A fresh Fox News poll shows the American public fractured (45 percent support / 47 percent oppose) over the Obama White House-engineered swap that traded five high-risk jihadi commanders for an American solider who was held by the enemy for five years. The poll also reflects overwhelming discomfort about the implications of releasing the hardcore 'Taliban Five:'
They have ample cause for concern. The Taliban is crowing about being inspired to scoop up more Americans (which is straight-up trolling). As for the likelihood that these savages will get back to their death craft, intelligence officials say there is no clear containment plan after Qatar's one-year travel ban expires, with the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center offering this sobering assessment:
“Very, very likely” that Taliban Five will be fighting again in Afghanistan/ Pakistan in a year - Michael Leiter, ex-head of NCTC w/ @joenbc
— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) June 2, 2014
Other notes on the poll results: President Obama's overall job approval sunk back to (40/54) after rebounding slightly last month. He's at an abysmal (29/61) among independent voters. On the issues, Obama earns extremely poor marks; these results basically mirror CNN's latest numbers:
By a 20-point margin, (55/35) Americans believe the Obama administration has made the country weaker, not stronger. A plurality views this White House has less competent than the Bush administration, and a large majority says Obama's team is less competent than Bill Clinton's. Sixty-nine percent of respondents say US veterans receive "fair" or "poor" healthcare from the VA, with a majority agreeing that Gitmo detainees receive better care than our own war veterans. Americans disapprove of Obama's handling of the VA scandal by a 30-point margin (29/59); just 31 percent say the federal government will manage Obamacare more effectively than the VA, which reflects a similar point we've been making since the disgraceful wait list manipulation scandal broke this spring.