Treadwell Thanks God for Bergdahl, the Suspected Deserter Who Reportedly Converted to Islam, Declared Jihad
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Photo Credit: Fox News Bergdahl Declared Jihad in Captivity, Secret Documents Show
By James Rosen / Fox News.
U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl at one point during his captivity converted to Islam, fraternized openly with his captors and declared himself a “mujahid,” or warrior for Islam, according to secret documents prepared on the basis of a purported eyewitness account and obtained by Fox News.
The reports indicate that Bergdahl’s relations with his Haqqani captors morphed over time, from periods of hostility, where he was treated very much like a hostage, to periods where, as one source told Fox News, “he became much more of an accepted fellow” than is popularly understood. He even reportedly was allowed to carry a gun at times.
The documents show that Bergdahl at one point escaped his captors for five days and was kept, upon his re-capture, in a metal cage, like an animal. In addition, the reports detail discussions of prisoner swaps and other attempts at a negotiated resolution to the case that appear to have commenced as early as the fall of 2009.
The reports are rich in on-the-ground detail — including the names and locations of the Haqqani commanders who ran the 200-man rotation used to guard the Idaho native — and present the most detailed view yet of what Bergdahl’s life over the past five years has been like. These real-time dispatches were generated by the Eclipse Group, a shadowy private firm of former intelligence officers and operatives that has subcontracted with the Defense Department and prominent corporations to deliver granular intelligence on terrorist activities and other security-related topics, often from challenging environments in far-flung corners of the globe.
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Photo Credit: ReutersTaliban: Bergdahl Swap Just Means More Kidnappings
By David K. Li.
A senior Taliban leader said the five-for-one exchange for Army POW Bowe Bergdahl will only inspire insurgents to grab more Americans.
One of the Taliban leaders directly involved in Saturday’s swap laughed when Time magazine asked if the deal with America would prompt more abductions.
“Definitely,” the chuckling terrorist told Time in a report published online Thursday.
“It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people. It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”
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Photo Credit: APHagel to face House grilling on legality of Bergdahl-Taliban trade
By Bill Gertz.
The House Committee on Armed Services on Wednesday will question Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on why the Obama administration failed to obey a new law requiring the White House to notify Congress 30 days before releasing any Guantanamo Bay terrorists.
The hearing is expected to be contentious in examining last weekend’s swap of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders held at the prison.
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, California Republican and committee chairman, expressed relief over Sgt. Bergdahl’s release but said “we have a responsibility to both the American people and the troops still in harm’s way in Afghanistan to get to the bottom of this deal with the Taliban.”
“I am particularly troubled by the release of five senior Taliban leaders, men with the blood of many on their hands, and the implications for our deployed forces,” Mr. McKeon said. “I am no less concerned that the Obama administration broke a national security law, passed with bipartisan support and signed by the president, in transferring these detainees.”
A classified briefing on the exchange is set for Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill for House and Senate members.
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