Thoughts? Is he a hero or deserter? Did Obama mess up by agreeing to an exchange? I think negotiating a hostage exchange with a terrorist organization is a terrible mistake.
Eyes in the sky watched that whole trade off. Will be a drone strike leaving "145 dead in Pakistan" in about 2 weeks.
He is a deserter. I have no respect for the man. That said, I won't comment on whether Obama made a mistake or not. I'm sure that there are a multitude of facts that we aren't aware of in the exchange. He may be trying to lay the groundwork for some kind of future peace negotiations.
I have no real desire for peace with the Taliban. They thought it a good move to allow Al Qaeda a platform to attack us. They are reprehensible in their treatment of humans who are not like them. They can live in fear of drone strikes until they renounce their organization completely, so far as I am concerned.
I agree completely. I just have no other explanation for why this exchange would have taken place. It would be nice if Float's explanation was the reason ... but I seriously doubt that there is enough balls to make that happen.
Any "peace" in Afghanistan will be an exact replay of the aftermath of the Paris accords, where we leave, and the puppet state we created will be abandoned, overrun, and those that supported us will be slaughtered. And we will collectively shrug and move on. The occupation was a foolish endeavor from the start.
I'm leaving for a sixth rotation in November. The Ace of Spades is dead so, at this point, what is the point? Whether it's peace or total imposion due to us simply walking away is of no concern to me anymore. I'm just tired.
If the information floating around is true then he would certainly be a deserter. Either way, I strongly disagree with the exchange made to get him back.
not enough info out there to really know, but you'd hope there would have been a better way to do this.
I have questions and opinions, but I've never been in combat so idk if I have the right to question or chime in. There is so much "stuff" floating around now about emails, and tweets and this and that and the other and the reported content on there does make me uneasy about all of this.
No doubt. We should've stuck to killing the guys we were looking for and going home. We jumped with both feet without setting a finish line.
I won't judge him. I wasn't there, but I'd say the exchange rate was pitiful if I look at it coldly. The whole notion of negotiating with terrorists is flawed if you are doing it in honestly.
If he really was a deserter like the reports make out, we should have left his ass in whatever hole he was put in.
I don't think we should have abandoned him, but we should never have traded for him. If I were captured, I'd rather they go in guns-blazing and if I die in the attempt to get me so be it. I wouldn't want to be a bargaining chip to release dangerous men any more than I would want to rot in captivity. But if he is in fact a deserter he needs to spend a little time in good ole American captivity. It is a volunteer military, he agreed to serve.