White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday the administration does not believe the exchange of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held in captivity in Afghanistan for nearly five years, for the transfer of five former Guantanamo Bay prison detainees to Qatar, is not a security threat to the United States.
Mr. Carney said on NBC’s “Today” program that Sgt. Bergdhal’s health was deteriorating, making it all the more urgent to secure his release.
“It was absolutely the right thing to do because the United States does not leave our men and women behind in armed conflict,” he said. “We believe this is not a security threat to the United States and that there’s sufficient mitigation to be comfortable with the transfer of those detainees to Qatar.”
Mr. Carney said there is a long history of exchanging prisoners in armed conflict.
“Sergeant Bergdahl was a soldier in our military and he was being held by the enemy,” he said. “And that’s a situation where you do everything you can to secure his release. And that’s what we did.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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