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NPR
The town of Hailey, Idaho, has waited five years to hear news of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's return. In 2009, Bergdahl was captured and held by the Taliban — first in Afghanistan and later, it's believed, in Pakistan.On Saturday, he was released in a swap for five Guantanamo Bay detainees. Now Hailey, Bergdahl's hometown, is preparing for the next chapter.
On Sunday afternoon, Bob and Jani Bergdahl stood before rows of reporters in an auditorium at Gowen Field in Boise. They had spent the past five years both hoping for and dreading news out of Afghanistan — but finally, the news was good. Jani Bergdahl spoke to her son through the TV cameras: "You've made it," she said. "I imagine you are more patient and compassionate than ever. You are free. Freedom is yours. I will see you soon, my beloved son. I love you, Bowe."
Bob Bergdahl also took this opportunity to speak to his son directly, saying he admired his character and patience during his captivity. "But most of all, I'm proud of how much you wanted to help the Afghan people," he said tearfully, "and what you were willing to do to go to that length."
DW
The release of five Taliban figures in exchange for a captured US soldier is drawing criticism in Washington. Afghanistan expert Anand Gopal tells DW the move increases the chances for successful peace talks.Anand Gopal: Well, this is the only prisoner of war in the entire 13-year conflict in Afghanistan, and it is one of the last remaining issues to be resolved in terms of the military, because the US military has a motto of not leaving people behind.
More generally, though, you could see this as a possibility of being a confidence-building measure in terms of possible peace talks with the Taliban. What they've been asking for from day one is a prisoner exchange - trading Guantanamo prisoners for Bergdahl. And this has been tried for a couple of years, and has failed. You could see this as a breakthrough - in fact, as the first step in the possibility of starting peace talks.
Reuters
The Afghan president is angry at being kept in the dark over a deal to free five Taliban leaders in exchange for a captured U.S. soldier, and accuses Washington of failing to back a peace plan for the war-torn country, a senior source said on Monday.The five prisoners were flown to Qatar on Sunday as part of a secret agreement to release Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who left Afghanistan for Germany on the same day.
The only known U.S. prisoner of war in Afghanistan, Bergdahl had been held captive for five years.
"The president is now even more distrustful of U.S. intentions in the country," said the source close to President Hamid Karzai's palace in Kabul, who declined to be identified.
"He is asking: How come the prisoner exchange worked out so well, when the Afghan peace process failed to make any significant progress?"
Karzai has backed peace talks with the hardline Islamist Taliban movement, which ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001 and has fought a bloody insurgency since then against U.S.-led forces in the country.
BBC
A US soldier freed after five years in Taliban captivity is in stable condition in a US military hospital in Germany, officials have said.Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, 28, is being treated after his release on Saturday in exchange for five senior Afghan Taliban figures held at Guantanamo Bay.
The prisoner swap has been criticised by Republicans who warn it could put Americans at risk in the future.
And they say the White House flouted the law governing Guantanamo transfers.
It is unclear how long Sgt Bergdahl will remain in hospital, where he is receiving treatment for "dietary and nutrition needs", the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center wrote in a statement.
On Monday, White House press secretary Jay Carney dismissed the criticism, saying the exchange "was absolutely the right thing to do".
"The United States does not leave our men and women behind in conflict," Mr Carney said.
Think Progress
Less than forty-eight hours after securing the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo, Republicans in Congress and conservatives in media began attacking the deal. In doing so, they are refusing to accept the reality of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan and the way wars end.The United States is engaged in an armed conflict in Afghanistan against al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces authorized by Congress under the 2001 Authorizations to Use Military Force. It is remains controversial whether this armed conflict extends beyond Afghanistan and the border regions of Pakistan, but what is not in doubt is that of the enemy forces party to this conflict, the Taliban is confined to Afghanistan and Pakistan. President Obama recently announced that the combat role for the United States in the armed conflict in Afghanistan will end this year and all participation will completely cease by 2016.
When wars end, prisoners taken custody must be released. These five Guantanamo detainees were almost all members of the Taliban, according to the biographies of the five detainees that the Afghan Analysts Network compiled in 2012. None were facing charges in either military or civilian courts for their actions. It remains an open question whether the end of U.S. involvement in the armed conflict in Afghanistan requires that all Guantanamo detainees must be released. But there is no doubt that Taliban detainees captured in Afghanistan must be released because the armed conflict against the Taliban will be over.
Reuters
(Reuters) - Republican lawmakers angered by a White House deal to swap five Taliban prisoners for a captured U.S. soldier in Afghanistan on Monday demanded hearings over why the Obama administration reached the agreement without consulting Congress.Adding to criticism of the decision to negotiate the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl were accusations by some soldiers who served with him that they consider Bergdahl a deserter who cost the lives of several comrades.
The State Department has said it considered Bergdahl "a member of the military who was detained while in combat" and the administration says members of Congress were briefed for years on efforts to free the Idaho native.
...
Texas Representative Mac Thornberry, vice chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said: "The president violated a provision of law in not giving Congress advanced notice. And while you can always argue that, 'well, this was an emergency, he needed to act quickly,' this pattern of violating the law is also a danger to national security."
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said briefings for members of Congress about Bergdahl had included the potential exchange for five Taliban militants. McDonough said the deal "should not have been a surprise" to lawmakers.