Obama defends Bergdahl deal

WARSAW, Poland June 3, 2014 (AP)
By JULIE PACE AP White House Correspondent

President Barack Obama on Tuesday defended his decision to release five Afghan detainees from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for an American soldier's freedom, saying his administration had consulted with Congress "for some time" about that possibility. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff left open the possibility of desertion charges against the soldier.

Gen. Martin Dempsey noted that U.S. military leaders have been accused of "looking away from misconduct" and said "it's premature" to assume they would do so in the case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, despite his five years as a Taliban detainee.

Dempsey, in an Associated Press interview, said the Army may still pursue an investigation that could lead to desertion charges against Bergdahl, who was captured by insurgents in Afghanistan after he apparently walked away from his base in 2009.

Obama, meanwhile, brushed aside questions about the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl's capture. He said the United States has a "sacred" obligation to not leave men and women in uniform behind.

"Regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he's held in captivity," Obama said during a news conference in Poland as he opened a three-country European visit. "We don't condition that."

There have long been questions about how Bergdahl disappeared from his unit. The Pentagon concluded in 2010 that Bergdahl walked away, and the military curbed any high-risk rescue plans after an initial flurry of searching.

Despite the Pentagon's conclusions, Obama said the government was not currently seeking to punish Bergdahl as a deserter.

"Our main priority is making sure the transition that he's undergoing after five years in captivity is successful," he said.

Days after his rescue, Bergdahl, 28, of Hailey, Idaho, was in stable condition at a U.S. military hospital in Germany. He is yet to be reunited with his parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl, also of Hailey, Idaho, who waged a tireless campaign to keep their son's story in the spotlight.

Questions were also mounting in the U.S. over the way Bergdahl's freedom was secured: Five high-level members of the Taliban were released from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and sent to Qatar. The five, who will have to stay in Qatar for a year before going back to Afghanistan, include former ministers in the Taliban government, commanders and one man who had direct ties to the late al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

Republicans in Congress criticized the agreement and complained about not having been consulted, citing a law that requires that Congress be notified 30 days before a prisoner is released from Guantanamo. Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee said the Pentagon notified the panel by phone on Saturday that the exchange was occurring in the next five hours.

House Speaker John Boehner

 says top members of Congress were briefed more than two years ago about the possibility of exchanging an American soldier held captive by the Taliban for five terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In a statement, Boehner said lawmakers raised serious concerns that were never satisfactorily answered about the potential swap involving Bowe Bergdahl (boh BURG'-dahl). Congress wasn't informed until word came this past Saturday of the exchange.

Boehner welcomed Bergdahl's release but said one of the greatest protections for Americans fighting overseas as well as diplomats is that the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists. In this case, however, he said that protection has been compromised.

Obama suggested that lawmakers were aware of the prospect that the U.S. could agree to a prisoner swap with the Taliban. And he defended his administration's handling of the formal notifications, saying that when the opportunity to free Bergdahl presented itself, "We seized that opportunity."

Officials said delaying Bergdahl's transfer in order to comply with the congressional notification rules would have interfered with two of the president's constitutional authorities: protecting the lives of Americans abroad and protecting U.S. soldiers.