WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. politicians questioned whether the deal that freed Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five Taliban militants amounted to a negotiation with terrorists as the U.S. soldier was flown out of Afghanistan to a military hospital in Germany yesterday.
Army Sergeant Bergdahl, held for nearly five years in Afghanistan, was freed in a deal with the Taliban brokered by the Qatari government. Five Taliban militants, described by Senator John McCain as the “hardest of the hard core,” were released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and flown to Qatar.
While Bergdahl’s released on Saturday was celebrated by his family and his hometown, and could be seen as a coup for President Barack Obama as he winds down America’s longest war, McCain and other Republicans questioned whether the administration had acted properly in releasing the militants.
“These are the highest high-risk people. Others that we have released have gone back into the fight,” said McCain, a former prisoner of war and Vietnam War veteran.