US Government negotiates with Taliban

[The Batorys]

Maybe. At the very least there needs to be an investigation to figure out just how he ended up in enemy hands to begin with. But he's innocent until proven guilty, so yeah, let's see what happens with an investigation, and likely court martial.

court martialling your own soldiers for being captured? what kind of backwards army/society do you people live in if that happens?

Sounds kinda like the Red Army or the IJA.

[The Batorys]

court martialling your own soldiers for being captured? what kind of backwards army/society do you people live in if that happens?

There's a good chance he was separated from his squad because he was trying to desert, which people contend makes his rescue less necessary.

I'm hesitant to believe that anyone seriously tried to desert while IN Afghanistan.

[The Batorys]

yeah I read that article. it was what made me think that it was OK for these guys to be released. they aren't the worst of the worst they are a few former leaders of a bad regime. their crimes are against Afghanistan people and should be dealt with by Afghanistan not kept forever by us.

Yes, they are the worst of the worst. One of them was even directly associated with Osama Bin Laden. And we aren't transferring them to Afghan authorities to face charges. We're setting them free and they'll most definitely return to terrorist activity. And what do we get in exchange? A deserter who went and got his ass captured. 6 soldiers died looking for him, you know.

And do you even bother to think about the men who died capturing these five terrorists? Do you even bother to think about that? Their sacrifices are now for nothing.

We're not setting them free, we're giving them to Qatar to hold for a year.

In all probability, Qatar will, upon releasing them, give us the info on how to get them.

[Me-lek]

no no no no no no no no no!
ANY soldier would prefer to be tortured rather than have five ENEMY COMMANDERS (of all the people, COMMANDERS?) released in exchange for them.
why?

[The Batorys]

Did you know that Winston Churchill had lunch with Hitler sometimes, and had conversations with him? He was directly associated with Hitler! Stop saying that like it's damning evidence that he was the Devil. Not really trying to contradict your points, just your tactics.

That's a terrible argument.

And it's still better than the one you were making. Fancy that.

[The UK in Exile]

no no no no no no no no no!
ANY soldier would prefer to be tortured rather than have five ENEMY COMMANDERS (of all the people, COMMANDERS?) released in exchange for them.
why?

Their current commanders are too good, we're hoping the 5 that were released will be shit.

[Farnhamia]

Yes, they are the worst of the worst. One of them was even directly associated with Osama Bin Laden. And we aren't transferring them to Afghan authorities to face charges. We're setting them free and they'll most definitely return to terrorist activity. And what do we get in exchange? A deserter who went and got his ass captured. 6 soldiers died looking for him, you know.

And do you even bother to think about the men who died capturing these five terrorists? Do you even bother to think about that? Their sacrifices are now for nothing.

Did you know that Winston Churchill had lunch with Hitler sometimes, and had conversations with him? He was directly associated with Hitler! Stop saying that like it's damning evidence that he was the Devil. Not really trying to contradict your points, just your tactics.

If Churchill had watched how much salt Hitler used, we wouldn't have these problems.

[Occupied Deutschland]

court martialling your own soldiers for being captured? what kind of backwards army/society do you people live in if that happens?

Sounds kinda like the Red Army or the IJA.

Desertion is not capture, the poster merely mentioned an investigation to determine if desertion was involved in Bagdahl's fate.

You're both being needlessly and ineffectually hyperbolic.

[The Batorys]

Tracking...

lolnewb

Proof that we're tracking them, pleb?

You're a pleb, too. Probably the vast majority of us are.

Unless, of course, you're typing this from a mansion. Which I very much doubt.

[The Serbian Empire]

Apparently, he probably doesn't want it to be revealed that he did this to cover up the VA mess.

You have "apparently" and "probably" in the same sentence. Not to mention that it doesn't make sense in the first place.

It grabs headlines and makes him look popular to Taliban leadership and at the same time, the GOP gets enraged. If the GOP is too enraged, they might make foolish gaffes and hand elections to Democrats.

[Farnhamia]

You have "apparently" and "probably" in the same sentence. Not to mention that it doesn't make sense in the first place.

It grabs headlines and makes him look popular to Taliban leadership and at the same time, the GOP gets enraged. If the GOP is too enraged, they might make foolish gaffes and hand elections to Democrats.

Oh, please. The Taliban leadership doesn't vote in US elections and really, making the GOP too enraged? The President doesn't need to do this for that to happen.

[The Batorys]

I think that they are less dangerous than anyone who has been fighting for the last dozen years to regain power.

and I think it is wrong to think that we need to honor the death of any soldier by following policies that you agree with.

They are not less dangerous.

And how is it wrong? They died to capture these terrorists. Keeping them locked up is the best thing to do.

Yes, they are less dangerous.

They have been sitting in cells in Guantanamo Bay for the last decade. They have been out of communication with everyone who's still in the fight. They are unaware of most recent developments, most likely. They have likely been replaced in their positions of power by those who did not get captured, in the same way that if you go to jail, your employer won't just hold your job for you. They will have to make their way up the pecking order again. If we'd lost five top officers, we'd replace them, and if those five came back, they wouldn't just be given their old jobs back, they'd likely be below the authority of their successors.

[The Batorys]

1. An article that was cited earlier in the thread, too lazy to find it
3. It's been established repeatedly that they're going to be held in Qatar for a year.

1. So I'll just assume it doesn't exist.
3. Source.

I feel like a broken record.

Because you are one.

If you're not even going to learn what the details of the prisoner swap deal actually are, don't fucking bitch about it and demand other people explain to you the details that you could have learned about, yourself.

[The Serbian Empire]

It grabs headlines and makes him look popular to Taliban leadership and at the same time, the GOP gets enraged. If the GOP is too enraged, they might make foolish gaffes and hand elections to Democrats.

Oh, please. The Taliban leadership doesn't vote in US elections and really, making the GOP too enraged? The President doesn't need to do this for that to happen.

Remember, there are polls that aren't looking too favorable to the Democrats in the Senate. Obama is trying to stop the GOP from gaining in those Mid-Term elections when the Presidential-only voter isn't around. The voters who vote in the mid-term elections are more partisan and typically older on average which favors the GOP.

[Kelinfort]

1. An article that was cited earlier in the thread, too lazy to find it
3. It's been established repeatedly that they're going to be held in Qatar for a year.

1. So I'll just assume it doesn't exist.
3. Source.

I feel like a broken record.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/ ... AD20140603

[Me-lek]

no no no no no no no no no!
ANY soldier would prefer to be tortured rather than have five ENEMY COMMANDERS (of all the people, COMMANDERS?) released in exchange for them.
why?

Their current commanders are too good, we're hoping the 5 that were released will be shit.

i really hope so

[Kelinfort]

Their current commanders are too good, we're hoping the 5 that were released will be shit.

i really hope so

I'm still curious what they'll do to US forces, I mean we leave the country this year and they don't return until next year, at which point the US has withdrawn.

[Me-lek]

i really hope so

I'm still curious what they'll do to US forces, I mean we leave the country this year and they don't return until next year, at which point the US has withdrawn.

no matter what happens, we lose anyways. mission failure, no save points, no retries, mission god damn failure.

[Kelinfort]

I'm still curious what they'll do to US forces, I mean we leave the country this year and they don't return until next year, at which point the US has withdrawn.

no matter what happens, we lose anyways. mission failure, no save points, no retries, mission god damn failure.

Afghanistan is worthless. No oil, no trade, nothing. Our mission is complete. Osama Bin Laden is dead, which is the only reason we invaded in the first place.

[Ashmoria]

The president signed a statement suggesting that the law itself was an illegal interference with executive power. If the law is illegal, he has no reason to obey it.

It really isn't up to him to decide that. We gave GWB shit about all his signing statements that essentially said his administration didn't have to obey any laws they didn't like, I would have preferred Obama not do the same thing.

the idea that the president can kinda have a line item veto with signing statements is stupid. if it cant be overridden by congress it isn't real.

he should have left off the signing statement and have done what he thought best on the basis of it probably being unconstitutional to hamstring the president that way in time of war.

[The Serbian Empire]

no matter what happens, we lose anyways. mission failure, no save points, no retries, mission god damn failure.

Afghanistan is worthless. No oil, no trade, nothing. Our mission is complete. Osama Bin Laden is dead, which is the only reason we invaded in the first place.

There's some lithium and gold deposits that might be worth a trillion dollars assuming the place will stabilize. Afghanistan isn't worthless, but good luck trying to get a mining effort to be successful in a place so unstable.

[Ashmoria]

George W. Bush's policies prevented Al Qaeda from blowing our country to smithereens, but liberals continue to act like the current president is the messiah and that George W. Bush was the worst president in history. Obama has proven that he is the only president who is worse than Jimmy Carter because his policies are the only ones that can actually cause the economy to collapse. Anyone who says that any citizen who voted for Bush is a fool should not be allowed to comment on other people's replies because they obviously can't avoid being a troll on the forum.

bush2 is the worst president in history but not for invading Afghanistan.


you don't think that fiscal austerity is the president's policy do you?

[Farnhamia]

Afghanistan is worthless. No oil, no trade, nothing. Our mission is complete. Osama Bin Laden is dead, which is the only reason we invaded in the first place.

There's some lithium and gold deposits that might be worth a trillion dollars assuming the place will stabilize. Afghanistan isn't worthless, but good luck trying to get a mining effort to be successful in a place so unstable.

So, "effectively" worthless?

[Kelinfort]

Afghanistan is worthless. No oil, no trade, nothing. Our mission is complete. Osama Bin Laden is dead, which is the only reason we invaded in the first place.

There's some lithium and gold deposits that might be worth a trillion dollars assuming the place will stabilize. Afghanistan isn't worthless, but good luck trying to get a mining effort to be successful in a place so unstable.

That's assuming we can establish stability in one of the most unstable places on earth. We've wasted enough money and time already, let our companies do the dirty work.

[Ashmoria]

no no no no no no no no no!
ANY soldier would prefer to be tortured rather than have five ENEMY COMMANDERS (of all the people, COMMANDERS?) released in exchange for them.
why?

guys who have been kept in prison for a dozen years while younger men have commanded in their place? they aren't SUPERMEN for god's sake.