The Bergdahl swap

Flashback: President Poor Choices Says ‘Absolutely No Apologies’ for Bergdahl Swap   . . . "We see that Obama went with his standard “it’s all made up” dismissal. One really couldn’t blame him –the press has been letting him get away with it for the entire time he’s been in office.

"Thankfully, the military is too busy protecting us to watch much cable news, so they proceeded with the investigation into Bergdahl despite the president’s assurance that it was all a Beltway fabrication.
"If you ever have time to kill and want a brain teaser, try to remember any time President Obama staged a media op to address criminal activity and didn’t come down on the side of the criminal."  Hmmmm.

Everything the White House told us about Bergdahl was wrong    "Interesting article in the Daily Beast about how the White House Bowe Bergdahl narrative completely collapsed now that he has been identified as a deserter and the war in Afghanistan has not ended.

"Nancy Youssef writes that Bergdahl's "capture, release and now charge became a parable of how narratives about the war in Afghanistan did not pan out." Bergdahl's release was supposed to put a triumphant explanation point on the war in Afghanistan.  Instead, it has highlighted the administration's incompetence." . . .

At least 3 members of Taliban 5 swapped for Bergdahl tried to make contact with terror networks  But then you knew this.

Blackfive: Bergdahl's Just Desserts   "Good news that Bergdahl will face a jury of his peers for his actions. Two questions, should we have brought him back? Absolutely yes. Did we pay too high a price for his return? Absolutely yes."

Bergdahl charged with desertion, “misbehavior before the enemy”   . . . "On the other hand, neither media nor activists have forgotten that we gave up 5 high-profile al-Qaeda members in exchange for Bergdahl’s freedom. If any one of those 5 prisoners reconnects with extremists in the Middle East and rejoins the fight, things will get complicated for the White House, and they’ll have to be careful to not dig themselves into a hole.
"I should say, dig themselves deeper into the hole they started when they chose to make deals with extremists.
"You can read Legal Insurrection’s body of work covering Bergdahl here.

Article 99—Misbehavior before the enemy

Text. “Any member of the armed forces who before or in the presence of the enemy—

(1) runs away;
(2) shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to defend;
(3) through disobedience, neglect, or intentional misconduct endangers the safety of any such command, unit, place, or military property;
(4) casts away his arms or ammunition;
(5) is guilty of cowardly conduct;
(6) quits his place of duty to plunder or pillage;
(7) causes false alarms in any command, unit, or place under control of the armed forces;
(8) willfully fails to do his utmost to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy any enemy troops, combatants, vessels, aircraft, or any other thing, which it is his duty so to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy; or
(9) does not afford all practicable relief and assistance to any troops, combatants, vessels, or aircraft of the armed forces belonging to the United States or their allies when engaged in battle; shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.”

Legal Insurrection's body of work on Bergdahl. . . "Nothing about the Bergdahl/Taliban affair should have been surprising to people who have studied Obama over the years. "Not Obama’s audacity, nor his disregard of prior bipartisan warnings in Congress or from the intelligence community, nor his aides’ attempts to discredit those from Bergdahl’s unit who are calling Bergdahl a deserter or..."

Julie Pace, NRO:  Bergdahl charges revive questions over prisoner swap   . . . "The likely contenders for the 2016 presidential race were largely silent on the charges. One of the few that did weigh in was Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who blamed the swap on Obama's lack of experience."  . . .

The Insane Defense of the Bergdahl Swap

. . . "Now that Bowe Bergdahl has been charged with desertion, as his platoon mates have suggested he should be since before the ill-fated swap was executed, the administration’s attempts to defend one of their worst decisions to date have predictably grown more absurd. Via RCP, hashtag diplomat Jen Psaki’s stammering efforts to deal with basic questions from Megyn Kelly are a pretty representative sample." . . .