The idea that the war is over and that we should release all prisoners anyway is so idiotic that I can hardly believe people make this argument in defense of the Bergdahl trade.
The Taliban do not believe the war is over. Heck, they say it was a morale-boosting deal:
"This gives the Islamic Emirates more legitimacy in front of the world. It shows we are able to deal directly with the Americans and also successfully," Maulvi Mubarak, shadow Taliban chief of the Shah Wali Kot district in Kandahar, said. ...
Mubarak said the deal would also boost morale among the Taliban's ranks, including the hundreds of men under his command in three neighboring districts.
Indeed, we'll still have troops in Afghanistan to help fight the Taliban until the end of 2015 even under the administration's idea of ending the war.
I guess the Taliban didn't think the war is winding down since otherwise they could have just waited for the general prisoner exchange.
No doubt they think they can grab more Americans for more swaps. Who they'll trade Americans for might be problematic because the administration apparently thinks we don't need to hold terrorist prisoners while they pose a danger:
A U.S. official says President Barack Obama is moving ahead with the effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison despite the uproar over the exchange of five Taliban prisoners for a captured American soldier.
There's always cash. Or just snuff films to motivate the jihadis and their donors. They'll adapt.
I'd have held those scum in Gitmo until they needed hip replacements.
