The Obama administration continues to stun both its political friends and foes alike with its callous disregard for law and/or stupefying incompetence. The latest move to raise question about the suitability of Mr. Obama to occupy the highest office in the land, or almost any office, for that matter, was his release of five high-level Taliban murderers in exchange for Private Bowe Bergdahl, the last remaining American held by the enemy.
Mr. Obama pontificates on how the United States doesn't leave any man behind (although we certainly left some behind in Benghazi), but neglects to mention that 1) We have a policy of not negotiating with terrorists, 2) We have laws that require that Congress be notified of any such prisoner releases, 3) Pvt. Bergdahl was, and is, widely believed to have been a deserter when he walked away from his base in 2009, 4) Several soldiers in his unit are alleged to have died in the search for him (and their parents lied to about why their sons died) 5) Special Ops teams had a good idea of where he was being held, even down to the number of men who were guarding him, but repeatedly chose not to risk the lives of rescuers for a man they believed to have been a deserter.
There's more on this here and here.
None of this seems to have overcome Mr. Obama's desire to bring this man back, and one has to wonder why. What was Mr. Obama's motive? Why would he ignore the law about informing Congress and release five killers committed to murdering Americans, two of whom are accused by the U.N. of crimes against humanity and a third is accused by Human Rights Watch of mass killings and torture, to secure the release of a deserter? It makes no sense unless one assumes that he simply wanted to gain some political advantage by appearing compassionate. Maybe genuine compassion for Bergdahl was indeed his motive, but if so, his compassion is of the worst sort - incredibly short-sighted and irresponsible.
