The Bergdahl Trade

Some old Greek philosopher said it best, “In war, truth is the first casualty.” Combine this insight with the “fog of war,” and one gets the sense that in all things related to warfare, hard facts can be elusive. I say all this to protect myself against the real possibility that future information might render the following observation moot.

However, if we just handed over 5 hardened, murdering terrorists for an America-hating deserter in Afghanistan, then the American government just made the worst trade since the Red Sox exchanged Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000.

I read the story and am astonished at the abject incompetence of this White House. What on earth is the upside to this exchange? We have freed a POW who deserves to be court marshaled for 5 unrepentant terrorists? To what end? So, the President can have a photo-op in the Rose Garden with the parents? There has got to be something else going on here, because I refuse to believe that my government allowed themselves to be hosed this badly. Perhaps there’s a “player-to-be-named-later” that we don’t know about. Maybe Sgt. Bergdahl has been on some top-secret CIA operation whereby he has cleverly made himself look like a traitorous scumbag when in fact, he has been gathering crucial intelligence for the past five years. Maybe there is something we don’t know that will one day explain this manifestly lop-sided trade. You know, the fog of war and all.

Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I’m no fan of our involvement in Afghanistan or any of our other misadventures abroad. If it were up to me we wouldn’t be there at all. But, for heaven’s sake, we have now set ourselves up for more and more trouble with this ridiculous exchange. Now, all of this country’s enemies know that the most valuable commodity in the world is an American serviceman. Hold him long enough, and you can get just about anything you want from our feckless government.

Shameful.