President Barack Obama today defended his administration’s operation to rescue Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity amid mounting criticism, saying the United States was committed to freeing its prisoners of war regardless of how they were captured.
Bergdahl was freed last week in a prisoner-swap deal with the Taliban brokered by the Qatari government. He was captured in unknown circumstances in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, about two months after arriving in the country. Many US government officials say they believe he was seized after walking away from his unit in violation of US military regulations.
The US Army will not look away from any misconduct by released Taliban detainee Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, but he should be considered innocent until proven guilty, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
«The questions about this particular soldier’s conduct are separate from our effort to recover any US service member in enemy captivity,» General Martin Dempsey said in a posting on his Facebook page.
Obama, in turn, acknowledged that the five Taliban fighters who were freed from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and flown to Qatar in exchange for Bergdahl could engage in efforts that were detrimental to US security again. He said he was confident the United States could go after those individuals if that were the case.
Yesterday, Republican members of the US Congress said President Barack Obama had set a dangerous precedent with the prisoner swap and might have broken the law.
Fueling the criticism were accusations by some soldiers that Bergdahl was a deserter who cost the lives of several comrades.
The State Department said it considered Bergdahl a member of the military who was detained while in combat.
The Pentagon says Bergdahl is in stable condition at the US Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where doctors were assessing his condition after five years of captivity. Officials have indicated there is little desire to pursue any disciplinary action against him given what he has been through.
buenosairesherald.com