As the news media cranked up the heat on the White House’s disastrous handling of the Veterans Affairs scandal, President Barack Obama decided it was time to change the subject and make the news about him again. So what does he do? Obama finalizes the release of five top Taliban commanders from Guantanamo in exchange for the Taliban’s release of one American soldier.
Not just any soldier but “a high value” soldier Sargent Bowe Bergdahl, who deserted his duty in 2009 when he walked off his base in Afghanistan right into the enemy hands of the Taliban. And Bergdahl caused the death of six of soldiers who joined other soldiers in a massive search for him.
Did Obama really think he was going to receive accolades for this noble act from anyone but Bergdahl’s parents or was it a deliberate move to further harm America and our credibility on the world stage? Many Americans were aghast not to mention both Democrat and Republican members of Congress because Obama broke the law with the exchange.
First, America isn’t supposed to negotiate with terrorist for the release of hostages. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the United States didn’t “directly” negotiate with the Taliban but had Qatar do it as its proxy. Whether direct or indirect the Obama administration negotiated for hostages. Second, Obama refused to notify Congress 30 days before releasing the five detainees from Guantanamo, as mandated by law.
Nevertheless, all week the news has been about the president and whether he thinks he’s above the law. Frankly, Obama doesn’t seem to care about our laws or what people at home or abroad think about him or his presidency. He appears to be determined to transform America from within and without into a weakened nation.
Prior to the release of Bergdahl, this president supported his Attorney General Eric Holder’s efforts to hold civilian trials for terrorists in New York City, a stone’s throw away from the World Trade Center. This is the same president who also refuses to use the mighty stick of American diplomacy abroad, which has made America look like a super punk rather than a super power.
Obama rented out our foreign policy to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who brokered a flimsy chemical weapons ban with Syria’s President Bashar Assad. No wonder Putin invaded Ukraine. He knows America wasn’t going to stop him. And this is the same President of the United States who eased sanctions on Iran believing in earnest the mullahs will disarm their nuclear program. Of course this is like believing members of the Taliban, whom Obama released back into freedom, won’t plot against us, which is exactly what they've already vowed to do.
Even people in Afghanistan can’t understand why Obama would want to free “some of the most dangerous militants” within the Taliban, especially at a time when the US plans to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. To further emphasize the president’s empathy for terrorists, this week administration officials said the president will continue to pursue his pledge to close Guantanamo. Why all these bad moves?
Dinesh D’Souza writes in The Roots of Obama’s Rage that “While one might expect a president to be mostly concerned with protecting the American people from terrorist attack, Obama’s primary concern seems to be with protecting captured terrorists from the American people.”
From day one of his presidency, Obama viewed America as a nation in need of transformation, one too big for its britches, waging wars and shoving its principles onto the rest of the world. Obama considered America’s policies of freedom, liberty and decency “polices bad for America and bad for the world,” writes D’Souza.
After five years, there’s no doubt Obama’s policies are not serving the interest of America or her people. The release of Bergdhal highlights the failings of a presidency out of control and it’s high time Congress intervenes and does something about it.