Charles Krauthammer was a voice of reason and clarity on The O’Reilly Factor last night. He exploded the myth that President Obama had committed some huge national security gaffe that was about to put the whole country in jeopardy thanks to his prisoner swap of five Taliban detainees in Guantanamo Bay prison for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
O’Reilly began the discussion by accusing Obama of “now doing inexplicable things and chaos is in the air.”
But Krauthammer wasn’t buying it:
This is not a management problem. This is a problem that’s intrinsic with hostage swaps. Look, Ronald Reagan, who ran a very good administration, a very efficient administration, an extremely successful administration, slipped and fell and was humiliated over hostage swaps.
Administrations always come out on the wrong end of this. The view I have of this is rather different from yours. I think a country has two obligations: absolutely ironclad obligations. Number one, if there’s a soldier being held, you get him back. But number two is, if you desert, your unit, you are subject to military discipline. I would say you free him and then you try him. That is the only way that you can deal with this. And no matter how you do the deal – the west, whenever it deals with hostages, or prisoners at war, always ends up on the weaker side of the deal.
The Israelis got back one private, Private Shalit. They gave up over one thousand terrorists, including many with actual blood on their hands. The mistake Obama made – and this is part of his arrogance and perhaps also ignorance – is to celebrate the release with that press conference. When you make the swap… this is a somber and solemn thing that you do with regret and with sorrow.
By the way, the 2011 Shalit swap was quite controversial. But in 2013, Fox seemed to love Benjamin Netanyahu as much as ever.
Are you some sort of all-seeing deity, that you can pass such a serious judgement before knowing all the facts?
People like you and I, who were not actually at Bergdahl’s side (or Shalit’s) when he disappeared, and who are not privy to the details of that disappearance, are in no position to pass judgement, either for or against.
Personally, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see this pan out as a witch hunt launched for the sole purpose of slamming the administration, since the perps are exactly the same people who were slamming the administration for not doing anything until the administration actually did something.
I believe that’s called the game of “damned if you do damned if you don’t” ©f. “Games people play”
http://thedailybanter.com/2014/06/republicans-sgt-bergdahl-now/
Here, by the way, is the last of the “THEN” quotes from right-wingers from Cesca’s piece. Courtesy of Rep Rich Nugent of Florida: “Last year, on the fourth anniversary of Sgt. Bergdahl’s capture, on the floor of the House of Representatives, I introduced a resolution in the House calling on the United States to do everything possible not to leave any members of the armed forces behind during the drawdown of Iraq and Afghanistan. Believe it or not, I had members of Congress come up to me and say, ‘I didn’t know we had a living POW in Afghanistan.’ That was shocking to me.” Nugent said that in February of THIS YEAR. NOW, however, Mr Nugent is angry because the Administration knew “full well that there was strong opposition to a prisoner swap.” What could have possibly happened in the last 4 months to make such a 180-turn in feeling? Hmm. Could it be that the Black man at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue did something that GOPers had been wanting done? Naaaah. Couldn’t possibly be that. That would be hypocritical, and as we all know, if there’s one thing that can’t be said of GOPers is that they’re hypocrites.*
*Should I point out that was sarcasm?
Here’s a quote from December of 2013 (that’s just 7 months ago): “Then there is Army SGT Bowe Bergdahl still held by the Islamic terrorist Haqqani network, probably in Pakistan, in the same place where Osama Bin Laden was hiding. This past POW/MIA national day of recognition, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel reiterated a pledge to secure the young Army NCO being held captive, but have there been any actions? Any time, attention, or even mention from the Commander-in-Chief? Nah, no camera highlights in it for him.” You know who made that comment which criticized the President? Allen “War Criminal” West.
And here’s Sen John McCain from February of 2014 (just 4 months ago): “I would support. Obviously I’d have to know the details, but I would support ways of bringing him home, and if exchange was one of them, I think that would be something I think we should seriously consider.”
For what it’s worth, it doesn’t help YOUR case when you make criticisms and fail to use the proper term. What exactly do you mean by “under handle comments?”
Now, go back to under your bridge.
I am sure Papa Bear was none too happy to hear all of this but such is life. The rest of Fox can make up for a rare voice of reason.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050377/Gilad-Shalit-release-Palestinians-wild-celebrations-1-000-militants-freed.html
Let us get you started:
Fox “News” Stays Silent: Benjamin Netanyahu Releases Thousands of Dangerous Terrorist for One Soldier
Benjamin Netanyahu Has No Problem Releasing Thousands of Dangerous Terrorist for One Soldier
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