Maybe. But this man is basically the only POW we have had in this war.
Truth is the US has way fewer troops in this war. Those that are there are in smaller units who tend to stick close and they fight in close support to other air and ground units. Wasnt it only a couple of years ago the Taliban tried to claim they had a POW and showed photos which turned out to be a toy action figure.
In Vietnam the majority of US POW’s were air crewmen shot down over North Vietnam but in this war we have fewer air strikes and many of those are by drones.
From what I cant tell this man basically walked away from his unit and got captured.
So bottom line, while they might try, they wont get to capture many American soldiers.
We went to war with the Afghanistan Taliban which was the government of Afghanistan at the time. That war is about over. Exchanges of POWs seem like the normal thing to do at this point.
If only there were ways to track where they went, like roaches going back to a nest. Maybe something with a unique half-life and easily trackable from orbit.
As for the bloviation of flag-pin idiots who’d rather a soldier rot in a POW jail while they hide un-taxed millions in Swiss Accounts and drive Porsche “company cars” that they write off… I file that under “bovine gas contributing to global warming”.
I’m sure veterans will never care who’d leave men behind and who wouldn’t.
No he didnt. Just like Truman refused to escalate the Korean War by pulling back our troops and Gerald Ford ordered no further military action in 1975 when the NV was taking over the south.
End the dang war. The Taliban are not coming back into power anytime soon.
So what exactly is the difference between this prisoner exchange and the hundreds before it? The (alleged) quality of the prisoners we had? The questions being asked about the guy we’re getting back?
It disturbs me too, because whether we’d gotten out back in 2003, or whether we’d stayed until 2025, the other thing you say would still be true:
So having retrieved our last POW, that’s one less obstacle in the way of our leaving and letting Afghans decide Afghanistan’s fate. And then no more of our soldiers will have to die in the name of U.S. adventurism, at least not until the next time a Republican gets into the White House.
Define POW. There’s evidence to suggesting he deserted. Putting aside the odd statement his father made about possibly forgetting how to speak English he made it clear in his letter to him that he objected to how things were going in Afghanistan. He was ashamed of his country.
I’m having trouble understanding the exchange of dangerous terrorists for someone who is at odds with his country in a time of war. If they took Jane Fonda hostage I wouldn’t have traded a box of stale Twinkies to get her back.
If we are at war with the Taliban, as we’ve told we are, every fucking day, since 9/11, then we are at war. Prisoner exchanges are an accepted part of war, going back centuries. Hell, even Israel does it. Okay, so that point is settled.
Next, the 5 to 1 swap. The US is a culture that, on a whole, places a higher value (sometimes just for PR sake) on our soldiers lives than the Taliban does. That negotiation point rules out a 1 to 1 swap, right there. Past that it’s just negotiating. I personally would have expected the Taliban to have demanded at least a 20-1 exchange, so I see 5-1 as not a bad deal.
Any alleged desertion, or other alleged crimes, should have absolutely no bearing on how he is treated by the President and military leadership with regards to attempts to gain the release of a prisoner.
He has had no trial and has not faced his accusers. He is innocent until proven guilty. Until and unless he is convicted of desertion, or some other crime, he is a US soldier like any other.
Perhaps such prisoner exchanges are not prudent, but his alleged desertion should have absolutely nothing to do with this discussion.
That’s possible, but it has nothing to do with my point, which is only that any alleged crimes (like desertion) should have nothing to do with whether the President should try and secure his release.
Even if he had been tried in absentia for desertion and found guilty (he hasn’t), then he should be in an American prison, not a Taliban one. We would still owe him that much.
We differ on that opinion. I certainly don’t see the need to exchange dangerous Taliban prisoners for him and I’m not buying the need to rush through this without notifying Congress because the deal was time sensitive. He need only have picked up the phone.
It begs the question why now? Why go to Afghanistan on a “support the troops” Memorial Day visit. Why does the President all of a sudden need to garner some brownie points with Veterans?
