Page 39 - Prisoner Exchanges News Today

>> good monday afternoon. first from the fox news deck. looks like the last american prisoner of war in afghanistan will not get a heros welcome home, at least from some of his fellow soldiers two days after army sergeant bowe bergdahl went free, some of the men who served with him are telling reporters he is a desserter, soldier who reportedly once rote he was ashamed to be an american and in congress, some runs are slamming the white house -- republicans are slamming the white house for the de...

About? >> i dont have a readout of the conversation that date back sometime. it reflects that this should not be a surprise to members of congress that this was possible. we had worked to secure sergeant bergdahls release for a long time. and prisoner exchanged are hardly a new development including in our history of the united states. whether it is the jap nose or north koreans, we have engaged in prisoner exchanges in the past. and we dont, and the united states does not leave our men and wome...

His mother said they can wait a little bit longer while bowe gets used to civilian life again. >> give yourself all the time you need to recover and decompress. theres no hurry. i will see you soon, my beloved son. i love you, bowe. >> they havent spoken to their son yet and will wait until military experts say he is ready to talk to family. five years in captivity. my goodness. >> incredible they havent spoken to him yet. >> they must be dying to talk to him. very interesting on the surface, it...

And welcome home sergeant bergdahl. and that is the senior most member of our military speaking. >> as you know, there have been detainees that returned to the battle fold. what is the guaranteed other than the one year ban on travel that they will not go back and target u.s. interest and u.s. military? prisoner exchanges are not upcommon in armed conflicts and secondly, i will say without getting in specific assurances i can tell you that they included a travel ban and information shared on the...

Didnt, because im on that committee and aware of the bill, that it would be a prisoner of war exchange. and thats exactly what we have here. so a little different circumstance. obviously the 30 days was not done and certainly the committee is going to take umbrage at that. but i must tell you that there are many other deadlines that are put in place in the national defense authorization act, probably several hundred. some are kept, others are not for a variety of reasons. so here we have an issu...

War in afghanistan. at the end of wars, it is routine to have these kinds of prisoner exchanges, and of course, there are risks, but at a certain point, enough time passes that you want to bring the hostilities to an end, and so we are leaving at the end of the year. we dont want to leave one of the guys to die in taliban captivity. and so people do need to stay focused on that part of our national commitment is that we dont leave our own behind. if the war was not ending now, i think that you c...

The u.s. doesnt negotiate with terrorists. congress should not have been surprised. all of the above. >> it is hardly unprecedented for the united states to swap. we remember the iran arms for hostages deal. it does happen. you know, im not going to give a policy position on prisoner exchanges. it does happen. when you make peace, you make peace with your enemies. that said, these -- i want to know more, i would like to know more, about exactly the national security constraints are on these five...

And, you know, people will -- this will have to play itself out to see exactly how it happens, how it happens in terms of the security of those people. >> but the truth is, we werent really ever at war in afghanistan against afghanistan or pakistan or any country. we were at war with a group, groups, but nonetheless in the world of asymmetric warfare, where we are fighting groups and not nations, we used to do prisoner exchanges with nations all the time when we were at war with them. why not no...

Government, as much as reagan used israelis to negotiate the release of flight 847, those hostages that we had. and this is a time of war. and it is a pow exchange. now, we dont like the other part of the deal, for sure, with these five. and as i said before, the conditions, i dont think, are right. >> rick, very quickly. former ambassador rice said this morning that time was of the essence when asked and pressed about why congress wasnt brought into this. she said something to the effect of how...

Extremely important. at some point most conflicts do resolve themselves in an exchange of prisoners at the end of a conflict. we are not there yet, although were going to be substantially reduced. well still have 10,000 or so americans exposed. people will -- this will have to play itself out to see exactly how it happens, how it happens in terms of the security of those people. >> but the truth is, we werent really ever at war in afghanistan against afghanistan or pakistan or any country. we we...