Video - US Paid $5 Billion & Released 5 Taliban Prisoners For Deserter Bergdahl?

Video - US Paid $5 Billion & Released 5 Taliban Prisoners For Deserter Bergdahl? HT: InfidelBloggers.

This has got to be wrong. Five BILLION dollars???

Tell me it's wrong.

Please, for the love of God, tell me it's WRONG:

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who was part of the negotiations, told Bill O’Reilly the US paid out $5 billion and traded five top Taliban detainees for Bergdahl.

Bill O’Reilly: Let me just stop you. There were three trade scenarios, there were three things they could have done. You were involved to try to work that out to some extent?

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer: Not all of them involved trade. One of them essentially was a direct action. One of them involved my aspect, which was not again a trade. It was something working the issue. And, obviously the one the president went with was the $5 billion to Qatar and the trade of the five Taliban.

O’Reilly: Are you surprised this report… Why hasn’t been released? The Pentagon, they’re not supposed to be political. Lt. Col. Shaffer: Bill, I understand General Dahl, the investigating officer did an incredible job… I understand he confirmed what was in previous report… Effectively, he deserted. Hmmm........Releasing Taliban prisoners as Muslim Brotherhood 'Godfather Yusuf Qaradawi proposed.......who happens to live in QATAR1

Related:


Related:


Jan 11 -2012: Report: U.S. to Release Three Taliban Leaders from Guantanamo Bay, as in Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi plan. http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/01/report-us-to-release-three-taliban.html

March 11 -2012: "Commander in chief' Obama agrees to transfer the Taliban Guantanamo detainees to Qatar. http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/03/commander-in-chief-obama-agrees-to.html

June 30 - 2012: Obama administration still considering turning Taliban detainees over to Afghanistan and Qatar http://www.mfs-theothernews.com/2012/06/obama-administration-still-considering.html


U.S. Set to Release Key Taliban Figure in 9/11 Attacks  http://counterjihadreport.com/2012/01/15/u-s-set-to-release-key-taliban-figure-in-911-attacks/

Kurt Wallace: Now, Bush had set a precedent that we don’t negotiate with terrorists after 9/11. Are they really five high risk detainees that are being released? And is this the right thing to do for Obama?

Max Abrahms: Well the rhetorical position of pretty much every government in the world is that they will not negotiate with terrorists and the fear, of course, is that if you negotiate with terrorists governments will provide utility to terrorism, which will incentivize exactly the kind of behavior which we’re trying to avoid. In practice though, it’s a little bit more complicated though. Most governments do at least consider negotiating with terrorists.

Now terrorists have all different kinds of demands. Sometimes they have very large strategic demands. For example Boko Haram and other Islamic groups they call for governments to accept Sharia law. These are large expansive strategic demands which governments almost never actually accommodate. Terrorists groups though have other kinds of demands. Sometimes called redemptive demands to build up the capacity of the terrorist organization, and so examples of redemptive demands would be exactly the kind that we’re seeing here with Bergdahl, that the group wants the release from the government of militants so that they’re able to return to the militant group. Or the militant group might ask for other kinds of small demands like financial compensation.

Naturally the smaller the demand, the more likely it is for government to accommodate that. So when the Taliban asks for prisoner releases the U.S. is much more likely to go along, than say, for the U.S. to adopt Sharia law or other large kinds of concessions. In practice, many governments do negotiate over these smaller kinds of demands like prisoner releases or money rather than making large political concessions though to the militant group.