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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Mon Jun 9, 2014, 09:38 AM Jun 2014

Bergdahl’s return causes clash in US values

CALVIN WOODWARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — We never leave troops behind. We don’t negotiate with terrorists.

Those core U.S. commitments, to the soldier, the country and the world, came into conflict when Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl fell into the hands of the Taliban and the government saw only one way to get him back: in essence, make a deal with terrorists.

The debate over Bergdahl rages on multiple fronts, touching on whether the U.S. came out on the short end in a bargain that freed five Taliban captives, whether the soldier who walked away from his post was disloyal to country, whether adversaries will see more gain in capturing Americans, whether the administration was justified in acting without notice to Congress, and more.

What’s clear in the complexities is that the age-old vow to retrieve the captured or the fallen proved more potent than the refusal to make deals with those who don’t fight by the rules.

Each ethos runs deep in the American conscience, yet has been violated through history, notably in the age of terrorism, where traditional standards of warfare, spying and negotiating are run through a hall of mirrors.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/09/bergdahls_return_causes_clash_in_us_values/

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Bergdahl’s return causes clash in US values (Original Post) DonViejo Jun 2014 OP
Values? Baloney. We ALWAYS negotiate with "terrorists" BlueStreak Jun 2014 #1
This is an Associated Press article... DonViejo Jun 2014 #2
I've never noticed a true ethos of refusing to make deals with terrorists. TwilightGardener Jun 2014 #3
 

BlueStreak

(8,377 posts)
1. Values? Baloney. We ALWAYS negotiate with "terrorists"
Mon Jun 9, 2014, 09:54 AM
Jun 2014

Rather than spreading nonsense, salon should be asking the right questions. For example,

When was the last time the Taliban attacked America?

The Taliban didn't do 911. That was al Qaeda. Bin Laden took advantage of the chaotic environment in Afghanistan to conduct his activities.

I believe the Taliban are bad people -- insane religious wackos that would take society backwards centuries. But they didn't attack America. We attacked them. Bergdahl was a POW of a war we started, maybe justifiably.

I wonder if there are people in Afghanistan criticizing the Taliban for "negotiating with terrorists"?

TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)
3. I've never noticed a true ethos of refusing to make deals with terrorists.
Mon Jun 9, 2014, 10:48 AM
Jun 2014

Those are just words, and we've never followed it. But we have moved heaven and earth (and should continue to do so) to bring home soldiers, and even their remains, from the battlefield--or you will not get young people to serve in the numbers necessary for effective defense, end of story.

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