On Tuesday, Republican and House Speaker John Boehner has called out the Obama administration's controversial deal with the Taliban to bring Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl home in exchange of the terrorist group's five prisoners incarcerated at the US' Guantanamo Bay prison, the Wall Street Journal said. Boehner said in his first press conference since the May 31 swap that the deal for Bergdahl violated a long-term policy of the US government regarding negotiations with terrorists.
"We have violated that policy and as a result, we've made Americans less safe here and all around the world. There is not any doubt in my mind that there are going to be costs, lost lives associated with what came out of this," the top House Republican said.
Democrat and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin said that Boehner's assertion of the deal's consequences was speculative. Durbin stressed that he was personally surprised about the GOP's reaction to the Obama administration's efforts to bring a prisoner of war back home, considering that the detainees who have been turned over to the terrorist group had been detained for over a decade and had lost touch with the current Taliban leadership.
He said, "It amazes me that some of the most conservative members of Congress, who were the first to display the POW/MIA flags, were also the first to question [President Barack] Obama's judgment about bringing a prisoner of war home."
WSJ said the Obama administration has already dismissed the notion that the deal for Bergdahl violated policies on dealing with terrorists. The White House has already stressed that the prisoners are always exchanged at the end of wars.
On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is scheduled to make the administration's case before the House Armed Services Committee. Apart from the issue of congressional notification, WSJ said Hagel might also be questioned about the potential threat the five released Taliban detainees may pose.
