The Taliban releasing Sgt Bowe Bergdahl; propaganda video.

Mr Obama has never been known for making the finest negotiations during his tenure as president.  The 5-for-one swap for Sgt Bowe Bergdahl is simply another example.

From, of all places, Time.com:

White House Overrode Internal Objections To Taliban Prisoner Release

by Massimo Calabresi

Pentagon, Intelligence officials used Top Secret intelligence to prevent previous release of Taliban Five, officials tell TIME

To pull off the prisoner swap of five Taliban leaders for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the White House overrode an existing interagency process charged with debating the transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners and dismissed long-standing Pentagon and intelligence community concerns based on Top Secret intelligence about the dangers of releasing the five men, sources familiar with the debate tell TIME.

Meaning: various military officials told Mr Obama in no uncertain terms along the way that to release these five Taliban leaders would be a horrible decision to its very core.

But officials in the Pentagon and intelligence communities had successfully fought off release of the five men in the past, officials tell TIME. “This was out of the norm,” says one official familiar with the debate over the dangers of releasing the five Taliban officials. “There was never the conversation.” Obama’s move was an ultimate victory for those at the White House and the State Department who had previously argued the military should “suck it up and salute,” says the official familiar with the debate.

Obama has broad authority under Article II of the U.S. Constitution to order the prisoner exchange as commander in chief of America’s armed forces. The lengths to which he went to bring it about show how determined he was to resolve the lingering issue of America’s only prisoner of war in Afghanistan.

The Tolly-Bahn, as Mr Obama would say.

But here is the paragraph which raises my hackles — as printed by Time:

The Obama administration first considered whether the five men were safe to release at the very start of his term as president. In January 2009, Obama ordered a Justice Department-led review of all 240 Guantanamo Bay detainees. The five Taliban leaders were found to be high risks to return to the fight against Americans, confirming Bush administration assessments of the threat they posed, according to officials familiar with the group’s findings. “These five are clearly bad dudes,” says a second source familiar with the debate over their release, adding that the detainees are likely to return to the fight.

So, with that in mind, the Obama Administration decides to release precisely those Taliban Five, in order to capitalize upon the wondrous political benefits Mr Obama believes will occur as the result of the trade.  Mr Obama thought it would be a “feel good” triumph for him personally.  Mr Obama, again and again = tone deaf.

Was, then, anyone notified of the trade?

At least one member of the Senate did have advance notice. “We were notified of the plan to secure Sergeant Bergdahl’s release on Friday,” said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. A spokesman for Republican House Speaker John Boehner, however, told TIME that there was no advance notice given to the leader of the House. Senate Intelligence Chair Dianne Feinstein was not informed in advance, either, and on Tuesday Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken called her to apologize for the oversight, she told reporters.

THE DiFi was also not notified and her nose was thusly out-of-joint.

KTVN Channel 2 – Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video –

I ask again: why them, why Bergdahl and why now?

The newest information?  The Taliban — of course — are using the events to promote a propaganda video.  This fact should truly shock no one with a whit of common sense.  But therein lies the political Spite House rub.

By releasing a 17-minute video showing the handover of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the Taliban sought to build Wednesday on what the militants have described as a major propaganda victory.

Bergdahl was freed Saturday as part of a prisoner swap in which U.S. officials released five Taliban detainees from the prison at Guantanamo Bay into the custody of the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, which mediated the negotiations.

Taliban officials have touted the deal as a sign of their strength in eastern Afghanistan, where the exchange is believed to have taken place.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.  .  .

BZ