# Should we be deeply troubled by the deal Obama cut with the Taliban? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796 "2014-06-01T23:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/1 "2014-06-01T23:30:13Z")
It’s no surprise that Fox and other right leaning publications are upset. But, even the Washington Post is questioning the wisdom of this “deal”. These are senior Taliban leaders. One is a fucking war criminal responsible for thousands of Shiite deaths. Read the backgrounds on these people. :eek: They are the worst and most dangerous Gitmo prisoners we held. They are dangerous because they are smart and have leadership capabilities. For one POW that may have [initially been a deserter?](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-sgt-bowe-bergdahl-a-hero-or-a-deserter/) Is it worth another terrorism attack in America orchestrated by these former prisoners? We can’t even fully trust Bergdahl. He’ll need watching for years to come. Obama sold out the American people. Plain and simple. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/freed-prisoners-were-battle-hardened-taliban-commanders/2014/05/31/d52b3005-636e-4c65-a1da-2b9ace667e4d\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/freed-prisoners-were-battle-hardened-taliban-commanders/2014/05/31/d52b3005-636e-4c65-a1da-2b9ace667e4d_story.html) [http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bergdahl-release-arrangement-could-threaten-the-safety-of-americans-republicans-say/2014/05/31/35e47a2a-e8ff-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bergdahl-release-arrangement-could-threaten-the-safety-of-americans-republicans-say/2014/05/31/35e47a2a-e8ff-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf_story.html) > [@](#): > > KABUL — They were among the Taliban’s most influential commanders — five men whom the United States succeeded in removing from the battlefield. > > But on Saturday, they were released from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — a deeply controversial decision that raised concerns in Kabul and Washington even as Bergdahl’s homecoming was celebrated. > > One of the freed men was the head of the Taliban’s army. Another arranged for al-Qaeda trainers to visit Afghanistan. Another has been implicated by the United Nations for killing thousands of Shiite Muslims. > > Although the five men have each been in prison for at least a decade, many believe they still have significant influence within the Taliban because of their contributions during the group’s formative years. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/2 "2014-06-01T23:36:20Z")
Yes, we should be worried. If they can get a five-for-one deal from the US, what’s to stop more terrorist groups from kidnapping more Americans to exchange for their people now that we’re willing to negotiate with terrorists? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/3 "2014-06-01T23:36:48Z")
Well Obama promised to shut down Gitmo. Exactly how he planned to go about it, now we know. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/4 "2014-06-01T23:38:13Z")
They’re going to kill us all, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/5 "2014-06-01T23:43:02Z")
Aceplace: There is existing thread–although with a broad title it is mostly about him: > **[Should the US be bartering with terrorists?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=724917)** > > Here’s the story. It concerns the release of Sgt Berdahl from Taliban captivity in exchange for 5 of their people detained in Gitmo. I’m delighted for Bergdahl and his family but I do have misgivings about this deal. Apparently the Taliban released... ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/6 "2014-06-01T23:56:46Z")
What really disturbs me is all the blood we put into Afghanistan. Trying to prop up Karzai. These prisoners were in the former Taliban government. We need to start a pool to see when the Taliban regains power. I’d say maybe within two years of the last American troops leaving? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/7 "2014-06-02T00:05:02Z")
Conservatives were mad at Obama because he didn’t get Bergdahl released. Now they’re mad that he did. Of course Liberals were mad at Reagan for they way he got the hostages in Iran released. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/8 "2014-06-02T00:20:27Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Yes, we should be worried. If they can get a five-for-one deal from the US, what’s to stop more terrorist groups from kidnapping more Americans to exchange for their people now that we’re willing to negotiate with terrorists? Oh noes! NOW they’re going to start kidnapping us! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/9 "2014-06-02T00:33:32Z")
No. We shouldn’t be. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/10 "2014-06-02T00:41:39Z")
The national hysteria about Al Queda Taliban terrorism continues, I laugh at you all, they knocked down the twin towers because we were stupid to not enforce our immigration laws and to relax the rules against carrying knives onto an airplane (or “boxcutters”, I remember once in the 70’s seeing a poor kid lose his little boy scout clasp knife because nothing that dangerous could fly, and he wasn’t even a group of young Arab men). So instead of honestly considering the threat against us we went into full revenge mode killing hundreds of thousands of Arabs while losing two wars and sending the middle east swirling down the toilet in chaos. WTF? We broke it and it can’t be fixed, let’s just close the door and let them play slaughter w/o us. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/11 "2014-06-02T01:12:44Z")
I’m hoping there is a drone strike in the future for those released Taliban. I’m willing to wait until Bergdahl’s ready to tell his story before judging him. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/12 "2014-06-02T01:19:39Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Conservatives were mad at Obama because he didn’t get Bergdahl released. Now they’re mad that he did. Of course Liberals were mad at Reagan for they way he got the hostages in Iran released. Jog my memory here. How did Reagan get the hostages released? As best as I recall, he did so merely by the acts of, first, getting elected and, second, getting inaugurated. I don’t recall if he ever made overt threats during his campaign (did he?) but many people imagined that, Reagan being Reagan, his strategy would probably entail sending the bombers to bomb Baghdad back to the stone age (or at least credibly threatening to). Apparently the Iranian “students” saw it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/13 "2014-06-02T01:19:40Z")
So, he got six people out of captivity who shouldn’t have been there. What part of this ought we to be objecting to? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/14 "2014-06-02T01:21:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So, he got six people out of captivity who shouldn’t have been there. What part of this ought we to be objecting to? But they were alleged to be some the baddest of the baddies there. (ETA: The five who were released from Gitmo, that is. We don’t really know anything about Bergdahl.) Too bad we never, y’know, actually gave them a fair and honest trial, or any trial at all for that matter, in order to, y’know, actually judge that. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/15 "2014-06-02T01:27:31Z")
Did you even read the Washington post article? A war criminal was released. A guy that victimized his own people. We’re not talking about some goat herder that got arrested in a battle area. These are senior Taliban leaders from the 1990’s. Their backgrounds are known and documented. I could accept releasing a few of the less violent prisoners. Men who simply got caught up in the fighting. > [@](#): > > Mullah Mohammad Fazl was a senior commander in the Taliban army in the 1990s, rising to become its chief of staff. He is thought by many to have supervised the killing of thousands of Shiite Muslims near Kabul between 1998 and 2001. According to WikiLeaks documents, he was also present at the 2001 prison riot that killed CIA operative Johnny Micheal Spann, the first U.S. citizen killed in the Afghan war. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/16 "2014-06-02T01:53:38Z")
> [@](#): > > These are senior Taliban leaders from the 1990’s. Their backgrounds are known and documented. Documented because they’re our former allies, you mean? Try them or release them. Those are the only decent options. If we’re not going to try them, then yes, we should release all of them. Land of the free. Home of the brave. I’m less enthused about ransoming a US soldier but that’s a different issue. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/17 "2014-06-02T02:14:11Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Jog my memory here. How did Reagan get the hostages released? As best as I recall, he did so merely by the acts of, first, getting elected and, second, getting inaugurated. Selling weapons to Iran, which was under an embargo, to get hostages freed. It was called the Iran-Contra Affair, or Arms-For-Hostages Affair. EDIT: Not the hostages from the Iranian revolution. I erred there. But[hostages held in Lebanon by terrorists with strong ties to Iran](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/PS157/assignment%20files%20public/TOWER%20EXCERPTS.htm). > [@](#): > > In November 1986, it was disclosed that the United States had, in August 1985, and subsequently, participated in secret dealings with Iran involving the sale of military equipment. There appeared to be a linkage between these dealings and efforts to obtain the release of U.S. citizens held hostage in Lebanon by terrorists believed to be closely associated with the Iranian regime. After the initial story broke, the Attorney General announced that proceeds from the arms tansfers may have been diverted to assist U.S.-backed rebel forces in Nicaragua, known as contras. This possibilty enlarged the controversy and added questions not only of policy and propriety but also violations of law. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/18 "2014-06-02T03:04:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > No. We shouldn’t be. I came in here, and read up to your post, intending to make the same one myself. +1 ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/19 "2014-06-02T04:44:56Z")
I think it was an ok deal. The men being released are pretty old and do not have their underlings and power bases anymore (or so I should think). I dont think they are much of a threat. Plus we have probably learned all we could from them. The American POW does sound like a sort of deserter but he’s still an American so I’m glad we got him back. Plus as I understand they will not be released for another year. I’m ok with it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796/20 "2014-06-02T05:52:55Z")
I recall one of the Lebanon hostages was a minister that had gone there to give aid. IIRC those same terrorists grabbed a couple more people right after releasing the Lebanon hostages. Which is what will probably happen in Afghanistan. Some poor soldier will get dragged off into captivity to replace the guy we just got back. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Selling weapons to Iran, which was under an embargo, to get hostages freed. It was called the Iran-Contra Affair, or Arms-For-Hostages Affair. > > EDIT: Not the hostages from the Iranian revolution. I erred there. But[hostages held in Lebanon by terrorists with strong ties to Iran](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/PS157/assignment%20files%20public/TOWER%20EXCERPTS.htm). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-be-deeply-troubled-by-the-deal-obama-cut-with-the-taliban/689796.md?page=2)