Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and the Gitmo5 Aren't a Danger to Americans

While in Europe, and in response to concerns that the release of 5 Taliban leaders might put Americans at risk, Obama said this:

'I wouldn't be doing it if I thought that it was contrary to American national security.'

Well, that statement would have been believable if there hadn't been the Benghazi attack on the U.S. mission in 2012; resulting in a dead Ambassador and 3 other dead Americans.

Prior to that attack there were all kinds of warning signs that said we shouldn't have even been in Benghazi.  The Red Cross, sensing an increasingly dangerous situation, pulled their people out. Following an RPG attack on their Ambassador, the Brits shuttered their doors and left.  Our mission in Benghazi had already seen two attacks prior to 9/11, and, Ambassador Stephens was so concerned about the situation there that he expressed it in various communiques back to the State Department.  Yet, we stayed, with only a dozen out-sourced security personnel; of which, only half were armed.

Now, fast forward to today and the Taliban prisoner swap for deserter Bowe Bergdahl.  Any sane person -- I guess except for Barack Obama -- understands that the release of these people is "absolutely" putting Americans at risk.   These aren't some grunt Taliban followers who fought against us in the Afghan war.  These are all smart people. These are Mullah Omar's top lieutenants who helped him take over Afghanistan; impose and execute the most extreme punishments of Sharia Law; and, who invited in and protected Bin Laden and the rest Al Qaeda to set up their training camps.  In essence, the Taliban is simpatico to the goals of Al Qaeda.

All of these people have spent more than a decade imprisoned by the United States.  They have had years to harden themselves against this country and its policies.  And, because they are the most dangerous of the Taliban, you can be assured that they spent every waking hour plotting against America and praying to Allah for help and guidance.  Just because they are going to spend a year under Qatari monitoring and surveillance doesn't mean that they can't conduct operations against the Afghanistan government; or, more importantly, against the U.S. and it's citizens.  For decades, in this country, mob bosses were able to run their operations from behind bars with less communication capability than these 5 Taliban leaders will have access to.

What Obama has done is show the entire world that we, as country, can be had.  That we are willing to negotiate with terrorists in order to get Americans back.  And, those Americans need not be military. Because of that, almost ever American overseas, is now at risk.  Some predict that the taking of American citizens will only escalate as a result of Obama's actions; with no amount of U.S. security available to protect most of them.

Lastly, the President said that "prisoner swapping" is the normal course of winding down wars.  Yes, but this country has never swapped such high level and dangerous personnel. Need I remind the President of the Nuremberg trials!  In fact, two of these released prisoners are wanted by the U.N. for war crimes.

References:

Obama defends trading five Taliban leaders:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2647208/Obama-defends-efforts-rescue-deserter-Bowe-Bergdahl-insists-administration-did-consult-Congress-despite-GOP-claims-prisoner-swap-illegal.html

Libya: Red Cross pulls out of Benghazi fearing attack: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12767759

Benghazi timeline: How the attack unfolded: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/benghazi-timeline-how-the-attack-unfolded/

US consulate attack in Libya: the warning signs were there in Benghazi: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9539148/US-consulate-attack-in-Libya-the-warning-signs-were-there-in-Benghazi.html

 Who Are The 5 Guantanamo Detainees In Prisoner Swap?: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/31/317704932/who-were-the-five-guant-namo-detainees-released-in-prisoner-swap