HUFFINGTON POST: Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) chastised some members of his party Tuesday for their reaction to the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, saying they should stop acting like the prisoner swap President Barack Obama arranged was unprecedented.
“I’m a little bit disturbed by some of the Republicans out there who keep saying this has never happened before,” Labrador said during an interview with the radio station670 KBOI in Boise, Idaho. “That is not entirely true. If you look historically, at the end of any conflict, you have a swap of prisoners, and that happens. Usually our side will release people that are less than desirable in order to get some of our people back in these swaps. So I would suggest that anybody who’s being hyper-critical about this, they should look at the history. This has happened before.”
Obama has received a significant amount of opposition from conservatives for releasing five former members of the Taliban who were being held at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl, who was the United States’ only known prisoner of war in Afghanistan. The five men will be under a travel ban in Qatar for a year… (more)
I admit the release of 5 Generals for one soldier seems a little one sided but I’m willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt as the system works through adjudicating Sgt. Bergdahl’s service. In any event I’m happy he is free.
Democrats aren’t exactly jumping for joy either.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/2014-election-bowe-bergdahl-democrats-barack-obama-107497.html