Army POW Bowe Bergdahl would have been killed if word had leaked about the five-for-one trade that secured his release, officials said Thursday.
The Obama administration has been telling senators that it couldn’t give Congress 30 days’ notice, as mandated by law, because Taliban captors had threatened to kill Bergdahl if secrecy hadn’t been maintained, congressional sources told the Associated Press.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel might have been alluding to that fear when he said Sunday that “questions about his [Bergdahl’s] safety” prevented the White House from letting Congress in on the deal.
US Sen. Angus King [I-Maine] on Thursday virtually confirmed that AP report, saying the White House was under incredible pressure to keep a lid on the Bergdahl talks.
“They had intelligence that, had even the fact of these discussions leaked out, there was a reasonable chance Bowe Bergdahl would have been killed,” King said.
Congressional leaders have been up in arms that they weren’t notified before the controversial swap.
The administration has previously said Bergdahl’s health was in steady decline, prompting the deal without congressional consent.
In addition to the high cost paid for Bergdahl’s freedom, critics of the deal are demanding more answers about how the soldier came to be in Taliban hands.
Men who served with Bergdahl have accused him of voluntarily leaving his post, in protest of American action in Afghanistan.
A classified military report, completed two months after Bergdahl went missing in June 2009, showed that he had wandered away from his post before.
In one case, he left the Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., so he could see a sunrise or sunset, according to the New York Times and the Military Times.
He also once briefly left his platoon in eastern Afghanistan before his June 2009 disappearance.
The 35-page report did not conclude if Bergdahl’s last journey off base was intended to permanently desert the Army.
Meanwhile, a senior Taliban leader said the swap for Bergdahl has only inspired insurgents to grab more Americans.
One of the Taliban leaders directly involved in the exchange laughed when Time magazine asked if the deal with America would prompt more abductions.
“Definitely,” the terrorist told the magazine 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.”
The Taliban commander admitted to Time there was debate within the ranks, with some demanding a cash ransom in addition to release of the five Guantánamo detainees.
Ultimately, leadership told rank-and-file that freedom for the detained Taliban fighters was more important.
“We told them that these five men are more important than millions of dollars to us,” the Taliban commander said.
Before handing over Bergdahl, the Taliban hired a tailor to make the captured US soldier new clothes that he wore at the exchange.
“You know we are also human beings and have hearts in our bodies,” said another Taliban commander, affiliated with the Haqqani network that held Bergdahl.
“We are fighting a war against each other, in which [the Americans] kill us and we kill them. But we did whatever we could to make [Bergdahl] happy.”
Bergdahl and his captors got along, according to Taliban leaders. They wish no ill will against the Idaho native.
The Haqqani-affiliated terrorist said of the parting gift of clothes to Bergdahl: “We wanted him to return home with good memories.”
Bergdahl had been in captivity for five years and he was nearly traded back to America in March 2012.
His hopes were so brutally crushed that Bergdahl didn’t believe his captors this time around, when they told him a deal had been reached.
“That’s why he didn’t trust us this time when he was told about his likely release,” the Haqqani commander said.
The two terrorists didn’t reveal what differences there were, if any, between the unsuccessful 2012 talks and this past weekend’s deal.
“Our talks finally proved successful for the prisoners’ swap,” the Haqqani-affiliated insurgent said. “We returned our valued guest to his people and in return, they freed our five heroes held in Guantánamo Bay since 2002.”
Saturday’s trade touched off a joyous celebration among insurgents. Those involved with detaining Bergdahl feasted on “whole goats cooked in rice” to celebrate.
“I cannot explain how our people are happy and excited over this unbelievable achievement,” the Taliban leader said.
“This is a historic moment for us. Today our enemy for the first time officially recognized our status.”