{"id":448,"date":"2014-06-05T08:35:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T08:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/06\/about-that-video.html"},"modified":"2014-06-05T08:35:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T08:35:00","slug":"about-that-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/06\/about-that-video.html","title":{"rendered":"About that video. . ."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From what I\u2019m reading, the justification for the Bergdahl swap without Congressional notification has been that his health was deteriorating. \u00a0But here\u2019s what the Los Angeles Times has to say<\/a> (a similar article was in today\u2019s Tribune, and the story is in other outlets, too):<\/p>\n

Stung by mounting criticism that they had failed to notify Congress before moving the five Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, administration and military officials provided a classified briefing to the full Senate, a rare occurrence. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel agreed to testify in the House next week, with more hearings to follow.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Senators were shown a video shot by the Taliban late last year; it has not been publicly released.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Many senators were clearly moved by the video, which they said portrayed Bergdahl sitting upright on a blanket, with a halting speech pattern.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHe looked either drugged or tired or sick,\u201d said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who said the closed briefing gave him more confidence in the administration\u2019s decision. \u201cThis man was not in a good condition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sen. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.) said, \u201cI definitely think it would have had an emotional impact on the president, which is probably why the Taliban released it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Others were left unswayed.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he saw \u201cno evidence\u201d Bergdahl\u2019s health posed an immediate danger that would justify the swap of the high-level Taliban detainees. And Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia said the concerns raised by the administration over Bergdahl\u2019s health \u201cdid not sell me at all.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The odd thing is that in the printed Tribune version of this article, it says the video was shot in January. \u00a0The online article on the Chicago Tribune site<\/a> is a bit different still, saying there\u2019s no date given for the video but it\u2019s surmised to have been filmed in December due to references to Mandela\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

In fact, this online article seems to suggest that Bergdahl\u2019s health had nothing to do with the lack of Congressional notification at all: \u00a0the negotiations were ongoing, and nothing happened especially suddenly. \u00a0The report says that \u201cAdministration officials got assurances from Qatar, where the five released prisoners are being transferred, that it would take responsibility for enforcing mitigation measures stipulated in the deal. However, as part of the agreement with Qatar, the Obama administration won\u2019t say what those measures are.\u201d \u2014 which is odd because everything I\u2019m reading says that there are no \u201cmeasures\u201d except that the Taliban remain in Qatar for a year.<\/p>\n

So why didn\u2019t they notify Congress? \u00a0Here\u2019s the one remaining sentence that offers an explanation: \u201cLeaks had scuttled past operations,\u201d according to an administration official.<\/p>\n

Why would a leak happen? \u00a0And why would it end the operation? \u00a0I take this to mean that \u00a0they weren\u2019t taken by surprise by the lack of support for their decision, but they knew they\u2019d have opposition.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: \u00a0Did I really figure this out before thegatewaypundit.com<\/a>?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From what I\u2019m reading, the justification for the Bergdahl swap without Congressional notification has been that his health was deteriorating. \u00a0But here\u2019s what the Los Angeles Times has to say (a similar article was in today\u2019s Tribune, and the story is in other outlets, too): Stung by mounting criticism that they had failed to notify […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAbout that video. . .<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From what I'm reading, the justification for the Bergdahl swap without Congressional notification has been that his health was deteriorating.  But\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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