How does the Taliban release 5 prisoners? Gitmo parolee Mohammed Fazi demonstrates https://t.co/iwu14XTJc1
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) June 7, 2014
(VIA USA Today) An air of hubris — a sort of we-know-it-all quality — has permeated the Obama White House from the beginning. It worked as a public relations strategy for the better part of five years. But it seems to be breaking down now.
The sophisticated swagger and savoir faire projected by the President and his strategists — audacity with cool, if you will — captivated a major segment of the 2008 voting public, many of whom were tired of George W. Bush and believed Barack Obama could bring real change to Washington. (more…)
Watch the Obama interview with Brian Williams recorded yesterday:
Politico has a defense article to support this interview HERE.
However, it is important to remember both Senate Intelligence Committee Head, Democrat Dianne Feinstein, and Republican Saxby Chambliss were informed in advance of the mission to Kill/Capture Osama Bin Laden. Without issue.
It is also important to remember the Washington Post ran a front page article in February outlining the exact details of this trade. It wasn’t a secret.
What the heck is President Obama talking about ?
He’s repeating McDonough/Rhodes talking points that have been thoroughly debunked. One can only conclude the time lag, and geographic distance from his handlers, has interrupted his capacity to restructure and reset his position.
Feb 17, 2014 Guess Congress did not read this front page Washington Post story 70 days before Bergdahl release http://t.co/l1wHHD6uLO
— Joe Trippi (@JoeTrippi) June 6, 2014
The link takes you to a Front Page Washington Post article published in FEBRUARY. CLICK HERE
The Post article outlines, with specific detail, what the White House was about to do in trading Gitmo detainees for PFC Bowe Bergdahl. The fact that this much accurate detail was previously known, and yet the White House never consulted congress, is devastating to the White House current narrative:
FEBRUARY 2014 – In an effort to free American captive Bowe Bergdahl before the bulk of U.S. forces leave Afghanistan this year, the Obama administration has decided to try to resume talks with the Taliban and sweeten an offer to trade Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the Army sergeant, current and former officials said.
A rather interesting dynamic is finally being exposed on a large scale. Here is my humble attempt to explain what’s going on.
Following the modus operandi of the Obama administration the Bergdahl issues are in full alignment with a consistent White House pattern.
It is sometimes easier to use analogies to help understand the facts behind what is taking place. So, here goes….
Think about this administration as a travelling show projecting an appearance outward to an audience. The stage they construct is filled with visual aides for their performance. The audience is two-fold and hence the strange appearances, and hypocrisies.
The primary audience is the American electorate. Think of us as the larger audience seated in front of the stage and watching the presentation, the show.
Behind the stage is a smaller audience, who cannot actually see the show taking place, but they are given a play-by-play explanation of what’s taking place on the other side of the curtain. That smaller audience is Congress.
Here’s where it gets interesting. (more…)
New York Times. . . Cowering politicians now even seem to regret their initial burst of joy that a prisoner was coming home. “A grateful nation welcomes him home,” said Representative Lee Terry, Republican of Nebraska, in a Twitter message on Sunday. The statement on his website was deleted a short time later. “Warmest regards to his family with gratitude for his/their service and sacrifice,” wrote Representative Stephen Lynch, Democrat of Massachusetts, in another quickly deleted tweet.
This duck-and-cover response is the result of the outrageous demonization of Sergeant Bergdahl in the absence of actual facts. Republican operatives have arranged for soldiers in his unit to tell reporters that he was a deserter who cost the lives of several soldiers searching for him. In fact, a review of casualty reports by Charlie Savage and Andrew Lehren of The Times showed there is no clear link between any military deaths and the search. (more…)
Fitting Day To listen to this Band of Brothers…
One other key aspect not getting as much attention as deserved stems from the avoidance of the legally required notification.
Telling congress about the potential move of Gitmo detainees in a POW swap is one part of the notification. However, the more important part of the law is the part which requires the President to state specifically why the action is being taken, what is the benefit, and what are the risks. In addition the notification law requires the President to outline the details, the exact terms, inside the negotiated agreement that he’s made.
So, given the President has apologized for not informing congress, will the congressional leadership now demand the President produce the statutorily required information, albeit post facto?
If they don’t….. ask yourself “why not” ?
James Rosen via FOX News – U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl at one point during his captivity converted to Islam, fraternized openly with his captors and declared himself a “mujahid,” or warrior for Islam, according to secret documents prepared on the basis of a purported eyewitness account and obtained by Fox News.
The reports indicate that Bergdahl’s relations with his Haqqani captors morphed over time, from periods of hostility, where he was treated very much like a hostage, to periods where, as one source told Fox News, “he became much more of an accepted fellow” than is popularly understood. He even reportedly was allowed to carry a gun at times.
The documents show that Bergdahl at one point escaped his captors for five days and was kept, upon his re-capture, in a metal cage, like an animal. In addition, the reports detail discussions of prisoner swaps and other attempts at a negotiated resolution to the case that appear to have commenced as early as the fall of 2009. (more…)
