The Release Of The Taliban 5: An Act Of Betrayal?

So Mr. Obama, Hagel + Ms. Rice, what are you going to tell the families of the troops that these five Taliban murderers killed?...My Tweet today

• At this point in time, I'm still conflicted about Sgt. Bergdahl and the circumstances of his capture. There's certainly a plethora of anecdotal evidence from those who served with him that he may have deserted. For example, former Sgt. Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl's platoon,  said yesterday: "I was pissed off then, and I'm even more so now with everything going on...Bowie Bergdahl deserted during a time of war, and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him." In addition, another former member of Bergdal's unit said, "He walked off. He left his guard post." In other words, he was on guard duty to protect them, but decided to walk off for whatever reason (CNN).  So from my own standpoint, after he's debriefed and he gets his medical care (ironically, probably better medical care than many our our veterans in the VA), an investigation is warranted. At this point, he's still an American soldier. If he did was he's accused of doing, he deserves the appropriate consequences for his actions.
• I'm now more concerned about the release of five former Taliban commanders. For one reason, they are all responsible for the killing of American troops and thousands of innocent civilians. As even the Washington Post reported this weekend, there were battle-hardened Taliban commanders.  At least one of them was the head of the Taliban army. Another arranged for al-Qaeda trainers to visit Afghanistan. In fact, the last time we freed a high-ranking Taliban terrorist, he returned to the battlefield and became director of Taliban military operations.*
• In addition, it didn't take long for the Taliban to use the release of these five as a propaganda coup. Mullah Mohammed Omar, a terror warlord, called their release a "big victory for the entire Afghan Muslim nation."
• And what does it say about our administration when it sends out Susan Rice again to defend this action? The same Susan Rice who tried to sell the nation a bogus story about the attack on our consulate in Benghazi. Think about it. Sending out Rice would be like sending out Sebelius again to talk about Obamacare.
• But one fact is certainly clear. If the administration intended to get the VA scandal off the front pages with breaking this story---a coincidence?---it worked. But I believe it can also backfire. Sending out Susan Rice rebounds attention back to Benghazi and the litany of lies that followed.
• Act of betrayal by our government? I'll leave that up to the reader to decide. As far as I'm concerned---yes. Why? Every American---in uniform or not---has now become a target.

One Sidebar of Note:

Last week, the Obama administration sent out an email to 6,000 reporters leaking the name of the CIA station chief in Afghanistan.  Need I remind everyone of the hysteria in the media and among Democrats when Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA operative during the Bush administration? But in this case, it's treated as a simple mistake. But as the NY Post correctly pointed out, the CIA station chief in Afghanistan lives in Kabul, one of the most dangerous places any American can be an agent. On the other hand, Valerie Plame was living in the United States. In other words, our administration made the CIA chief in Afghanistan a target---including his family. Once again, another act of hyper-incompetence by the "dudes" in this administration.

Postscript: Breaking news today:  Bergdahl to be charged with desertion. In addition, it is believed several of the Taliban released have returned to the battlefield.
*Two of those released are wanted for possible war crimes. One was directly associated with Osama bin Laden.