And, in addition - McCain said he would be inclined to support it BUT he would have to know the details. Unfortunately, this president did not give him the courtesy of knowing the details since he refused to inform Congress 30 days in advance. Kind of hard to support something you know nothing about.

Anonymous wrote:^^ Seems to me as if you will go to most any length to support Obama, regardless of the idiotic decisions he makes.
I still do not agree with you.

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, is there a sock puppet on this thread? I feel like the anti-Obama guy is just posting over and over and over again, all the comments are the same "flavor" so to speak.

Anonymous wrote:^^ Seems to me as if you will go to most any length to support Obama, regardless of the idiotic decisions he makes.
I still do not agree with you.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:John McCain publicly supported exactly this exchange in February:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1402/18/acd.01.html

COOPER: Would you oppose the idea of some form of negotiations or prisoner exchange? I know back in 2012 you called the idea of even negotiating with the Taliban bizarre, highly questionable.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, at that time the proposal was that they would release -- Taliban, some of them really hard-core, particularly five really hard-core Taliban leaders, as a confidence- building measure. Now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man.

I would be inclined to support such a thing depending on a lot of the details.

COOPER: Of anybody on Capitol Hill, you know better than anybody what this young man must be going through. Obviously it's a very different time. How do you get through something like this? I mean, for somebody in this situation?

MCCAIN: Well, I was fortunate in where he is not that I had fellow POWs that even though I was a long time in solitary confinement we would tap on the wall to each other and stay in communication. If it wasn't for that, it would have been a very different story for most of us. And this is why I feel especially sympathetic for Mr. Bergdahl because he is all there by himself.

COOPER: So if there was some -- the possibility of some sort of exchange, that's something you would support?

MCCAIN: I would support. Obviously I'd have to know the details, but I would support ways of bringing him home and if exchange was one of them I think that would be something I think we should seriously consider.

I added the bolding.

The outrage is complete hypocrisy. The right wing in this country has completely lost its way and is totally obsessed with opposing Obama. Opposing Obama and guns are the only interests of today's conservatives. A dangerously deranged bunch of people.

You need to read the transcript more thoroughly. McCain said he was against the idea of negotiations back in 2012 because they were proposing “five really hard-core Taliban leaders.” Then, went on to say "Now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man.”
The way I am reading this is that this “second” proposal was different. Not the five hard-core leaders that actually were exchanged.
His statement regarding the swap:
“I have been informed that, in exchange for Sgt. Bergdahl’s release, the Administration is now in the process of transferring five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo to Qatar. These particular individuals are hardened terrorists who have the blood of Americans and countless Afghans on their hands. I am eager to learn what precise steps are being taken to ensure that these vicious and violent Taliban extremists never return to the fight against the United States and our partners or engage in any activities that can threaten the prospects for peace and security in Afghanistan. The American people, and our Afghan partners, deserve nothing less.”
He does not support this exchange.
And, just for the record, it is NOT just the right wing that is questioning the legality or the wisdom of this deal.

Anonymous wrote:I was all for this in the beginning but what I'm hearing now is making me uneasy. Looking forward to some clarity.

jsteele wrote:John McCain publicly supported exactly this exchange in February:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1402/18/acd.01.html

COOPER: Would you oppose the idea of some form of negotiations or prisoner exchange? I know back in 2012 you called the idea of even negotiating with the Taliban bizarre, highly questionable.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, at that time the proposal was that they would release -- Taliban, some of them really hard-core, particularly five really hard-core Taliban leaders, as a confidence- building measure. Now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man.

I would be inclined to support such a thing depending on a lot of the details.

COOPER: Of anybody on Capitol Hill, you know better than anybody what this young man must be going through. Obviously it's a very different time. How do you get through something like this? I mean, for somebody in this situation?

MCCAIN: Well, I was fortunate in where he is not that I had fellow POWs that even though I was a long time in solitary confinement we would tap on the wall to each other and stay in communication. If it wasn't for that, it would have been a very different story for most of us. And this is why I feel especially sympathetic for Mr. Bergdahl because he is all there by himself.

COOPER: So if there was some -- the possibility of some sort of exchange, that's something you would support?

MCCAIN: I would support. Obviously I'd have to know the details, but I would support ways of bringing him home and if exchange was one of them I think that would be something I think we should seriously consider.

I added the bolding.

The outrage is complete hypocrisy. The right wing in this country has completely lost its way and is totally obsessed with opposing Obama. Opposing Obama and guns are the only interests of today's conservatives. A dangerously deranged bunch of people.

jsteele wrote:John McCain publicly supported exactly this exchange in February:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1402/18/acd.01.html

COOPER: Would you oppose the idea of some form of negotiations or prisoner exchange? I know back in 2012 you called the idea of even negotiating with the Taliban bizarre, highly questionable.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, at that time the proposal was that they would release -- Taliban, some of them really hard-core, particularly five really hard-core Taliban leaders, as a confidence- building measure. Now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man.

I would be inclined to support such a thing depending on a lot of the details.

COOPER: Of anybody on Capitol Hill, you know better than anybody what this young man must be going through. Obviously it's a very different time. How do you get through something like this? I mean, for somebody in this situation?

MCCAIN: Well, I was fortunate in where he is not that I had fellow POWs that even though I was a long time in solitary confinement we would tap on the wall to each other and stay in communication. If it wasn't for that, it would have been a very different story for most of us. And this is why I feel especially sympathetic for Mr. Bergdahl because he is all there by himself.

COOPER: So if there was some -- the possibility of some sort of exchange, that's something you would support?

MCCAIN: I would support. Obviously I'd have to know the details, but I would support ways of bringing him home and if exchange was one of them I think that would be something I think we should seriously consider.

I added the bolding.

The outrage is complete hypocrisy. The right wing in this country has completely lost its way and is totally obsessed with opposing Obama. Opposing Obama and guns are the only interests of today's conservatives. A dangerously deranged bunch of people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder what the soldiers who caught the Taliban prisoners think? Or those that were injured, etc. looking for them? Anybody know the stories of their capture?

You seem to be of the opinion that government policy should be determined by individual soldiers. That has never been the case. Soldiers do what they are ordered to do. They rarely think what they are being told to do makes any sense. The civilian leadership determines policy and considers a wide range of priorities. Can you imagine the chaos if every policy decision had to take into account how individual soldiers would feel about it?

Consider the reception Obama got at West Point recently. I don't think they will turn on the American public if ordered to. Applause sounded like a small rotary club meeting.

Wow. You do not know how batshit crazy you seem. I guess it is too much to expect you to know how repulsive this entire discussion is to a regular person who isn't frothing at the mouth at the mere mention of Obama.

jsteele wrote:John McCain publicly supported exactly this exchange in February:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1402/18/acd.01.html

COOPER: Would you oppose the idea of some form of negotiations or prisoner exchange? I know back in 2012 you called the idea of even negotiating with the Taliban bizarre, highly questionable.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, at that time the proposal was that they would release -- Taliban, some of them really hard-core, particularly five really hard-core Taliban leaders, as a confidence- building measure. Now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man.

I would be inclined to support such a thing depending on a lot of the details.

COOPER: Of anybody on Capitol Hill, you know better than anybody what this young man must be going through. Obviously it's a very different time. How do you get through something like this? I mean, for somebody in this situation?

MCCAIN: Well, I was fortunate in where he is not that I had fellow POWs that even though I was a long time in solitary confinement we would tap on the wall to each other and stay in communication. If it wasn't for that, it would have been a very different story for most of us. And this is why I feel especially sympathetic for Mr. Bergdahl because he is all there by himself.

COOPER: So if there was some -- the possibility of some sort of exchange, that's something you would support?

MCCAIN: I would support. Obviously I'd have to know the details, but I would support ways of bringing him home and if exchange was one of them I think that would be something I think we should seriously consider.

I added the bolding.

The outrage is complete hypocrisy. The right wing in this country has completely lost its way and is totally obsessed with opposing Obama. Opposing Obama and guns are the only interests of today's conservatives. A dangerously deranged bunch of people.