Hagel: Decision To Free Bergdahl Was Unanimous

Reuters | By Michael Holden and Belinda Goldsmith
Posted: 06/05/2014 8:38 am EDT Updated: 25 minutes ago

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the decision to strike a deal with the Taliban for the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was unanimous in the White House as it was believed that the soldier's life was "in peril".

Bergdahl was handed over to U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan on Saturday after five years in captivity in exchange for the transfer of five senior Taliban members from Guantanamo prison in Cuba to Qatar.

It provoked criticism from some lawmakers in Congress who were angry that U.S. President Barack Obama's administration had not alerted them in advance, while some of Bergdahl's former comrades have charged that he was captured after deserting.

Hagel told the BBC in an interview aired on Thursday that Barack Obama's administration had to act quickly and without first consulting Congress which is supposed to be given 30 days notice before transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

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