By LARA JAKES and ELLEN KNICKMEYER | Associated Press | Aug 21, 2014 4:42 PM CDT in Politics The beheading of freelance journalist James Foley has forced a new debate between the longtime U.S. and British refusal to negotiate with terrorists, and Europe and the Persian Gulfs increasing willingness to pay ransoms in a desperate attempt to free citizens. The dilemma: How to save the lives of those kidnapped without financing terror groups, and encouraging more kidnappings. At the State Department, deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said the militancy — which controls a swath of land across northern Syria and Iraq — has collected millions of dollars in ransoms so far this year alone. We do not make concessions to terrorists, Harf told reporters. We do not pay ransoms. The United States government believes very strongly that paying ransom to terrorists gives them a tool in the form of financing that helps them propagate what theyre doing, she said. And so we believe very strongly that we dont do that, for that reason. My addendum: We,HOWEVER, do negotiate to free deserters who are Muslim converts that we value so highly we trade 5 high level Taliban leaders. email WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon broke the law when it swapped Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a prisoner in Afghanistan for five years, for five Taliban leaders, congressional investigators said Thursday. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said the U.S. Defense Department failed to notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the exchange — a clear violation of the law — and used $988,400 of a wartime account to make the transfer. The GAO also said the Pentagons use of funds that hadnt been expressly appropriated violated the Antideficiency Act. In our view, the meaning of the (law) is clear and unambiguous, the GAO wrote to nine Republican senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and various committees. Section 8111 prohibits the use of funds appropriated or otherwise made available in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014, to transfer any individual detained at Guantanamo Bay to the custody or control of a foreign entity except in accordance with the law. The GAO said the relevant committees received phone calls from May 31 — the day of the transfer — to June 1, with written notification coming on June 2. Five senior Taliban were released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo in exchange for Bergdahl, who had disappeared from his post in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009. The five Taliban are to remain in Qatar for a year. Spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby defended the Pentagons actions, saying that as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel stated in his congressional testimony earlier this year, the Defense Department acted lawfully in the operation to recover Sgt. Bergdahl, a judgment that was supported by the Justice Department. Lawmakers, especially Republicans, were angry with President Barack Obama and members of the administration for failing to notify them about the swap. Some in Congress have said Bergdahl was a deserter and the United States gave up too much for his freedom. Several lawmakers have cited intelligence suggesting the high-level Taliban officials could return to the Afghanistan battlefield. The administration has defended the swap and its decision to keep Congress in the dark, saying concern about Bergdahls health and safety required speedy action. Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said it was completely disingenuous for the administration to suggest that notifying Congress might have compromised the transfer because dozens of administration officials knew well in advance. Its not hard to imagine that the president didnt notify us until after the fact because he knew the proposed transfer would have been met with opposition, Collins said in a statement Thursday. The presidents decision is part of a disturbing pattern where he unilaterally decides that he does not have to comply with provisions of laws with which he disagrees. The Joint Chiefs of Staff has unanimously supported the exchange, insisting that the United States has a sacred commitment to men and women who serve that it will never leave anyone behind on the battlefield. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said the swap in May was likely our last, best opportunity to free Bergdahl. Bergdahl is doing administrative duties at Fort Sam Houston in Texas while an investigation into how he was captured by the Taliban is conducted. Last month, a bitterly divided House Armed Services Committee voted to condemn Obama for the swap. The Republican-led panel backed a nonbinding resolution that disapproves of the exchange and faults Obama for failing to notify Congress 30 days in advance of the swap, as required by law. The bipartisan resolution raised national security concerns about the transfer of the five Taliban, who had been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for more than a decade, and the repercussions of negotiating with terrorists. The measure also expresses relief that Bergdahl has returned safely to the United States. The full House is expected to consider the measure in the fall, just a few weeks before the midterm elections The upshot of all this, we cant negotiate , by law, unless the president decides he wants to!
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 04:12:24 +0000
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