Taliban fighters released the sole remaining American military hostage Saturday morning to a team of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan, who quickly hustled him onto a helicopter. Once airborne, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl scribbled the letters “SF?” on a paper plate, seeking confirmation that he was with Special Operations forces.
“Yes!” one of the troops hollered back above the din of the aircraft’s blades, according to a defense official who described Bergdahl’s first moments of freedom. “We’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
Bergdahl, 28, who had been held captive nearly five years, broke down in tears.
His release was secured after the Obama administration, working through Qatari government intermediaries, agreed to free five high-profile Afghan inmates held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The influential commanders, including the former head of the Taliban’s army, were loaded onto a U.S. military aircraft bound for Qatar after U.S. officials got confirmation that Bergdahl had been freed.
Bergdahl’s “safety and health were both in jeopardy,” and officials had to act quickly to obtain his release, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
I admire the patience of this man waiting for that long not knowing if things would go smoothly because they never really do. Imagining your self in his shoes is frightening not knowing if your going to survive the next day, also realizing that this man had basically been cut off from his normal routine and drastically made the switch to something completely different and not accustom to what hes experienced, This shows that were willing (The United States) to sacrifice things that are important and are valuable possessions for a single man to come home.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/taliban-held-us-soldier-released-in-exchange-for-afghan-detainees
I feel almost wedged in the middle of this. I understand that it's great that this man is alive and shall not be denied his right to live outside of a prison cell. However, was it really a strategic move to let not one, but five high-profiled Afghan inmates go? I mean, that sounds fishy to be. It's obvious that our losses outweigh our gains.
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