:43 Skidmark
22:37 Skidmark
21:38 Frank G
21:22 rjschwarz
21:20 rjschwarz
21:03 Secret Asian Man
20:55 Thing From Snowy Mountain









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com