- Dec 8, 2013
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January 2009: Obama signs executive order calling for Gitmo to be shuttered within a year, while his national security team considers if the five Taliban leaders are safe for release.
2011: White House and State Department officials open secret talks with the Taliban in Germany and the Persian Gulf to discuss their release from Gitmo as part of "peace talks."
Jan. 3, 2012: The Taliban announce they are prepared to open a political office in Qatar to conduct peace negotiations in exchange for the release of the Taliban commanders. ("The releases would be to reciprocate for Tuesday's announcement," according to "The Guardian.")
April 2012: Working with the White House, Karzai sends delegation of Afghan government officials to Gitmo to interview the Taliban prisoners and secure their oath to cut ties with al-Qaida.
("On the issue of the release of the Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo, we are fully in support of that," Karzai says during a July 9, 2012, visit to Japan. "If they wish to go to Qatar, we want them rejoined with their families.")
Karzai signed on to the deal because he thought it would buy peace and goodwill with the Taliban, which threatened to retake Afghanistan.
The original Taliban Five deal fell apart as Obama met stiff resistance from the U.S. intelligence community. And it proved too politically radioactive to sell to Congress. It was only after U.S. intelligence shot down his amnesty plan as too risky that Obama conjured up the Bergdahl swap.
Truth is, Obama used Bergdahl as a pretext for doing what he always sought to do — empty out Gitmo, national security be damned. The freed Taliban leaders were among the nearly 40 prisoners at Gitmo classified as "indefinite detainees" — too dangerous to release. To shutter the Cuban prison, Obama first had to whittle down that list, starting with the Taliban Five.
His scheme is working as planned, as one dangerous detainee after another is freed on the argument that the Taliban Five set a precedent for the release of others. The recent release of al-Qaida assassin Muhammad al-Zahrani, for one, was based on that precedent. "We have demonstrated that Mr. al-Zahrani represents a lower threat than the (Taliban) detainees that have been released," his defense team argued.
Obama also had several chances to rescue Bergdahl on the ground, but he reportedly ignored them all. Why? He wanted a terrorist trade to help close down Gitmo. Don't be fooled: This is what Bergdahl was all about.
Read More At Investor's Business Daily: Timeline Puts Lie To Obama s Story About Bergdahl - Investors.com
Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook
2011: White House and State Department officials open secret talks with the Taliban in Germany and the Persian Gulf to discuss their release from Gitmo as part of "peace talks."
Jan. 3, 2012: The Taliban announce they are prepared to open a political office in Qatar to conduct peace negotiations in exchange for the release of the Taliban commanders. ("The releases would be to reciprocate for Tuesday's announcement," according to "The Guardian.")
April 2012: Working with the White House, Karzai sends delegation of Afghan government officials to Gitmo to interview the Taliban prisoners and secure their oath to cut ties with al-Qaida.
("On the issue of the release of the Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo, we are fully in support of that," Karzai says during a July 9, 2012, visit to Japan. "If they wish to go to Qatar, we want them rejoined with their families.")
Karzai signed on to the deal because he thought it would buy peace and goodwill with the Taliban, which threatened to retake Afghanistan.
The original Taliban Five deal fell apart as Obama met stiff resistance from the U.S. intelligence community. And it proved too politically radioactive to sell to Congress. It was only after U.S. intelligence shot down his amnesty plan as too risky that Obama conjured up the Bergdahl swap.
Truth is, Obama used Bergdahl as a pretext for doing what he always sought to do — empty out Gitmo, national security be damned. The freed Taliban leaders were among the nearly 40 prisoners at Gitmo classified as "indefinite detainees" — too dangerous to release. To shutter the Cuban prison, Obama first had to whittle down that list, starting with the Taliban Five.
His scheme is working as planned, as one dangerous detainee after another is freed on the argument that the Taliban Five set a precedent for the release of others. The recent release of al-Qaida assassin Muhammad al-Zahrani, for one, was based on that precedent. "We have demonstrated that Mr. al-Zahrani represents a lower threat than the (Taliban) detainees that have been released," his defense team argued.
Obama also had several chances to rescue Bergdahl on the ground, but he reportedly ignored them all. Why? He wanted a terrorist trade to help close down Gitmo. Don't be fooled: This is what Bergdahl was all about.
Read More At Investor's Business Daily: Timeline Puts Lie To Obama s Story About Bergdahl - Investors.com
Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook
