US justifies prisoner swap deal

The recent prisoners swap deal made by the United States and Afgan governments has come under heavy criticisms across the globe.

Reports have it that even the US Congress members were not in support of it, as they believe the five prisoners could still pose a threat to the U.S.

According to the Wall Street Journal, US Defence Secretary, Chuck Hagel, who justified this move, the government of US had to act quickly to save Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s life whose health was in grave danger.

Hagel said President Barack Obama had the authority under his power as president to authorise the prisoner swap without the full notification legally required as provided by the Constitution.

He said the government believed it had to act quickly to save Bergdahl’s life after he was held prisoner for nearly five years. But Hagel did not disclose details of his condition.

“We believed that the information we had, the intelligence we had, was such that Sgt. Bergdahl’s safety and health were in jeopardy. His health was deteriorating. It was our judgment that if we could find an opening and move very quickly; we needed to get him out of there, essentially to save his life,” Hagel said.

Members of Congress, including Rep. Howard McKeon (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the administration violated the 2014 National Defence Authorisation Act by failing to give a 30-day notification to Congress before releasing five detainees from Guantanamo.

Hagel said the government had to be discreet about it so as to avoid information leaks.

On Saturday, the Obama administration released five Afghan Taliban detainees held at the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to officials from Qatar, in return for the Taliban’s release of Bergdahl.

Bergdahl was freed by the Taliban after nearly five years in captivity. He was turned over to the US in exchange for the release of five Afghan prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

His father, Bob Bergdahl, thanked all those who took part in his son’s recovery. He said that Bowe now has difficulty in speaking English after spending five years in captivity.

President Barack Obama said that Bergdahl had “never been forgotten”.