Adminstration: Bergdahl Totes Wasn't a Terrorist Hostage, But Oh Yeah We Did Consider Paying a Cash Ransom for Him Last Year

Of course.

A military intelligence source also confirmed to Fox News that a second option — involving the payment of a cash ransom for Bergdahl’s freedom — was pursued as late as December 2013.

The source said the goal was to reach out to Pakistan leadership with direct ties to the Taliban, and float the possibility of trading cash, instead of prisoners, for Bergdahl. That option, though, was put “on hold” in December when it was made clear the administration intended to pursue a prisoner swap.

Intelligence officials confirmed to Fox News that the Bergdahl prisoner swap was then on an accelerated track, and no formal assessment of the entire intelligence community was conducted. This made the opportunity to push back against the transfer extremely limited.

AllahPundit has a good take on why the Administration dropped that idea like a hot potato which is also cynical and corrupt: Because then of course that suggests that Obama did in fact negotiate with terrorists. Better for him to trade "prisoner" for prisoners, like Real Armies Always Do.

Plus: Was the primary goal here getting Bergdahl back, or was the primary goal getting the Taliban 5 out?

In a normal negotiation, the parties want to give up less than their counterparties do.

But this is not a normal negotiation. Obama does not want to give up as few of the Taliban/terrorist prisoners as possible. He wants to give up as many as possible.

He wants to empty Guantanamo -- he just needs some pretext to do so.

Meanwhile, there's little question what word is at the top of the White House's new talking points. Out: Spontaneous protest over a YouTube video. In: "Sacred." (As in, "It is the president's sacred duty to lie to and con the American people at every turn.")

And, via @johnekdahl: Harry Reid is either lying or a mentally-fragile confused old man:

Partisan media political operatives don't know quite what to make of their Unprecedented Incompetent.

A Democrat on the Intelligence Committee is moved to call this swap a "dangerous precedent."

Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, calls this a “dangerous precedent that puts all Americans at risk throughout the world.”

Ruppersberger is one of a growing chorus of critics who say five Taliban prisoners is too high a cost.

“Since World War Two we have not negotiated with terrorists or other groups,” Ruppersberger said[.]

Oh, and then there's this:

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said that the classified file he read today on Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl did not include information about the note Bergdahl left on his bed in his tent before he abandoned his unit and was captured by the Taliban five years ago.

Appearing on Fox News Channel’s Kelly File on Tuesday, Chambliss said, “This article in The New York Times shocked me. This note that he supposedly left that indicated that he was sympathetic to the Taliban and unsympathetic to the American interest in this conflict was not included in that file, and I’m very surprised by that. Normally those classified files are pretty informative, but--I don’t know--I was pretty shocked by it.”

The Most Transparent Administration in History

Some of that stuff I left in Your Mouth is semitransparent.

posted by Ace at 01:33 PM

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