SITREP - June 7th, 2014

If you’ve read a newspaper or turned on a television at all this week, then you already know what the news is. Last Saturday, President Obama announced the he had swapped five high level Taliban operatives for our only POW in Afghanistan, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. A firestorm has ensued. So what is all of the fuss about and where do I stand on it?

Well, for starters, as you all probably know, I have been extremely active in Congress trying to raise awareness that Sgt. Bergdahl existed in the first place. You would be amazed at how many members of Congress didn’t know he was being held until the announcement was made last weekend. As a father of three American soldiers, I was angry about that. Many people, including reportedly some who served alongside Bergdahl, have understandably questioned the loss of lives in trying to locate him. But at the end of the day, an American solider is an American solider and even in cases of misconduct, his country should know he’s being held captive. His country should still want to find the guys who are holding him. Now that he’s back, the Army will need to look at the facts surrounding his disappearance and whether punishment is in order. But in whatever case, that punishment should be carried out by the United States military and not by the terrorists. 

So where does that leave us now that the President has swapped the prisoners for him? It depends a lot on yourjudgment of the deal itself. The prospect of swapping these five Taliban leaders has been on the table for a long time (as has the opposition to it). According to reports, Defense Secretary Gates, CIA Director Panetta, and Secretary of State Clinton (all former) collectively opposed the deal when it was first brought up in 2011. According to Senator Feinstein, the Democrat chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the opposition among those briefed in Congress was similarly overwhelming. “Virtually unanimous”, I believe is the phrase she used. So it seems that the vast majority of those involved in the discussion were opposed on the grounds that releasing these militants presented too great of a threat to our troops and to our allies.

Adding fuel to the fire, the President was required by law to notify Congress 30 days in advance of any release from Guantanamo. Senator Feinstein, a liberal herself and general supporter of the President, was outraged when he didn’t comply with that law. She attributed the “oversight”, as the administration put it, to a recognition within the White House that congressional opposition to the deal was overwhelming. 

As much as I wanted to see our guy out of Taliban hands, I was part of that opposition. As a father, I think like most Americans, I felt a lot of anguish for the family. The thought of having one of my boys being held by the Taliban for five years is beyond anything I care to contemplate. But as an American and as policymaker, I can’t just think as a father. Our responsibility is for the security of our forces at large and for our nation as a whole. So while a big part of me is very glad that the Taliban is no longer holding one of our soldiers prisoner, I deeply question the wisdom of the President’s decision. 

These are not easy questions by any means and I think reasonable people can disagree about them. It’s rare that you can have two seemingly inviolable principles that are in direct contradiction to one another: leave no man behind and never do anything to jeopardize our national security. In my opinion, at the end of the day, the primary responsibility is for the nation as a whole. You do the best you can and you do everything you can, but "doing everything" doesn’t mean putting our guys needlessly at risk. 

In any case, I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this. We’re still a long way from having all of the facts. Even a week later, despite the briefing requirement, we’re still getting just about all of our information from the media. The House Armed Services Committee will be holding a hearing this coming week and I will very definitely be an active participant. I’m not sure how much will come out and to what extent the information will be classified, but I sincerely hope I’ll be able to report more next Saturday. In the meantime, as always, if there is anything I can do to be of service, please let me know. 

Sincerely,
Rich Nugent
Member of Congress