Monday, June 9, 2014
From: Gary L. Bauer
Obama Frees War Criminals
The “scandals” that come from Washington are so frequent they tend to desensitize us. I pray that does not happen with last week’s release of the “Taliban Dream Team” from Guantanamo Bay.
In a moment of unusual candor, Obama conceded that they could “absolutely” go back to the battlefield and threaten the lives of Americans. But Obama assured us that their release “was conditioned on the Qataris keeping eyes on them… We will be keeping eyes on them.”
The White House can’t keep eyes on the IRS or the VA, but we’re supposed to trust it can keep eyes on these thugs?
One of the Taliban 5 has already vowed to return to Afghanistan to wage jihad against us. On CNN yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry dismissed concerns that these terrorists might rejoin the fight. “I honestly think that’s just a lot of baloney,” Kerry said. Feel safer now?
There is a growing chorus of apologists at left-wing think tanks and in the media arguing that the released detainees pose no serious risk because they are aging and out-of-shape.
That completely misses the point. The Taliban 5 were not fighters — they were leaders and government ministers. If the Taliban had a Pentagon, these would be their four-star generals!
This deal has demoralized our rank-and-file soldiers. Worse, it has encouraged our enemies. The Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Omar called the deal “a great victory.” It feeds the impression that America is in full retreat in the battle against radical Islam.
But news of this deal has also sent shock waves of fear and anger throughout many Afghan villages. Two of the Taliban 5 — Mohammed Fazl and Norullah Noori — are wanted by the U.N. for war crimes involving the massacres of thousands of Afghan civilians.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Fazl led a “scorched-earth offensive” in 1999 that “systematically demolished entire villages, blowing up houses, burning fields and seeding the land with mines.” According to some estimates, 300,000 people were forced to flee for their lives. Noori is accused of massacring 8,000 Afghan Shiites in the Balkh province in 1998.
The Obama Administration just let these war criminals escape justice in exchange for a likely deserter.
What Happened To Honor?
One of the most discouraging things we have witnessed in recent years is the failure of honorable men and women to stand up and be counted. There had to be people at the IRS who knew the agency was being used for raw political purposes. There had to be doctors at the VA who knew the books were being cooked and that veterans were dying as a result.
Sure, Dr. Foote came forward to expose the Phoenix VA system. But the scandal isn’t isolated to Phoenix. Dozens of VA hospitals are under investigation. How could people sleep easily at night knowing what was happening at the IRS and VA?
Now let’s consider the Bergdahl controversy. We just celebrated the brave men who stormed the beaches of Normandy. Where were the military leaders willing to put their careers on the line in order to confront a president they know is undermining our country’s national security? Did no one at the Pentagon know this deal was in the works? Was no one willing to resign and go public?
Even now the only military personnel coming forward are the grunts who served with Bergdahl. Many are saying that everybody knew Bergdahl was a deserter. He left behind a letter saying he was “ashamed to be an American,” calling the country “conceited” and “disgusting.”
We know the military leadership made the men in Bergdahl’s platoon sign non-disclosure agreements that they would not talk about his desertion. Now these soldiers are being vilified, accused of “swift boating” Bergdahl.
One administration official recently suggested that the unit might have been “long on psychopaths and short on leadership.” Before this is over, the administration may deny those speaking out their veterans benefits because they broke their non-disclosure agreements. They should start setting up their legal defense funds now.
Administration spokesmen are using the line, “The only person who knows what happened is Bergdahl himself.” That is demonstrably untrue. Men who served with him know what happened. The Associated Press reported that a 2010 Pentagon investigation concluded “that the evidence was ‘incontrovertible’ that [Bergdahl] walked away from his unit.”
But just as Pentagon leaders have been forced to accept open homosexuality and has browbeaten into restricting religious expression, I fear the Pentagon is under intense pressure now to change those “incontrovertible” facts regarding Bergdahl’s disappearance.
Our Founding Fathers created many safeguards to prevent tyranny — a written constitution with the intentional division of power and checks and balances. But most important of all was honor and virtue. As Benjamin Franklin put it: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
Thank God the men of Bergdahl’s platoon are speaking up. But I have to wonder why we are hearing from only them. I pray more men and women of honor and virtue will come forward in the days ahead.
If you are interested in receiving Mr. Bauer’s daily report by e-mail, please call 703-671-9700, visit SIGN UP FOR GARY BAUER’S “END OF DAY REPORT” or simply send a reply e-mail titled “Subscribe” and include your name and address.
Visit End of Day archives to share reports on Facebook. Follow Gary On Facebook And Twitter.
To be removed from Gary Bauer’s End of Day distribution list, please reply to this message with “Remove” in the subject line.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, donations to American Values are tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. You may donate online by visiting our website or by using the following address in your web browser: https://www.ouramericanvalues.org/american-values-contribution or you may mail contributions to the following address:
American Values
2800 Shirlington Road
Suite 950
Arlington, VA 22206
Phone: 703-671-9700
Fax: 703-671-1680
