They had lost enough already going after this jihadi.
“Special forces found Bergdahl and captors but wouldn’t risk rescue for ‘deserter,’” by Guy Taylor, The Washington Times, June 2, 2014 (thanks to Christian):
The Pentagon on several occasions had ground-level intelligence on
where ArmySgt. [sic] Bowe Bergdahl was being held captive at various
times — down to how many gunmen were guarding him — but special
operations commanders repeatedly shelved rescue missions because they
didn’t want to risk casualties for a man they believed to be a
“deserter,” sources familiar with the mission plans said.
Commanders on the ground debated whether to pull the trigger on a
rescue several times in recent years, according to one of the sources, a
former high-level intelligence official in Afghanistan, who said the
conclusion each time was that the prospect of losing highly trained
troops was too high a price to pay for rescuing a soldier who walked
away from his unit before being captured by the enemy.
A second source told The Washington Times that the rescue operation
plans were “high risk” and became even less attractive in recent months
when officials in the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command grew
convinced that the Taliban and the militant Haqqani network, whose
operatives were holding Sgt. Bergdahl, were eager to cut a deal for his
release.
“Joint Special Operations Command always had the rescue mission on
the table and it was entirely under their ownership, but the big
question centered on whether Bergdahl was somebody you risk lives for
when you still have time and space to maneuver diplomatically,” said the
source, a high-level congressional aide, who, like the former
intelligence official, spoke only on the condition of anonymity.
The aide also said there was frustration among some on Capitol Hill
that the Obama administration had botched an opportunity to exert
leverage over the Taliban, particularly since the U.S. military could
have used force to secure Sgt. Bergdahl’s release.
“The prisoner swap was being built up as the only option that was
available. But there’s been knowledge of the general vicinity of where
Bergdahl was, down to how many guys were guarding him,” said the aide.
The catch, the aide added, is that special operations commanders and
others at the Pentagon never sought approval for the rescue mission from
the White House because they believed in the pursuit of a diplomatic
deal.
The aide said military officials in Afghanistan spent recent months
pushing for a stronger deal than was ultimately struck, but were
“superseded” by the White House and State Department. The aide would not
comment on what the parameters of a “stronger” deal may have looked
like, beyond saying they would have involved the Pakistani government.
The former intelligence official who spoke with The Times
corroborated that assertion but declined to offer further details,
saying only that the deal turned out the way it did because “the
administration wanted to close the door on this no matter what the price
was.”
Separately, the former official said, “Military commanders were loath
to risk their people to save this guy. They were loath to pick him up
and because of that hesitancy, we wind up trading five Taliban guys for
him.
“The mentality was, ‘We’re not going to lose more of our own guys on this,” the former official said.
Both of the sources said military officials across the special
operations community were appalled by the terms of the deal that
ultimately got struck over the weekend between State Department-led
negotiators and the Taliban, effectively securing Sgt. Bergdahl’s
release from Haqqani network custody in exchange for the release of five
former Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba….
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
2 To
turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the
poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob
the fatherless!
3 And
what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which
shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye
leave your glory?
4 Without
me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under
the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is
stretched out still.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
6 I
will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of
my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the
prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
12 Wherefore
it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work
upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout
heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
13 For
he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom;
for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have
robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a
valiant man:
14 And
my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one
gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there
was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
15 Shall
the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the
saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should
shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should
lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
16 Therefore
shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness;
and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a
fire.
17 And
the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame:
and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
18 And
shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both
soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.
20 And
it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such
as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him
that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
22 For
though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of
them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with
righteousness.
23 For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord God
of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the
Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff
against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
26 And the Lord
of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of
Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he
lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
27 And
it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away
from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke
shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:
29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
32 As
yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against
the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
