Bergdahl is not Schalit

I was in New York this week on the day the release of American soldier Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity in Afghanistan was announced. I did not see any excitement on the streets, but I did hear criticism of the prisoner swap. It appears that U.S. President Barack Obama once again acted against the American spirit, which prefers stories of heroism over stories of defeat. Oh how times have changed.

America is not holding its breath ahead of Bergdahl's homecoming. The festivities and compliments the Obama administration had hoped for were quickly supplanted by a charged public debate over the heavy price paid for Bergdahl's freedom: the release of five senior Taliban leaders (associates of slain al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden) from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the major deviation from the principle of not holding dialogue with terrorists (even if its about a prisoner exchange), and the flouting of the law that requires the president to inform Congress 30 days before the release of non-American prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. And this was all to free a soldier whose comrades say was a deserter.

And could it be that Bergdahl is not the real story? Perhaps there was another purpose for the deal -- the opening of official negotiations between Washington and the Taliban, as was hinted by U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. This dialogue may be vital for Washington as it prepares to fulfill Obama's pledge to withdraw most American military forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

It may be that the Bergdahl deal was in line with Obama's worldview, even if it was contrary to America's worldview. Obama thinks he can disregard red lines and long-held American principles in exchange for a world in which everything is good. Red lines? For the Obama administration, there is no such thing.

Bergdahl was captured on June 30, 2009, two months after arriving at an American base in the Paktika Province in southeastern Afghanistan. One of the main problems of the story, more than the fact that America does not negotiate to free captives (thereby not giving in to terror and not encouraging kidnappings, as Republicans in Congress say the Bergdahl deal has done), is how in fact Bergdahl was seized.

A 2012 Rolling Stone article revealed that, prior to his capture, Bergdahl exchanged emails with his parents that paint a picture of a problematic young man who was harshly critical of U.S. actions in Afghanistan. In one of his emails, Bergdahl wrote, "The horror that is America is disgusting."

If we add to this the statement of former Sgt. Matt Vierkant, who served with Bergdahl and said Bergdahl should face a military trial for desertion, we can see just how much Obama has gotten into trouble again, not only with the Republicans (with whom friction is a regular thing), but also with the American public as a whole, which had forgotten about Bergdahl (he was not an American Gilad Schalit), and is now shocked by the stories of how American soldiers were killed while searching for him. Obama, who after six years is still searching for a legacy, is being perceived more and more as a serial blunderer, and has now added another stain to the record of his presidency.

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